Rice vs Wash U vs CMU

<p>DS accepted Rice but has since gotten into Wash U and into CMU where he wants to do Biomed engg. He wants to go to med school. He attended a selective college prep school and has v good stats. Which of the above schools offer better academics, research opportunities, good prep for MCAT and in general would be good for premed students.
Very tough decision. Please give your opinions.</p>

<p>Wash U for pre-med, definitely</p>

<p>Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using CC App</p>

<p>Rice is a very good school for premed, but so is WashU and probably CMU. I think you should look into factors outside of academics to make this decision. Where would your son enjoy his college experience the most?</p>

<p>DS will fit into all three schools pretty well. Apart from college rankings do you believe there is a difference in prestige value between these schools from med schools or from the commercial world.</p>

<p>I do not believe so. All three are excellent schools and are well regarded throughout. Rice has one of the top medical school admission rates as well, making it a good pick.</p>

<p>It really comes down to what Dorian says, **Where would your son enjoy his college experience the most? **</p>

<p>College is all about the experience. Pick the place where you will be happy and enjoy being for 4 years. Weather, location, campus, size, sports etc. can be important to a good college experience.</p>

<p>Rice bioengineering is good. Their undergrads recently designed a device to diagnose dry eyes.</p>

<p>[Rice</a> University Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen](<a href=“http://oedk.rice.edu/climatears/]Rice”>http://oedk.rice.edu/climatears/)</p>

<p>Thank you for your replies. I have heard that CMU does not weed out premeds & no grade deflation. Do you know if Rice or Wash U weed out for premeds ? Do either have grade deflation? All things being equal where will he have to work harder to be in the top 20% of his class and make it to a top med school? What are the avg GPAs of students on premed track at these 3 schools ?</p>

<p>IvyMom - There is no “pre-med major” at Rice. It is simply a collection of classes needed to be medical school ready/eligible. As a result, your GPA is almost entirely dependent on your GPA. You can be an English major, Engineer, Fine Arts etc. with pre-med. The average GPA’s vary accordingly and as far as I know, medical schools take account of the difficulty of major.</p>

<p>Rice does not weed out pre-meds. As with other schools, expect the pre-med classes such as organic chemistry etc. to be challenging. A lot of pre-med students want to do well, so people work hard and get good grades. The atmosphere is not cutthroat though, just that you cannot coast through the pre-med classes. This is going to be true for all three schools.</p>

<p>Another thing to possibly consider is the financial side if he wants to go on to med school. One of our daughter’s friends received a 20k merit scholarship from Rice, but a full ride from a large state school (also with a good reputation for pre-med). </p>

<p>She loved Rice, but decided she wanted to save her (parents) money for med school. She also felt she would be happy at the state school, so her decision was not based ONLY on money. Good Luck!</p>

<p>WashU has REALLY amazing pre-med advisors & it’s one of the only schools that really favor their own students when applying to their med school (top!!).</p>

<p>Rice also has really good med school acceptance rates though.</p>