<p>Soo, I hear that r/b decisions have started to come out. I didn't get mine though...but did anyone so far get in?</p>
<p>My s is lucky enough to into both programs. Rice/Baylor was just known today.</p>
<p>However, which one is a better choice? Any input is welcome!</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Rice/Baylor will provide greater access to research opportunities and a broader clinical exposure. BCM has a very diverse student body, whereas the overwhelming majority of Brown med students graduated from Brown. If your son is a Texas resident or during his undergrad years he becomes a Texas resident, the total cost of undergrad and medical school for Rice/Baylor will be about $200,000 less than PLME.</p>
<p>Rice/Baylor is a great program, no doubt, but it’s hard to top Brown PLME. And this is coming from somebody who really likes Rice.</p>
<p>For one, both Rice and Brown are regarded as fantastic premed schools, and your son will get plenty of opportunity at both to conduct research/clinical exposure and round out his undergraduate experience. However, while Rice has a med school acceptance rate that’s comparable to Brown’s, its numbers are skewed because Texas’ medical schools reserve spaces for in-state residents, and as Rice is the premiere undergraduate institution in Texas, this will obviously inflate Rice’s numbers (doing some digging on Rice’s web site will reveal just how many end up at Texas schools). Brown’s medical school acceptance rate is probably more indicative of the overall application process.</p>
<p>Secondly, Brown will provide your son a more well-rounded experience. The Brown/Ivy League name will continue to open doors and create opportunities for the rest of his life, and the open curriculum there is unparalleled (there’s a reason Brown has the highest yield behind HYPSM!). Also, while medical schools (if your son chooses to apply) will undoubtedly recognize Rice’s prestige, as an Ivy, Brown will naturally carry greater weight/oomph in the process. In particular, the Ivy League medical schools (HMS, Penn, Columbia, Yale) are known to be quite clique-ish, tending to favor heavily Ivy League applicants–going to Brown will make admission into those schools a bit easier.</p>
<p>Finally, many knock Brown’s Warren Alpert medical school because of its deflated ranking, but realize that the majority of its class is composed of PLME students (and since they have automatic acceptance, it makes it appear less selective), which are some of the most outstanding in the nation. As a result, its match list is always quite impressive, and both residency directors and the general medical community holds it in considerable regard.</p>
<p>Ultimately, you can’t go wrong with either one–having the choice between both is really impressive, kudos to your son–but based on the reasons above, I’d give the edge to Brown. I suggest that you post this in the Brown forum as well to get a more well-balanced picture.</p>
<p>-ikka, where can you find the information about the medical schools that Rice grads end up at? I’m going to Rice and personally I dont care which med school I get into as long as I get into one. </p>
<p>To wen, I also agree with ikka and as much as I love Rice, I think that he should go for Brown but honestly, he wont go wrong either way.
Also, I think personal fit is also very important. I like Brown too but I LOVED Rice a lot more and thus applied ED.</p>
<p>How hard is it to keep a semester/cumulative GPA of 3.4 and cumulative science GPA of at least 3.2 as required by the Rice/Baylor program (as an engineering major vs. biology major)?</p>
<p>Thanks everyone!</p>
<p>ikka, please read wen’s post closely. wen’s son has already got accepted into medical school if he maintains a reasonable GPA at either Brown or Rice. It is not whether Rice or Brown will give him a leg up in medical school application in the future. I think the cost difference is definitely something to be considered.</p>
<p>Brown is a much more liberal place than Rice, which some really don’t like- most liberal in the Ivies. Also, Brown’s grading system causes (some say inflation, but it is more than that) more questions over graduate school candidates. My opinion is that Rice is on the rise nationally and for a 2013 candidate, the timing is good.</p>