SLU Medical Scholars vs. Cornell/Emory

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
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<p>Presently, I'm debating on whether I should attend Cornell, Emory or SLU's Medical Scholars Program.</p>

<p>About the 8 year SLU Medical Scholars program, this is how it's structured: If I maintain a 3.5 GPA for 2 years, then at the end of sophomore year I attend an interview, which determines whether I get into SLU med or not. It has a 98% acceptance rate, so I'm pretty sure that I'll get into SLU med provided that I maintain the 3.5 GPA. And the best part is that, even though I have to take the MCAT, there's no score requirement. I do have to maintain a 3.5 GPA after I get admitted to SLU med in sophomore year, but I think I can handle that.</p>

<p>I also had an idea that IF I get a really good GPA (3.85+) and IF I score well on the MCAT (35+) , I know it's no joke, then I would risk giving up my spot at SLU med to apply out to better medical schools. However, if I don't get that great of a GPA or MCAT score (or if I just don't want to leave SLU), then I can use SLU med as a backup and attend it and then aim high for residency. I am just curious of the various pathways I can take to obtain admission to medical schools. How do you find this idea of forgoing my spot at SLU med if I get good stats?</p>

<p>And I had another concern. This is the link for the prescribed premedicine curriculum at SLU: Pre-medicine</a> Curriculum : Saint Louis University : SLU First of all, let me tell that you I can't take credit for any courses at SLU. That's their policy. And if you take a close look at the courses, then you'll notice that I have College Algebra and Precalc in the first year and Calculus in the second year. My classmate who got into Wharton has the equivalent of AP Calculus BC (Math 101) as a course in the first semester of freshman year. So, my question was that do medical schools discriminate and closely look at WHICH courses I took and then look at my GPA in a different light accordingly? Or do these things not really matter and do medical school adcoms look favourably at a 3.8+ GPA from any undergrad, especially SLU?</p>

<p>Would medical school adcoms look at a 3.9 GPA (which is not easy, I know) from SLU as the equivalent of, for example, a 3.5 GPA from Cornell/Duke/Emory/etc? If so, does that mean the GPA matters most, REGARDLESS of where I attend? </p>

<p>I know that Emory and Cornell have really strong premeds and that I would have a wealth of opportunities to take part in, but the idea of a (almost) guaranteed medical school acceptance as a backup really attracts me. I've also heard (hearsay maybe?) that Emory and Cornell are both notorious for the overwhelming cutthroat competition among premeds, much more than the average premed competition in other schools in the same tier.</p>

<p>I know that norcalguy is from Cornell, so he may be able to shed some light on this topic. </p>

<p>What are your opinions on my situation? What would you have done if you were my shoes? And do you know anything about SLU's Medical School in particular? </p>

<p>Sorry if what all I asked was redundant and confusing! Thanks.</p>

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<p>Bump ?</p>

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<p>Why do you automatically assume that you will end up with a 3.5 at Cornell/Duke/Emory. If you work hard, you should be able to pull off a 3.8 at those schools. I know that I was worried about the same thing when I was choosing between colleges. Just work hard at the school you choose, and it will all work out in the end.</p>

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<p>It’s nice to be the smartest of your class but you will soon get tired of it, not to mention you will be stuck at SLU for 8 years. Don’t worry too much about getting into a med school. If you work hard (and play hard) at Emory, you will get into a good med school</p>

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<p>Wouldn’t it be better if I divert the ‘hard work’ needed to get a higher GPA to taking part in better extracurriculars or starting initiatives at SLU? And, because I wouldn’t have to worry about the MCAT, I can channelize my energy towards something else. Or is this all trivial? I really don’t get it.</p>

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<p>Hey,
I’m faced with a similar dilemma. I have Duke, Cornell, Med Scholars and UCB to pick from.
As of now, I’m leaning towards SLU b/c of the insurance aspect. I know that if I work hard, I can still get a good GPA at Duke, but one of my family friends is on his 2nd yr applying to med schools (rejected from all, including SLU, on the first run) and he went to Duke, had a 3.85 and had a ton of EC’s and even paid research.
The thing is, medical schools are getting more and more competitive every year. Therefore, I feel that if I go to SLU, work hard and stay in the Med Scholars program, I can, like you said, shoot high in med school and get a great residency match. My cousin who went the med scholars route got a residency at stanford…</p>

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<p>Notice that, of course, the sorts of kids who get into guaranteed programs aren’t the same as other kids. These programs are carefully picking out the few kids they trust to be stellar candidates in a few years.</p>

<p>Note, too, that on another thread somebody suggested that of the 120 students who start off in SLU’s track, typically 90+ of them end up going elsewhere for medical school – meaning that they had better odds than before. Now imagine how many it would be if they had gone to a university with all the opportunities and talented peers, and if they had the motivation to continue pushing themselves throughout. 100? 110? All 120?</p>

<p>Risk aversion would normally make sense, but not in this context. And in the meanwhile you’ve lost the chance to go to one of the premiere universities in the country in exchange for a guarantee that (for you) doesn’t mean hardly anything.</p>

<p>Guaranteed programs are a trap. Don’t ever take one unless the undergraduate school would be your #1 choice for other reasons.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1121822-usnwr-10-medical-schools-lowest-admission-rate.html#post12365025[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1121822-usnwr-10-medical-schools-lowest-admission-rate.html#post12365025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>90+ go to a different med school OR don’t make it to med school OR become disinterested in medicine. There are also the adventurous ones that apply out, get denied everywhere, even back at SLU. hard times haha. polling the group of 30 that do move on, i’d say a lot of us have the ability to go other places…I mean, 3.9+ 35+mcat? but why would we ruin our senior year with the application process. Our school is highly regarded. It might not be pristine when viewed through a magazine (always a problem of a smaller, private school) but once you visit campus and take part in the education, you’ll realize why people even of ivy status choose our school…granted maybe it’s because they didn’t get into harvard or hopkins…but there is still a reason for our school and not some state school. It only helps that our residency placement and usmle preparation are stellar. It highly likely you’ll be able to do what you want and where you want.</p>

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<p>*Would medical school adcoms look at a 3.9 GPA (which is not easy, I know) from SLU as the equivalent of, for example, a 3.5 GPA from Cornell/Duke/Emory/etc? *</p>

<p>Uh…I think a med school would prefer a 3.9 from SLU over a 3.5 from those others. </p>

<p>I don’t know why people think that a high GPA (3.9) from a good school like SLU will not be respected???</p>

10

<p>My DD was offered the Medical Scholars deal at SLU also. When we toured, our tour guide was also a Med Scholar. We asked her if she was going to exercise the benifit of the program. She said that a majority of the scholars leave and go to other medical schools. She felt the price of SLU was steeper than other schools and thought that if she kept her GPA up she would chose to apply elsewhere. DD decided to take a pass based on multiple factors.</p>