<p>@mom2collegekids I know that getting a good gpa is difficult at nearly any school especially difficult schools but the standard varies and a lot of schools have grade inflation (at least in comparison to other schools) that makes the task more manageable and Med schools don’t seem to know or care about this. Hence why admission rates to med school are higher from grading inflating HYPS than MIT or say caltech whose student bodies should be equally strong. I also thought/heard that the quality of counseling varies at different schools and that the counseling can help students choose courses, help get research and other beneficial EC’s, and choose proper medical schools to apply for but perhaps I’m wrong on that. I also did say that merit aid/cost would be the most important factor for me in choosing a safety school so it’s definitely something I’m considering. At my family income >200K I doubt I qualify for any significant financial aid so merit aid or cheap cost would be good. There is certainly some racism left anywhere (really In the world), but it tends not to be that much anymore, but I think few would argue that it’s not stronger in the south. Also distance from home would discourage me from going to the south as a factor. While school is only from fall to spring I presume it’s still very warm in the later parts of spring or early fall and I may spend some summers at the campus doing research or an internship I presume. Thanks for the help anyways.</p>