<p>After reading abundant criticism of attending "high-caliber, renown" undergrad institutions instead of "easier" state schools (for sake of GPA), I'm quite worried that Dartmouth will lower my chances of gaining med school admittance because undoubtedly it's a challenging school! I will make every effort possible to get as many A's as possible, but I do not want to go to Hanover this fall regretting my decision. </p>
<p>I do realize that attending Dartmouth is safer should I decide to not go to med school because I will still carry a Dartmouth degree. Then again, I am fairly certain of medical profession. However, I am also paying 20k/year for 4 years, so that makes me kick myself over not having made the state school a more viable option. I hope that Dartmouth excellent undergrad focus will prepare me more for med school than will the state school?</p>
<p>I just graduated from HS, so I guess I'm just looking for some reassurance regarding my decision to go ivy league rather than cheap-state school. Comments or advice?
=] thanks!!</p>
<p>I think its a good idea. Your undergrad degree will have some influence on medical school admission but I think that Darthmouth would be a good idea because they have a lot of focus on undergrad since its such a small campus. ALso because of that if you have trouble in any of your classes you should be able to ask professors for help. The only thing I would be worried about is how many research opportunities you would have since Dartmouth doesn't have graduate schools and its in a college town. </p>
<p>I visited Dartmouth last summer and I loved but I didn't apply because I wanted a bigger campus and didn't like how all the buildings were close to each other.</p>
<p>Dartmouth research could not be better at the undergrad level. Between the Dartmouth-Hitchcock hospital (a leader), C Everett Koop, and the incredible research opportunities with professors Dartmouth stands out even among the Ivies. The medical advising (Nathan Smith Society) is spectacular. While its not a cakewalk, if you are hard working there are few other schools that will do so much to help you get into the med school of your choice.</p>
<p>While I am rather less enthusiastic about the research opportunities available at Dartmouth compared to other ivies and similar schools (small size, weaker science departments, distance from the medical center, location, all hurt your research opportunities to some extent, though this is certainly offset by the advantages of the LAC-style atmosphere that Dartmouth has), I do agree that in the long run you made the right decision by deciding to go where you will be happiest. Especially when aiming for 'name' med schools, I am becoming increasingly convinced that the 'go to the easier lesser-known school to get the higher GPA' advice is an even bigger load of bull than I had previously thought.</p>
<p>I posted some thoughts about it here that I don't want to retype:</p>
<p>Dartmouth certainly gets plenty of people into med school, and if your the type of person who would be attracted to a program like theirs, I feel pretty confident in saying you would be miserable at a large state school, so you are more likely to succeed at the 'tougher' school anyway.</p>
<p>Dartmouth actually has a strong research component on campus. The Dartmouth Med school is right on campus, and it excels in providing undergrads with opportunities for research- far more than most larger institutions. Dartmouth science professors similarly strongly focus on including Dartmouth students in their research. Also, the Dartmouth Hitchcock medical center is one of the highest ranked hospitals in the country. Most of my friends with strong GPAs and MCATs got into top 10 med schools, most with decent GPAs and MCATs got into solid med schools.</p>
<p>I stand corrected regarding the location of the med school, but isn't the main hospital a further ways out? That was always my impression, which would hurt volunteer opportunities. I was not disputing that Dartmouth is an excellent place for premed, merely that it's research 'stands out even among the ivies,' which is simply not true regarding life-since/biomedical research, where Dartmouth is weaker than all but Princeton (which lacks a med school).</p>
<p>The hospital is not on campus, but it is very close and easily accessible. There is a shuttle bus between the hospital and the college that leaves every 15 minutes during the week. It's a couple of miles or a 5 minute drive away. </p>
<p>As for your doubts of Dartmouth's research, I do not know where they are coming from. Everyone at Dartmouth who wants to do biomedical research does biomedical research. In fact, there is even an Undergraduate Research Directory filled with biomedical research opportunities for students (this is only available in 2 hard copies for security reasons). </p>
<p>Another nice thing about Dartmouth is the D-Plan. I am going to be off in the spring of my junior year, giving me solid time to prep for the MCATs. </p>
<p>Also, the small school makes it easy to get to know professors (letters of recommendations.</p>
<p>I stated I'd be paying about 20k/year to Dartmouth as opposed to a near full scholarship to the state school...I am worried about the accumulated 80k difference over my 4 years of undergrad, but am I just being neurotic?</p>
<p>It probably will not make much difference between the state college and Dartmouth, but to the extent that it matters, D is likely ahead. The difficulty and competitiveness of the classes probably will not matter at all. It is widely assumed, but without data, that attending a less selective institution will result in a better transcript. The problem is that, at places like Dartmouth, a large proportion of the students have the academic ability and focus to go to medical school, if that is what they want to do. Admission rates to medical school are high from places like D because so many of the students are good enough at academics to get there.</p>
<p>At less selective schools, a smaller set of students will be med school material. Highly selective colleges tend to have higher average GPA's than the less selective places. So getting the same grades at the state college and at Dartmouth may produce a higher class rank at State. This means that, on average, a given student admitted to D might expect a higher class rank had they gone to a less selective college, they will also need a higher class rank to get into medical school. </p>
<p>The nod goes to D because it tends to offer more to its undergraduates. More support, more resources, more faculty attention, etc. The med school application process is so complicated that having good guidance is critical. It is difficult for places with less money and much higher student faculty ratios to match a Dartmouth in these areas. </p>
<p>But more important than any of this is that your med school prospects depend more than anything else on your grades, MCATs, and recommendations. Lots of state college grads go to medical school, but it may be a smoother path from dartmouth.</p>
<p>i've actually had a pre-med experience at both a large, less selective state school as well as at a top 20 school.
i chose to go to state school mainly because of the full ride and figured that a degree is a degree and with extra hard work i'd be ok getting into med school. but i found that the problem became the pre-req classes i was taking wasn't adequately preparing me for the future. my gen chem 1 professor was mostly concerned with making the class passable than he was making us fully understand the material. i made a 109% in that class because of all the extra credit that was offered but i didn't feel like i learned a damn thing.
i'm transferring to a top 20 school this fall, and im re-taking gen chem 1 there over the summer, and even though i've already supposedly taken this class, i still have to put in a lot of effort and study hard to keep up.</p>
<p>so yea, you made the right choice in choosing darmouth over your state school. i think it'll better prepare you for taking the mcats as well as for the rigor of med school.</p>