<p>I am going to enter my senior year this upcoming fall and am faced with the task of choosing colleges and programs which will give me the best chance to get into medical school. From what I've read, a high GPA at a state school is preferred over a lower one from an Ivy. My stats are as follows:</p>
<p>Work for over a year in NY Public Library
1280 sat (hoping to increase in Oct.)
730 chem sat ii
740 math 1c sat ii
4 AP Chem
5 AP Eng Lang and Comp
~96 avg unweighted
Not ranked (science and math specialty school)
Taking AP Bio, Calc AB next year.
Business/Communications college programs done
EC's: hospital volunteer work, some research, $1000 scholarship from a competition regarding health problems</p>
<p>Do I have the grades to get into a BS/MD program? My question is, should I just go to a state school and get a high GPA and if so, which ones do you suggest? I live in NY and tuition is a factor. The stats posted by most people on this board is simply frightening. There is a definitely some stiff competition out there.</p>
<p>Honestly, you probably don't have the stats to get into a BS/MD program. You need to boost your SAT score to become competitive.</p>
<p>While it is true that you should get the highest GPA you can, wherever that is, you are making a strong assumption that you will get a higher GPA at a state school than at an Ivy. It is entirely possible that you may end up with a LOWER gpa at a state school than at an Ivy. This is because many of the Ivies tend to be grade-inflated and 'safe' schools. You may not get a very high GPA at an Ivy, but except for maybe at Cornell, you probably won't get a truly bad GPA and it's next-to-impossible to flunk out. It's far easier to flunk out of a state school. State schools have no problem in giving its students bad grades.</p>
<p>Let me give you an example. I know a guy who went to Berkeley as a Chancellor Scholar, but for a wide variety of reasons (immaturity, laziness, personal problems) flunked out. Because he was a URM, I think he had a very good chance to go to Stanford, but he never applied. If he had applied, and he had gone to Stanford, I have a feeling that he would have gotten his degree. Maybe not with good grades, but at least he would have graduated. That's clearly far better than going to Berkeley and flunking out. </p>
<p>Yes, I know, Stanford is not an Ivy, but it is very "Ivy-ish" in its grading philosophy and its general treatment of its students. The point is, Stanford, or an Ivy, would have been a safer choice.</p>
<p>I'm afraid your SAT scores are going to limit you really badly. I'm going to University of Florida this fall, but last year during the application season, i applied to about 5 BS/MD programs, and didn't get in any of them. I had a 1510 on the old SAT, and admittedly it was my GPA factor that screwed me over, but even then, it was competitive. Also, your competition might have like wayyyyy more APs than you have taken (unless your school offers an extremely limited number of APs, this will hurt you). I suggest u go to a good state school, do well on everything and just go to med-school.</p>
<p>BA/MD programs are often on the same level of difficulty to get into as Ivy League schools. As the other posters have stated, you might not have the stats to get into either one.</p>
<p>That being said, going to a state school is not a significant loss. Continue to work hard, get a good MCAT score, and you'll still be able to get into a med school someday! (And you'll have saved a ton of cash by staying in-state and paying lower tuition!)</p>
<p>Forget Brown's PLME....you gotta be reallllly good. This guy isn't even close to the stats to get in PLME. That, and Northwestern's HPME...those are like the best Accelerated Med. programs out there.</p>
<p>Supporting info:
HPME says that for their 2005 admittees, the average GPA was 4.4 ( on a scale where reg. = 4, honors/pre-ib = 4.5, ap/ib/dualenrollment = 5.0), and the average SAT was about 1530.</p>