<p>Hi, i am a prospective student who is looking to go on the pre med course. I was wondering if going Penn for pre med is worth it, if I do not decide to go to Penn I will most likely attend the University of Michigan. How much harder do you think it will be to maintain a high gpa at Upenn, than a school like Michigan. Obviously Upenn's competition will be harder, but do you think maintaining a good gpa will be significantly more difficult at Upenn than Michigan's Honors Program? Moreover, what advantages to you see in doing pre med at an Ivy league school like Penn, compared to the U of M. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>“Obviously Upenn’s competition will be harder,” Not necessarily. UM can be rather cutthroat vs. the communal learning spirit at a smaller school such as Penn. Cost and where you’d really enjoy yourself (cuz that’s where you’ll likely get better grades) would be the biggest factors. Inherently, UM and Penn can take the same person and ready them for eventual med School apps. I’d say neither is better than the other. If you’re in-state to UMich, then it’s a no brainer – go Blue.</p>
<p>If you’re smart enough to do well at Penn for pre-med, that’ll likely give you a small boost for med school admissions. That’s about it, you still gotta to the basics at both schools.</p>
<p>Penn is a lot smaller than Michigan, so you are more likely to receive a more individualized education and take upper level classes with fewer people. It may also be a bit easier to access research opportunities at Penn (although not by much, I know several people who went to Michigan who phenomenal research). Although it is likely the average student at Penn will be better than at Michigan, the top students will be exactly the same. Michigan is probably one of the most financially enticing schools if you are instate since it is one of the top research universities in the world and is much cheaper than the top private schools in state. Michigan is easily on par with the top private schools. </p>
<p>I would like to emphasize that the research opportunities I have seen for premeds at Penn are absolutely incredible. A lot of students in all fields of study do great research at Penn. I would say that the three things I loved most about Penn were the research opportunities, my classes, and my professors/mentors in my department.</p>
<p>Current Penn student here. I know it’s kind of a bit far away, but exactly would you want to do with a medical degree? If you just want to be a “regular” practicing physician, I would recommend simply going wherever is cheaper since you’re going to inevitably rack up a ton of debt in medical school and the actual education is going to be pretty much identical. On the other hand, I think a Penn experience would have some value premium over UMich if you see yourself doing something a little more unconventional with a medical degree, such as research (perhaps pursuing an MD/PhD), business, or public policy where having an Ivy name on your resume can help open some doors. Does that make sense?</p>