<p>are there any really unique features of each school that might make you want to choose them for pre-med (w/ biochemistry or chemistry major)?</p>
<p>I'm referring more to things like:</p>
<p>-how easy it is to get work at a local hospital
-opportunities for research during undergrad</p>
<p>etc.</p>
<p>You don’t choose them. They choose you. The chances that you’ll get to “pick” among them is small. </p>
<p>that isn’t the response i was really seeking. i have reason for asking.</p>
<p>You might wish to share, as this is a rather common question that rarely needs answering - the number of people actually needing to choose among even two schools on your list is very small.</p>
<p>im not trying to brag at all but my stats and ECs have been nice so far:</p>
<p>Urm-mexican
2300+ SAT
35 ACT
3.99 GPA
4.86WGPA
7 AP classes (all 4s or 5s)
biogenius science fair semifinalist
intel science fair semifinalist
national jshs semifinalist
300 hours+ volunteering
200 hours+ shadowing
research in two departments at an ivy league
1 publication in a really popular journal-listed as the third author after PI and mentor
captain of a varsity sports team
captain of science bowl
-debate team, math team for 2 years but nothing special-placed 6 at states in debate (novice though)
award for my private research from an insurance company
valedictorian
run a private business of selling and making _____ from home-most of my friends know about this so I’d like to keep it blank
have taken 8+ college courses (2 at a local ivy) and had a As in 7 of them and an A+ in one of them, etc.)</p>
<p>i also want to know which to apply at ED/SCEA/EA because of the smaller pool and not having to send in other applications. if i can get into one of my dream schools before sending in my other applications it will save me a lot of money-money which my family does not have…at all.</p>
<p>so my reasons:
-i think i can maybe get in
-i can only really afford to send in one application between those schools-my family does not have the money
–if i can get in before the deadline for other schools then i can save my family that money</p>
<p>If you need FA, then you shouldn’t apply ED. Period. You need to shop offers of FA, so you need to apply to multiple schools. Your primary concern here is affordability, not research opportunities or chances to work at a hospital. It’s not even getting in to a top 10 program, it’s all about money first, second, and last. Getting into a top program that you can’t afford is like not getting in at all, only worse.</p>
<p>If you can’t afford to apply to multiple schools, you can apply for fee waivers. ED should NOT be an option.</p>
<p>
Terrible advice since none of the schools on the OP’s list award preferential financial aid packages based on incoming stats (minus JHU’s token merit aid and Stanford’s athletic scholarships). Run the EFC calculator for the schools in consideration. Yale, Harvard, and Stanford’s financial aid offers are generally among the most generous in the country. Chances are, if the OP can get in, the schools in question will work hard to make sure s/he can afford them. </p>
<p>Except for MIT, they all have medical schools with hospitals (and MIT wouldn’t be far from a hospital, either.) Pre-med programs at virtually all universities are very similar (especially if you cut through the atmospherics and focus on the course expectations). So I doubt there are any significant features of their pre-med programs that clearly distinguish these schools from one another, or from other schools for that matter. The fact that JHU happens to have a famous med school and hospital system a couple miles from the main Homewood campus doesn’t necessarily mean much for the quality of your orgo classes, your MCAT preparation, or your chances for admission to that med school. </p>
<p>I’d say the single most important consideration for a low income pre-med student is the net cost. So I’d agree with MrMom’s advice for many applicants and colleges … but not for the OP. For a low income applicant to Harvard, Yale, or Stanford, I’m more inclined to agree with whenhen. I’d lean toward Yale, but that’s because I think it’s a little more undergraduate-focused than Harvard or Stanford (and I happen to like Gothic gloom), not because I think it has discovered any secret sauce for its pre-med program.</p>
<p>This is the problem with writing posts at midnight, so I do have to qualify my answer a bit - since you’ll need FA, applying ED could work since you do have the right to decline the offer should the FA award not be affordable. But the odds of getting in any one of these schools are still low, and the timeframe for deciding the awards is not sufficient is very short, so you’re basically going to have to have all your other application ready to go.</p>
