Please suggest BU BAMD vs Penn state BSMD which one is better?
Please take rankings with pinch of salt and also consider COA before considering below statement:
BU undergrad and med school is ranked higher than Penn/Jefferson
Cost difference?
BU is around 700k Vs Penn state is around 450-500K
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Thank you.
So last cycle my son was accepted to Stanford, Dartmouth, Brown, and Duke. He has narrowed it down to Brown, Stanford, and Duke. Stanford did not consider Dukeâs FA package for a review but did Brownâs, and Brown looked at Dartmouth and Stanford. Duke accepted all of the above.
So it will vary- I would just make a pdf of the packages and send them off asking for more money. Let the office determine what is or isnât valid.
For us, Brown came up to meet the highest offer.
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Where is your son and why did he choose the specific school?
Nevermind - I see your next message!
So for Brown, the football team is a bit sad, but their other teams are really good. My son isnât an athletic supporter type kid but he has gone to a couple soccer games since he knows two team members.
As for socialization, it isnât a football school, like Bama or Texas A/M. There really wonât be any tailgating type things (that he has mentioned), and I know there are frats but that isnât something my kid would ever do so I donât know about them much.
but there are a TON of activities on campus. Between the UTAs for Chem and Biol, he has met quite a few students also in his STEM path. He has gone ice skating and plays pick up volleyball games. He just signed up to start as a research assistant for a cardiac project and has the potential for his name to be included when published. He is dating a fellow PLME and they hang frequently with another PLME couple one year ahead of theirs. The PLMES have group chats and discord. They are all going to the Gala this weekend. PLMEs have monthly dinners, they had PLME wars at the beginning of year, and they do things like tours or meet in small affinity groups like FURM. I def think they are still recovering from Covid as brown just lowered their restrictions like a month before break.
He is super close to his two roommates, who are international students and have stayed with us twice this year over breaks and through them he met other international students and their housing group is now 8 people for next year all trying to room together.
I think it is very hard to be lonely at Brown, like you would have to deliberately try to do so. Even my introvert type son is happy and social there. Itâs good.
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named scholarship
Go with Penn State, BU is not with $200K+.
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He is at Brown. He had a super hard time with his top 3 options but frankly- he liked not having to worry about MCAT and he really really liked the open curriculum. But I know giving up Stanford and Duke were exceptionally hard for him.
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One more no MCAT reason!
In this case of BS/MD, however, Brown is an exceptional school overall on the off chance that he changes his mind!
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Take it and save money. My son took Vanderbilt scholarship over UPenn full cost and now at UPenn Med with another named scholarship. Emory is comparable to Vanderbilt and Rice.
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Yep! And he is a good test taker but who wants to take one if you can avoid it?!
BS/MD for him- I almost feel like he took a pause for a bit, and regular route students donât have that opportunity. But he worked so so hard as a high schooler that getting a mental break (if you call it that while taking Calc, Neuro, Chem, bio, and learning Ancient Greek) was almost like a minute to just be, without having to chase the resume and the experiences for the competition. Some call it being risk adverse, I see as peace of mind, which for a high performing kid with anxiety- itâs pretty priceless
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@sondi You can DM me for an in depth comparison
No MCAT as the main reason makes sense for the kids who gets stressed about standardized tests or anxiety issues but medicine has lot of testing.
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People have a personality and they canât change it so I would be surprised if your son is taking it easy.
They put their energy elsewhere. I have known a kid as kindergartner who went to HPME instead of Stanford and this guy put all his energy into writing papers. He was churning them out by tens each year and by the time he hit residency at MGH he had close to 50 or 75 papers. He has crossed 200 now in the 10 years since.
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Most students complete their UG at Penn state in 2.5 years, and a few complete it in 2 years. Because of this, the Total COA will definitely be lesser than your estimate.
Penn/Jeffâs graduation requirements to med school are generally easier. Also, no summer work is needed.
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Do they let you start early if you finish in 2 years? Is this a 3+4 or 4+4?