@HKimPOSSIBLE sounds like your college search is going to work out. Regarding W&L, due your research, what I have found is it’s a very small LAC, conservative, rich, and white community which may or may not be you cup of tea?
Good luck to you…
Suspect W&L calls itself a University because it has a law school. If you search “Johnson competition” on the W&L forum, you’ll find several posts on what the scholarship weekend is like. Congrats on your selection as a semifinalist!
Don’t forget that even with a social sci major, you’ll be taking the pre-med track of courses. Critical to do well in those.
I just want to remind you that, wherever you land, there can be compromises. When you visit, have eyes wide open for the future there- not just the present (how the visit is structured, how it goes.) Because when you commit, there’ll be a number of reasons. Maybe a little more $, maybe some named honor, maybe a BDMD program, maybe a research position, etc. If things aren’t 100% perfect, once there, it will help to keep your eyes on the prize, the opportunities/positives, and the goal of 4 successful years there.
@yauponredux Thank you for the clarification; matches the most popular majors being econ/pre-law of some sort! I am seeing that their pre-health advising is also spectacular as well.
@lookingforward Ah, alright thank you. How would you say the “grade deflation” at UChicago has gotten (for pre-med of course)? I’m sure there are people hitting close to 4.0 as a Pre-Med student, but I’m sure they’re just wizards to begin with.
Congratulations! Very good option. A colleague’s daughter graduated from W&L a few years ago, went to Vandy grad school, and is now earning a great salary doing her dream job at a company she loves. She said the rigor at W&L was what made everything else possible.
W&L is a very good option with a full ride if the fit is fine.
@MYOS1634, yes, UIC is a commuter school (though they have more dorms now, and anyway, there’s a lot to do in Chicago*) but with a good reputation in all the health fields. If he gets in to that UIC pre-med program, that’s probably the surest path to med school. UIUC is very strong in the STEM fields so a high science GPA (pretty much required for med school) is no guarantee there.
- More thoughts on the commuter school thing: pretty much all the London unis are commuter schools (including internationally renown schools like LSE and UCL). And while UIC's student body stats aren't terribly impressive, they're on par with those of state flagships like WVU.
If UC isn’t your first choice any more, if you still want to consider other schools and scholarships, you should change from ED2 to RD. It sounds like most of the schools on your list will give you enough FA to attend. Some may give more, like the summer programs and study abroad, but you are obligated to attend the ED school if you can afford it.
I’d move the ED2 to RD. You have too many good options to not be able to compare.
^Right, I forgot. Yes, move the U of C app from ED to RD if you’re as serious about med school as you say you are.
You guys don’t think that moving UC from ED2 to RD will significantly adversely impact his chances at UC? OP Says he still has his heart set on UC.
But if it were me, I’d switch it because the potential opportunity for getting into med school right now is worth it’s weight in gold. Well, assuming that the BS/MD program doesn’t have too high criteria for staying in the program, like very high MCAT scores or very high GPA. Those criteria dilute (but don’t do away with) the value of getting into the program now.
Requirements are science GPA 3.6, overall cumulative GPA 3.6, and MCAT 512.
@melvin123: Well, his chances at the U of C would move from “barely existent” to “infinitesimal” (considering that the U of C has given zero indications that they actually want him, while they do reach out to EA applicants who they like). That’s not a huge change, IMO.
Plus, from a med school perspective, a high GPA at the U of C would be very tough to get (yet would still be required). Maintaining a high GPA at UIC wouldn’t be easy, per se, but it would be easier. Probably easier with the type of support named scholarship recipients would get at W&L as well.
One of the key aspects in doing well in life is making good decisions, and part of that is figuring out how to deal with your emotions instead of just following your feels. So a key point is figuring out why you feel the way you do about the U of C . . . and figuring out if you can replicate what you want from other paths.
If prestige is a big part of it (and I understand that, it’s not completely irrational), that big named scholarship from W&L and BS-MD program are both pretty tough to get; I’d say on par with getting in to an Ivy/equivalent.
You should also consider whether reality would actually fit your ideal. I get the appeal of living the life of the mind at the U of C. I feel and felt the same way (and believe everyone should be a life-long learner). But unless you are a crazy-smart genius (the type who breezes through the toughest classes at one of the best HS’s in the country with a 4.0 without breaking a sweat), the reality of being a pre-med at the U of C is more likely to be one where you have to put in insanely long hours and stress out just to be competitive enough to hope that one med school (all with low single digit admit rates) would take you.
BTW, UIC has an honors college with a required minimum ACT of 28 (average probably a little over 30) and also offers honors housing.
Some of the stats and information in this FAQ page might be helpful for OP at this time. I’ll post on OP’s other thread as well.
https://careeradvancement.uchicago.edu/uchicago-careers-in/health-professions/pre-health-faqs
BTW, it’s academic now, but did you apply for ISP and HPME when you applied to NU? (Not that applying to HPME would have helped, but I’m curious.)
