I am happy he likes UPenn.
He could not have gone wrong with UPenn or USF.
Both are great schools and UPenn offers him things that USF may not.
Wishing him continued success.
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There is a keynote speaker at PennState/Jefferson - a very fantastic speaker - who has shared that he chose PMM over MIT. He shares his MIT acceptance letter as part of his keynote.
The undergrad experience at Stony Brook will be better than Hofstra but none of these will compare to the Harvard experience.
You have to ask yourself this question and weigh based on your aspirations and circumstances - the value and prestige of Harvard education, the risk of potentially taking 1-2 gaps years, and maybe not getting into any medical school versus the bird-in-hand of having Stony Brook or Hofstra.
The only right answer is the answer you come up with.
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You get to go to Harvard once only and they have grade inflation.
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MIT is not great for premed. My son didn’t even apply.
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Congratulations to everyone who got into NJMS, Cincinnati, Drexel, LECOM, NYIT, and others.
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Agree - it is a tough college environment.
However, Harvard medical school takes more MIT students (as a percentage of its students who applied) than Harvard undergrad students.
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They know the value of 3.8 GPA from MIT vs 3.8 GPA of their UGs 
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UCSF, not USF🙂
I am perplexed as to how some posters always stick to negativity. First, it is ORM parents deciding and forcing their ideas on kids. Then it is the professionals in the field who have seen lot of stuff in their experience and share their wisdom are targeted. Then it is the kids and parents who seem to take a different view from their own are risk averse. Then some thing else … blah … blah.
Let people decide for themselves. Please refrain in passing negative judgments on those who feel or think different from one’s own views. What may be good for one may not be for others.
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Sorry, goofed up.
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Thanks for the reply. GPA inflate or deflate at Harvard?
Harvard and Stanford have GPA inflation among top school. MIT, Cornell and Princeton have deflation as per I know.
Aren’t you the one who have been coming up with failure stories for last few years? You quoted physicians and I am surrounded by physicians and I know how clueless some of them are. I came back out of retirement to balance your arguments As said before I am not against BSMD and recommended some to take it knowing their strengths and weaknesses.
Let’s all (parents) take a chill pill or relax.
I know it’s stressful… but let’s help (or choose to ignore). There are multiple ways to reach the destination.
It’s anyway “opinion” so take it with grain of salt.
Enjoy
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You should take this as an opportunity to contemplate what is important to you - cost, prestige, location, relaxed undergrad experience.
Remember, life presents options and once you choose the path, you can’t go back. If Harvard was your dream and you will feel bad about leaving this option, then clearly you should go there.
I know both kinds of people - those who choose Harvard over BSMD and also those who choose full ride at state university (without bs/MD) and a kid who chose instate BS/MD over their Harvard seat. One of the most important reasons they did this is - cost, location, relaxed undergrad experience.
You can be successful with either of the options!
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IMO, it’s wrong way to look (please note i am not pushing you for or against… JMHO)
Just because it’s 3 years doesn’t mean they save $$$… they take summer and squeeze 4 years (almost) into 3 years. This means less breaks/holiday times… many kids get burned out… Again it’s individual choices
Also many kids to take a GAP year… so sometime its 9 years too.
I shared this example… my friend son… had 4 years of UG (with 4 GPA and 3.95 Med subject GPA)… he took a gap year as he missed all the fun (never had time to party/relax when his friends had gala time and he felt like a “saint”).
He had amazing MCAT and now going this year to good MD school.
So your mile may vary…
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Is there a traditional route thread on CC? look forward to guidance …
Parents that are stressing are class of 2017 
I remember when my daughter was at admitted days at Stanford back in 2012, one parent got up at premed forum and said too many of your students are applying to medicine and cancel each other out and I want my daughter to go to MIT instead since under 100 people apply each year from MIT vs 300 from Stanford.
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That’s what I have been preaching for last 4 years and never advocated for one path. I always counter to those who always come up with traditional path failures but not successes and what potentially one can miss by going for BSMD. As per gap years, they are taken for variety of reasons and some are taking in medical school after realizing how strong their classmates are.
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