<p>Ok I am very confused right now and I don't have much time to decide...
3 choices really</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon
Johns Hopkins
VCU 8 year med program (Gaurunteed)</p>
<p>-If i go to CMU or Hopkins I will be on the Varsity Cross Country/Track Team (I like to run but am slightly worried that sports might interfere in my studies even though these are D3 teams where practice and competition isnt too fierce)
-VCU i got a good scholarship and will be paying only 10,000-15,000 a year which is good (financing isnt that huge of a factor though). If i go through w/ this program I dont really know what major I should do (leaning towards biomed engineering). I hear biomed engineering w/ premed curriculum is kinda tough i dont know. The good thing is Ill be getting a gaurunteed spot if I maintain a 3.5 GPA.</p>
<p>-The thing is that I am still confused whether I want to pursue a med career or just engineering (chemical or biomed) or something else. CMU has a good Chem engineering undergradmajor. JHU has an amazing biomed eng. major but i did not get into it. I can choose from any other major at JHU though inluding international relations (or other business or law related majors which are still kinda well known at JHU).
-CMU and JHU are expensive but that isnt a big factor.
-i won't have a gaurunteed spot in med school if i go to CMU or JHU if i decide i want to go med school but JHU does have a good med school acceptance/matriculation rate. I also heard that JHU is really competitive as a large percentage are looking to go to med school, so its hard to stand out.</p>
<p>I really need some input. Maybe from some people who have pursued med careers and have gone to med school.</p>
<p>stay away from JHU like the plague unless you like IR.</p>
<p>In my opinion go with VCU! If someone offers you guaranteed admission into med school don't turn it down. It's been stressed on these forums, undergrad doesnt mean much when it comes to grad or med school.</p>
<p>Excuse my ignorance, but why cant you go to VCU and run there? Does it have something to do with you being in their 8-year med program?</p>
<p>My bad, VCU is D1 teams.</p>
<p>A few questions:</p>
<p>1.) Are you convinced you will get a better education at one of the places? If so, you owe it to your future patients (and yourself!) to learn as much as you can in a well-rounded, thorough manner.</p>
<p>2.) How sure are you that you will enter medicine in four years? The answer, obviously, is not 100%, as things may always change, but it might be very close. If it is not that close - say, 80% or so - then you will severely regret your turning down a solid education in pursuit of a now-obsolete career goal.</p>
<p>3.) I'd be interested to hear CMU's premed reputation from anybody familiar. General wisdom says that LACs like CMU are usually EXTREMELY good places to train as a premed; VCU, of course, is pretty much on the opposite end of the spectrum.</p>
<p>3.) What are your career goals, even assuming you do enter medicine? If you have an interest in training residents/interns and working in academic medicine - i.e. as a professor/attending in a university setting - then you will probably want to attend a more-prestigious medical school than VCU anyway. If you want to go into one of the few most competitive residencies - and these tend to be relatively uncommon, like plastics and derm - then again, you will probably want to attend a more-prestigious medical school. With the (rare) exception of these two circumstances - and I do want to emphasize that they are rare - then VCU will certainly not stand in the way of your career goals.</p>