Pre-Med Rice vs Cornell

Hi! I’m a class of 2025 student who was accepted to Rice and Cornell RD.

I’ve done a lot of research on Rice and it’s been my first choice for a while, but they didn’t give me much money so it will be considerably costly. On the other hand, Cornell is kind of a mystery. I haven’t received their decision on financial package yet, but apparently it’s not predicted to be too much more than Rice. However, I also don’t know that much about the school (as I wasn’t expecting to get in). The program I applied to, the Human Development major within the College of Human Ecology, is something that is genuinely interesting to me. The focus of the school and major sound very appealing, and they say that 70% of their students participate in research, which is pretty appealing. Both locations are beautiful and I don’t particularly have a problem with either location, though I have a slight preference for Houston’s warmer weather. I’ve also heard that Rice is a teaching school while Cornell is not? But Cornell definitely has more prestige to it…

Can someone give me some insight or opinions on my two choices? Any help would be great, thanks!!

a) Congrats - that’s very impressive
b)
How certain are you about medical school? If Rice didn’t give you much money, Cornell likely won’t either. And spending a ton BEFORE you even get to Med School is somewhat irrational, as Med School will cost a LOT.

Cornell pre-med track is hard and competitive. Almost every core pre-med is a “weeder” course. And the pre-med student body does get competitive (30% of incoming freshmen used to be premeds).

Not that certain, which is why it was important for me to go to a school where I could potentially have some options if it all goes south. I am aware (and nervous!!) about the costs of med school. I wasn’t aware that pre-med was such a popular track for incoming Cornell students; is there a reason for this?

For the same reason it’s your choice for now - there is a perception that being a doctor is:
lucrative, full-filling, prestigious, respected, stable and interesting

30% start as premeds … 30% of those are premeds at the end, and even a smaller % get in.

committed to Rice!

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Mazl Tov!!!

Congrats. I assume you know about the ample research opportunities at the Texas Medical Center?