<p>S got into Harvard and PLME, he is struggling to choose between the two. </p>
<ol>
<li>For those of you who gave up HYPS, could you please explain how did you make the decission? Any of you regret? and Why?</li>
<li>How many people (or what percentage of each class) gave up, and move to other fields? </li>
<li>Since the guarantee spot of med school and low GPA requirement, you will have less pressure during UG. How do you spend your extra time?</li>
</ol>
<p>Any info and story about PLME other than above category are appreciated.</p>
<p>Same here. Anyone chosen Stanford over combined or vice versa. How did you arrive at the decision which school to attend and any second thought.
Thanks.</p>
<p>I chose Stanford over HPME and PLME because it was closer to home and had better name recognition. In retrospect, I might have been better off at a combined program. Having a guarantee allows a little more freedom to take non-traditional premed classes or majors (there’s less emphasis on filling a schedule with classes and ECs to impress a med school admissions committee), and lowers undergraduate stress levels.</p>
<p>My D has definitely been encouraged to look at BS/MD programs.</p>
<p>Thanks for your response regarding Stanford and PLME. Do you known any downsides, instances where students have/had difficulty in achieving the ultimate career goal?
To us, the baseline would be medical school at similar competitiveness of the already accepted combined program. Gaining entrance into Brown (or a top 40 NIH funding school) in your case, is worth the risk and extra work. But a lot of students deciding not to pursue medicine (weeded out) or resigning to less competitive schools is not worth the trouble, or headache/heartache. The reputation of the UG institution maybe less significant in medicine, as compared to Law or Business for example.<br>
But it is tough to turn down HYPS, reach schools for us. My daughter knows an extremely bright girl at the top of the preceding class, who is struggling at Harvard right now.</p>