<p>I'm a Senior in High School, from Michigan. I'm currently planning on going into Biomedical Engineering, with hopes of getting into a top medical school, such as Harvard's, UPenn's, Johns Hopkins', Stanford's, etc.<br>
I've been accepted at Columbia (Fu engineering), University of Michigan (engineering), Washington University in St. Louis, Case Western, Vanderbilt, and several other schools. I'm currently trying to decide between Columbia and U of M, and maybe WashU. I've been reading about it, and have been getting mixed messages about whether the school I decide on for undergrad actually matters. I'm pretty sure U of M is actually better than Columbia for Biomedical engineering, but does that actually play a role? Or does Columbia's prestige play a role? From what I've seen, Columbia guarantees research opportunities to almost every student, and I'm also a Prescott Davis scholar there (although I'm not sure if that means I get any more research opportunities than any other student.) Does U of M have simliar research opportunities?
I know that I've asked a lot of questions, but I'm just confused about what actually makes the difference when it comes to getting into medical school. Please please please help, the deadline is May 1st haha! Thanks!</p>
<p>What about fin. aid?</p>
<p>I have the in-state tuition for U of M, but no additional scholarships. Columbia isn’t offering financial aid in the typical sense, but they’re giving me research grants through the Prescott Davis Scholars program. However, I’m lucky enough that my parents have told me not to worry about cost, and they will pay 100% of the tuition.</p>
<p>Sorry about double posting, but ALSO, does grade inflation actually play a big role in this? And is U of M really that much harder to maintain a good GPA in, when compared to Columbia? Sorry again, too many questions xD</p>
<p>You seem like a bright kid, understand that Med Schools do not put heavy emphasis on undergrads, thats not to say they dont put any, but not as much as they do for Law School, Banking Careers, Accounting jobs, etc. Health Professional Fields care about gpa, and more importantly, the standardized exam, in your case it would be the MCAT. </p>
<p>My Advice: check out Columbia Med school’s website, and Michigan Med school website ( if they have a med school), or if you can find out the information otherwise, of how many people that end up going to med school out of those undergrad schools to their own med schools. Not sure if that made sense, so for example. How many Columbia undergrad students got into Columbia Med school. If any school favors their own undergrads, then that might be a great option.</p>
<p>2nd thing: why are you doing biomedical engineering? In my opinion, engineering is extremely difficult, and those programs have gpa deflation, which will put you at a disadvantage relative to many other applicants who either majored in BIO or some other major that is far less competitive than Engineering.</p>
<p>Columbia and U of M are actually tied at 10th for med school, coincidentally (according to USNews rankings). U of M admits 50 from its undergrad, out of 300 total being admitted. I can’t find stats on Columbia, but I’ve heard that private schools, especially ivy’s, tend to prefer their own. I guess I wanted to to biomedical engineering because of the additional things I can do in terms of research; I’m interested in biomechanics and that sort of thing. I guess I’m really not sure if the difference between U of M and Columbia would mean the difference between rejection and acceptance at a higher level med school.</p>
<p>Ok, follow what you want, I am just warning you that engineering is a whole other ball game in regards to grades. The average in most classes are usually “C’s”. So take caution with whatever you decide to do. and WOW, 50/300 is a large percentage of students, so thats a big plus. </p>
<p>Call up Columbia Medical school, ask them, dont be shy.</p>
<p>I have heard that about engineering… do you think they would take the fact that I am in engineering rather than standard biology into account at all? I doubt it, but I mean, if its that much harder, then maybe haha. Thanks! I’ll call Columbia and try to find out.</p>
<p>What i am about to say is entirely my opinion. I will be attending Dental school this august, I was an Econ major, although difficult, not as demanding as engineering. I have seen several students with poor gpa’s not get admitted due to their very difficult major, even though if they had originally majored in something such as BIO, or Chemistry, or whatever other major that they enjoyed, as well as have taken upper level biology classes as well.
- OVerall, the admissions of these health professional schools will take into consideration that your an engineer, but in my opinion and what I understand, maybe a .1 or .2(at most). so a 3.5 in engineering might look on parr with a bio major at 3.6, but yet again this is really up to debate. </p>
<p>Overall, I would check out the avg gpa’s of the programs you are interested in, talk to the students in that program, if they do have gpa deflation, I would recommend taking up another major that you are interested in, but less likely to damage your chances at medical school. </p>
<p>At the end of the day, you have 2 major stats, your gpa and your MCAT score.</p>
<p>I am going to recommend this awesome site to you, for pre-health, and health professionals( its a forum). if you know it already, then great for you, if you dont know it, then you will become addicted to it.haha. you can post your question on this forum, you will get great feedback…goodluck. </p>
<p>Site: StudentDoctorNetwork. go to the pre-med section. post this same question</p>
<p>Thank you!!</p>
<p>Columbia </p>
<p>My friend just graduated from there with a BME degree and is at UCSF for Med school. He loved Columbia and the opportunity that NY gave him</p>
<p>If your parents can afford it, go to Columbia. You dont always go to undergrad expecting to get into the grad medical school in the same school. You should look at where the students are being placed from the school you will be doing undergrad in. As the previous poster mentioned for a sample of one, that student with a BME diploma landed at a top 5 medical school in the country. There may be similar examples of students going to top medical schools from michigan and wash u.</p>
<p>michigan has a better engineering program and plus you won’t pay as much as being in new york! (ann arbor is a great city + in state tuition!)</p>
<p>Columbia. I wouldnt even think twice.
Apart from being one of the most prestigious institutions in the world, it has an excellent engineering department. UMich , WashU etc etc cant even come close!</p>
<p>Umich, while good amongst the state univs cant ever come close to columbia. Even if you spend a little extra, Columbia will definitely allow you to get double the amount after graduation. </p>
<p>Plus, NEW YORK >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Michigan Ann Arbour!</p>
<p>Dont think twice, enroll at columbia. You’ll have a blast and get into the med school of your choice.</p>
<p>Columbia’s med school acceptance rate is much better tham Michigan’s btw.</p>
<p>Columbia. Honestly, this should be a no-brainer.</p>
<p>“Columbia. I wouldnt even think twice.
Apart from being one of the most prestigious institutions in the world, it has an excellent engineering department. UMich , WashU etc etc cant even come close!”</p>
<p>It’s obvious you don’t think twice. Michigan is stronger in engineering at both the undergraduate and graduate levels than Columbia. Michigan is EASILY the better choice here. The additional costs of attending Columbia are simply not worth it for an IS Michigan resident.</p>
<p>There are also additional costs attributed with Columbia. UM is a great college town, and there are many free things to do. It is easy to live the poor college student life. NYC is a great place for people with money, and a great place ot love after graduation, but it can be very costly for a young college student. Mom and Dad may be happy to pay for tuition and room and board, but will balk at the clothing expenses and table service.</p>