<p>My D with 1510 SAT ( 800v, 710 M) goes to a state run math and science school for gifted. The school does not have GPAs and the courses are challenging. She has mostly As and Bs. She has good and focussed ECs. She has been accepted in Saint Louis Univ Honors program and U of I. We are unsure which route to take. Her interest is pre med. Also I didnt think her stats were that bad. She was rejected by Northwestern, Tufts, Haverford and Cornell. Wait listed by WUSL. Any thoughts and feed back would be of great help.</p>
<p>Last year was tough,this year has been tougher, and next year will be tougher still. Our 4.0UW,1520 Val got rejected by 4 of his top four schools last year. This year there appears to be a bevy of wounded travelers trying to find a soft spot to land. </p>
<p>I'm not familiar with St. Louis but my first thought would be a determined pre-med at St.Louis in the honors program is probably better off than a pre-med in the general population at a large state institution. Don't they have substantially different feels? Most doctors have advised my D to be in a nurturing , non-cutthroat pre-med environment with cooperative learning as its theme and a high percentage of students accepted at their first choice med school.How do their pre-med stats stack-up?</p>
<p>The trouble is that she was deferred for the medical scholars program which guarantees a seat in their med school if she maintains her gpa. This does not seem very attractive to her because she loses this guarantee if she applies to other med schools. And I dont know how this med school is rated. So for me the question is - is the honors program in a second tier better than a regular program in a first tier school?</p>
<p>Something is not quite right. There might have been a weakness in the app? Bad rec? Who knows and there's nothing she can do about it--except consdier a year off? A year of research at a WASHU lab could do WONDERS for her resume.... </p>
<p>In the meantime, lay on the heavy campaign for WASHU. Are you St Louisans? WASHU usually shows heavy favoritism towards native S and Ds. </p>
<p>Between Uof I and SLU, I'd need more info. Is she Catholic? Has she ever been to Catholic schools? (Because most of those kids will be from Catholic schools). The SLU med school is very good--but nowhere near the likes of WASHU. </p>
<p>How did she like the UofI campus?</p>
<p>She's clearly very bright. I guess my leaning would go twoards the bigger environment at UofI. More challenge.</p>
<p>I agree with cheers. Being at a large state university usually gives you the opportunity to do a lot more--there will be some very bright kids there and some very good teachers. I would say in this case to go with the first-tier option, because there will be a lot more to choose from both in the classroom and beyond it.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>My D with 1510 SAT ( 800v, 710 M) goes to a state run math and science school for gifted. The school does not have GPAs and the courses are challenging. She has mostly As and Bs.<< The trouble is that she was deferred for the medical scholars program which guarantees a seat in their med school if she maintains her gpa.<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>Do you have any reason to believe that non-medical scholars have unusually low rates of admission to med school? If they are admitted to med school at high rates, I wouldn't worry about the medical scholars program. I'll be upfront - I think these pre-admit programs at lesser known private medical schools are set-up more for the benefit of the school than the student. She may end up tied into admission to a very expensive program, after 4 years of expensive private college - it is about having a set number of seats filled, she saves what - some worry and the cost of an MCAT?</p>
<p>She has 2 very different choices, both good, and I'm not sure what advice to give, other than don't worry about the med scholars, unless you feel like all the other pre-meds are truly short-changed, then she's probably better off fending for herself.</p>
<p>Don't be too concerned about lower med school admission rates at larger state schools - often one of 2 things happens, either the school writes recs for "almost anyone", instead of counseling students with low chances of admission to try another plan, and/or the recs that are written are not informative or personal enough (think GC with 500 seniors to counsel). In either scenario, you daughter can do a lot at the state school to decide her own fate - become active in the pre-med society, make an effort to know profs, particularly in her major, make the very best grades she can, etc.</p>
<p>Cheers: My D has been involved in research at NU for the past two years. Her school requires her to do just one. She has continued on in her senior year. No she is not catholic. I am still holding my hopes on Wash U. I think her grades have been the problem. I know she struggled in the advanced math courses. Otherwise I thought she was pretty competetive.</p>
<p>Pittmom, WUSTL's waitlist is a LOOOONG one. You can find the admit numbers for past years if you search.</p>
<p>Think about which school is better suited to your child's temperament. My friend's son is at St. Louis U in engineering. She thinks the smaller school environment is very good for him, a quiet, studious boy. UIUC is a different environment - no one holds your hand, and a lot of freshmen don't make the grade. Is your daughter a James Scholar? That would make a difference.</p>
<p>I know nothing about medical schools, but Dr. Sedrish's moderator's post on the medical schools board states that all US medical schools are of good quality.</p>
<p>Midwesterner:</p>
<p>No she is not a James Scholar. Is it something that can also be pursued after she is in that school or do you have to be invited?</p>