<p>Also, although I know very little about the program, isn’t this an ideal Questbridge candidate?</p>
<p>what is questbridge?</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/”>http://www.questbridge.org/</a></p>
<p>Application for students with parents making <$60,000 a year. You get a full ride if you get in through questbridge, and most schools waive application fees for QB applicants. </p>
<p>MIT has a lot of undergraduate research opportunities. If you want to do research, you will be able to do research, basically in any field you want. But the downside of being premed at MIT is it will be a lot harder to keep a stellar GPA. </p>
<p>i see. that’s the stuff i was really looking for (hard to get a good gpa at mit)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>MIT is somewhat different from most schools, in that it does not offer pre-med or biology-major versions of chemistry, physics, and math that are easier than the versions for chemistry, physics, and math majors. Math through multivariable calculus is a general education requirement at MIT; this is significantly more advanced than the math needed for medical school application purposes.</p>
<p>As far as (SC/R)EA/ED goes, note the difference:</p>
<ul>
<li>ED is binding in that you agree to attend if admitted. Apply ED only if the school is your clear first choice, and it is affordable in the net price calculator and you do not have unusual family finances that make net price calculators less accurate. You should not expect to be able to compare financial aid offers – admission is take-it-or-leave-it with a short deadline after getting the school’s financial aid offer.</li>
<li>EA is non-binding; you can wait until the usual deadline to decide and compare financial aid offers.</li>
<li>SCEA/REA is non-binding, but you agree not to apply EA to most other schools (typically other private schools, though some SCEA/REA schools allow EA application to other public schools) or ED anywhere else.</li>
</ul>
<p>Questbridge’s college match program is like a ranked ED application to up to 8 schools. If any of your selected schools admits you, you agree to attend whichever of those schools is the highest in your ranking (on a full ride). <a href=“QuestBridge | National College Match”>http://www.questbridge.org/for-students/ncm-national-college-match</a></p>
<p>wow. that sounds absolutely amazing. does this fafsa form include super high costs from a disease that a family member might have?</p>
<p>you should not ED to Hopkins. For premed, I would not include MIT. (I have a personal preference for a liberal arts curriculum over engineering.)</p>
<p>Between the other three, EA to whichever one you like better. All offer tremendous opportunities for ECs. All three offer excellent need-based financial aid. (I would guess that H & Y are better than S in this regard, but that is just a guess.)</p>
<p>But if you have to flip a coin, pick Y since it has the highest mean GPA’s of the three. (small reason to pick it, but better than a coin flip.)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>MIT has plenty of [liberal</a> arts offerings](<a href=“http://web.mit.edu/education/]liberal”>Education | MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and more [liberal</a> arts breadth requirements](<a href=“Welcome! < MIT”>Welcome! < MIT) than most schools.</p>
<p>However, the extent of the general education requirements and the lack of easier physics, chemistry, and math courses for pre-meds may make MIT a less optimal school for pre-meds who are not prepared to take the most rigorous versions of the typical pre-med courses.</p>
<p>where did you find info like “yale has the highest average gpa?”</p>
<p>The bottom of <a href=“http://www.gradeinflation.com/”>http://www.gradeinflation.com/</a> lists schools for which average GPA information is available. However, remember to consider the context of how competitive the students are, and that different departments in the school may have more or less grade inflation than the school overall.</p>
<p>i think that i am better at chemistry than biology (5 vs 4 on AP) and im not that great at memorizing a lot of facts. do you think chem is the better option (only considering this info)? i am thinking chem instead of bio</p>
<p>As a major? For pre-med purposes, you can major in what you like, as long as you include the pre-med courses. But be aware that chemistry majors may have to take harder versions of chemistry, math, and/or physics courses than biology majors, depending on the school.</p>