@JBStillFlying Thank you for the page!
@PurpleTitan I did not apply to HPME - was already rejected from Northwestern early december - I applied last year too through HPME, but the case was obviously very different.
I applied to Case, Rice, Rochester, Brown, and WUSTL’s bs/md programs, rejected from the prior three, waiting on WUSTL and Brown.
You are at the last stretch of the application process. You have some form decisions in hand. If any of those look more attractive to you than the UChicago commitment that will come into play in less than 2 weeks, I recommend going for them. As I’ve mentioned before, the dual BS/MS programs are highly prized and for those whose dream is to be a doctor, that is often the best decision. I’ve seen students barely flinch as they throw off a Harvard acceptance for such programs at i lone colleges. They are pure gold offers.
But, you not only didn’t flinch. Your sights were still on Chicago. I tho k in your. Case , Chicago or NY, the two favorite son local schools which are also among the most highly rated colleges(i tend to mean USNWC ratings when I say that) I believe personally, that this has been the prefetrred outcome all along. I think the only thing that might have derailed the trains to those stations in the OP’s mind would have been a HPY acceptance. Name brand, and rankings do count for a lot in preferences. There is also the whole matter of family preferences too, and in this case, UC is also local to the OP.
So, yes, you’ll wonder and agonize a bit, but I think bottom line, UChicago is where the heart is set and an accept to that school would ring cheers from loved ones too.
I happen to believe that LACs are very often the best choice for college students. I’ve seen many a very motivated, highly talented kid wash out at the likes of JHU, Cornell, CMU and like schools. I’ve seen many Premed aspirations not come to fruition at these schools that are powerhouses of hard work, tough grades and little support in the emotional part of all of this. I’m an alum of one of these schools, DH of two of them and a son a drop out of these type of schools of which UChicago is in that mix . So I’m speaking specifically of that school. I know its culture well.
I also believe, that there is a more than incidental chance of being moved to the reject stack at UC if OP changes his status to RD there. It’s JMO however, and I have no evidence to back it up.
W&L is a great opportunity but it would mean a whole new world for OP. Small town, southern cult, a lot to take in there. I do believe the support system that school is far better than the juggernaut schools, but this is a big change and the environment of W&L is quite different than from OP going to Lake Forest college or even small town LACS on the east coast.
I also believe that had OP focused on small LACs from the get go , he would not have been on that reject train. And Im talking about far less known schools than W&L. But that train has done left its station and it’s a whole other ride.
Good luck, and am looking forward to the next chapter of this story which we’ll likely know in a couple of weeks. Unless, Chicago defers you, which would take this train on an extended route. It’s been quite a scenic ride.
UChicago doesn’t defer ED2. The potential outcomes are Admit, Deny, Waitlist.
I’d still think it’s a hard call since OP really wants UC (close to home, etc).
But OP, I think you should possibly reconsider, since your even bigger goal is to graduate from med school. I want to point out one other issue with UC besides grade deflation. And that’s the issue of whether you’d have to study so hard, that you won’t have enough time to check the other boxes on the med school app, such as having enough time to volunteer in something meaningful to you, time to shadow doctors, and time to volunteer or work with the elderly/sick. OP’s other options might give him substantially more time to engage in these other activities, which are important.
On another note, I looked up WUSTL requirements to stay in the program- a 3.8 and an MCAT score in the 97th plus percentile. I bet it would be easy to miss those requirements, which would mean getting washed out of the MD portion.
But, Brown is still on the table as a possibility. If OP gets in (that’s a big if statistically), Brown’s BS/MD program virtually guarantees that you’ll go to the med school, unless something goes drastically wrong. It would give OP the opportunity to really concentrate on his research, rather than spreading himself thin with various ECs for the purpose of just checking boxes.
And the UCI program, which OP has a strong chance of, looks pretty reasonable with the 3.6 GPA and MCAT in the 88th percentile.
And even if none of the BS/MD programs pan out for OP, some of the other college only programs may have an easier track to med school acceptance for him. This is due to the assumptions of less schoolwork, better chance of doing well compared to your classmates, and more free time to engage in ECs. That’s something to look into, for sure.
Note too that you aren’t constrained by UIC GPPA. You could still apply to med schools elsewhere. So it’s like a free option (since you’re close to guaranteed admission to IL’s public flagship med school through UIC GPPA).
I agree with this. But students do have to take the MCAT in the UIC GPPA program, whether you stay at UIC or apply elsewhere.
Some BS/MD programs (like Brown PLME) don’t require students to take the MCAT, as long as you have maintained the undergrad GPA…but of course they can’t apply to other med schools either.