<p>I was recently admitted to Columbia, Boston University/Boston University School of Medicine 7 year program, and Stony Brook 8 Year program with a full ride through undergrad. I am really torn between these options as all offer their own unique incentives. If I do go to Columbia I want to get into the best medical school possible. What are the chances I do get into a medical school better than Boston or Stony Brook if I do go to Columbia. Also, which medical school is better--Boston or Stony Brook? The cost of the education does not matter as much to me. Can somebody help shed some light and please help me decide?</p>
<p>You can't predict how things will go at Columbia. Maybe you'll do brilliant and get a really high score on the MCAT and get into some place like Harvard Med. School. Then, again, you may drop and not do as well as hoped on the MCAT and get into an "average" medical school.
I don't know which is better, BU or Stony Brook. But, as far as I can advise you, a joint medical program is mostly always better than a regular undergrad.</p>
<p>I agree with hydrogen3k. If I were you, I would pick BU 7 year med. BU tops Stonybrook due to its proximity to a plethora of researchers and incredible research opportunities, higher courses selection due to its collaboration with Tufts and Brandeis, and overall just an awesome atmosphere.</p>
<p>Unless you have more scholorships from Stonybrook, BU 7 yr BA/MD wins hands down! If my S had not missed the deadline for 7 year at BU med, this would have been my choice for him.</p>
<p>I'd say go to Columbia and work your butt off. You can go anywhere after if you do well in school there, dos ome research, and get some great recommendations from your professors.</p>
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I'd say go to Columbia and work your butt off. You can go anywhere after if you do well in school there, dos ome research, and get some great recommendations from your professors.
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<p>Easier said than done....</p>
<p>I would take the combined med route because there is nothing comparable in the sense of relief of having a med school seat. Trust me, the Columbia name won't mean much when you are slaving through med school apps and mcat preparation.</p>
<p>If you go traditionally for an MD, you have to be selected by the University's Premedical Committee.</p>
<p>In most schools, it's a group of 6 to 7 faculty that evaluate whether you can be recommended by the school to the Med school of your choice. Officially, the school sites do not directly say how many they recommend to Med schools. However, from my MD friends I have heard that there is a "ceiling" on the total number of students a premed committee will recommend from any school. </p>
<p>If this school is larger with a greater student strength, the competition to get these recommendations can be severe. (Check out the Cornell thread on CC. You will find one CC'er mention that they rejoice when a fellow classmate breaks a beaker in Chemistry lab!!! A small incident really but sheds an enormous insight into how brutal the competitiveness in traditional programs can be.)</p>
<p>If you continue to be a top student, you can indeed get recommended.
Conversely, being in a BA/MD program like HPME will decrease some of the stress down by a notch. </p>
<p>Unlike the cut-throat competition of direct MD programs, I think the direct BA/MD Programmers are more likely to be involved in team work, synergy, and cohesiveness since they are ALREADY accepted by the med school.</p>
<p>These are some intangible factors that can influence your daily life that you should know about.</p>
<p>yeah Columbia doesn't seem like a great place to do premed from what I've heard. It sounds like one of the more competitive/less cooperative ivies. Feel free to go the undergrad route if you don't think either of those medical schools is a good fit for you, but I would recommend a better premed environment than Columbia. Note that the name "Columbia" (or the name of any school for that matter) is unlikely to give you a golden ticket to med school acceptance.</p>
<p>Doing pre-med in an ivy-league is very difficult, and your grades may drop to unsatisfactory levels if you stick with the normal track.</p>
<p>If you have BS/MD program acceptances in your pocket, I'd pick one of those two.</p>
<p>If BU costs a lot, and you're not as willing to take out a bunch of loans to cover your college education, take your full ride to stony brook then, it has a pretty solid medical school as well.</p>