Ivy network may not be very useful in medicine. It may be useful in certain fields like Wall Street, Consulting etc.
To answer on another question you asked -
Penn State PMM doesn’t require students to have volunteering/shadowing/interview/research for graduating to medical school. It doesn’t require students to take summer courses as well.
Penn state is very good for research. your C should be able to get research by asking professors very easily.
Volunteering/shadowing opportunities can also be obtained. see the below for a few -
Student Opportunities in Health Care | Penn State Student Affairs.
Your kid also can do Volunteering/shadowing at home during summer
Penn state PMM students seem to like the program and their experience - I have heard from many at various stages (UG, med school and beyond)
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Wait until you are fully immunized before any travel, IMO.
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Any way some ivies like B, D and Cornell med schools are not even T15 and many of their programs are not competitive. So Ivy network is not the same for med schools.
Only H, P, Y, Columbia, (S) med schools are in the league.
Interesting debate about IVY league schools by fellow desis. Pay attention to what @itsgettingreal21, an Ivy League attendee said.
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@itsgettingreal21 - Agreed. An “Ivy network” is not important in medicine. Even applying to Med school (unlike law school and business school), it probably only factors in after GPA, MCAT, EC, volunteer/community activities, research experience, and interview.
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I think you get slight advantage with GPA and MCAT as per getting interviews as an Ivy League applicant to medical schools.
UCSF and Hopkins are considered better medical schools than Ivy League ones (not because DS got admission)
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Not surprising since Ivy League = a sports league and not a very good one at that in sports most people care about. Ivy League does not mean best in class. Its members are some of the oldest universities in our country. They are very good schools with large endowments. Each has its strengths and weakness. And they are not a good nor the best fit for every bright student. They should not be put on some untouchable pedestal.
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I was looking into tuition for BU and found out that the tuition increased by 36.37% from 2011 to 2021 - meep!! Also, BU tuition increase applies to enrolled students, not just new incoming batch. If tuition Fall 2022 is increased 4% (say), then everyone enrolling in BU in 2022 pays the higher tuition, not just the batch of students starting at BU in 2022. This was an interesting find, not that it would factor into decisions. Another interesting info: we can prepay tuition for student for up to o 8 semesters at current tuition rates, thereby avoiding tuition increase. 
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Too bad IIT folks haven’t been, and doubt if ever will, contribute to science & technology in any big way (alright they may have made it to some fat paying corporate jobs or started start ups and made quick bucks, but that’s not it). Except for one name Karmarkar, but again too bad Bell Labs mismanaged and made his contribution not sticking for too long.
Except for him, all other big names preceded IIT brand (and none of them affiliated with them). Chandrasekhar, CNR Rao, CR Rao, C Kumar Patel …
It has been an average 2.5% per year over the last 4 years. As mentioned earlier, compare it to the stock market over sane period (and your 529 plans, brokerage accounts, investment plans, hedge funds … ).
Yes, we prepaid for 4 semesters, but on the hindsight, should have left in stock market.
If you break it down to undergrad vs medical schools, I believe FAU probably will provide the “college experience” a teen looks for. And it helps that it is free.
W&J - see my previous comments on it.
Among medical schools, I would prefer Temple over others. Though FAU is newer and upcoming medical school.
UMKC has both the advantage & disadvantage of being 6 year program - limited college experience, unsupported environment, probably the most costly but ability to complete medicine in 6 years.
It’s a tough one. If I had to lean one way, it may be towards FAU.
But I suggest speak to students and if you are able, visit the colleges and get a subjective feel. and trust your and your D’s gut feel.
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If you were to toss a coin and had to call Heads for Yale and Tail for RPI/AMC, what would you root for?
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PS: It does not matter where the coin lands!
To counter some of the points made here previously, some pros for Union:
- Union as an undergrad school is small, liberal arts, so you really get to explore any major you’d like; rather than at PMM I think you are stuck to science.
- When I spoke to them, I could tell the students there are very smart, and they get to study abroad often.
- The MD/MBA is always good talking point in residency.
- People who go there are leaders(the program is Leadership in Medicine anyway), they do lot of community service.
- Its a nice personalized experience.
Then again, as people have mentioned above, PMM is more connection, while Union/AMC is isolated. and Jefferson rank is way higher. Penn State is a big school. It comes down to your preference of college life and your priorities for med i think
Some example of folks I know:
Undergrad → Med School → Residency (specialty) → Fellowship (specialty)
UPenn → UPenn → New York Based Residency (Ortho)
UPenn → Geisinger → same New York Based Residency (IM → Cardiology)
UPenn → Vandy → St. Louis (IM → Oncology)
UPenn → doing healthcare consulting
Case → Temple → Temple (IM) → Drexel (Infectious disease)
Rosemont College → Drexel → Northwestern (FM)
McGill → GW → UIC (IM) → UMaryland (Infectious)
UVA → Georgetown → NYU (IM-> Cardiology)
Duquesne → had to do MHA
Georgetown → Georgetown → Harvard (IM) → Hopkins (Infectious)
Pitt → Pitt (in med. school)
Pitt → UPenn (joining this year)
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I would add Pitt to the list.
That is in Hershey.
PennState has EAP with Hershey - 8 year program.
From undergrad to medical school Ivy plays a very limited role.
IVY network or any network depends on connections.
Can Ivy Medical School Program directors (PD) open ROTATIONS door for their students?
Of course they can.
Question is - how many do for their students and under what circumstances?
Rotations is where the network effect comes into play.
Every PD has his/her/their own network.
@rk2017 that attack on IITians was under the belt 
but now that you started it I would proudly state -
There are only two kinds of Engineers that get their bachelor’s degree out of India - one who are IITians and the other -who wish they were IITians 
On a serious note being from IIT and IIM, I understand the value of brands. Having said that, just because you can win a battle you do not go out swinging. Conserving energy for a bigger fight is a smart tactic. US MD route is different than US non MD or India degree and requires a different strategy.
Which battle is important and which is not is a call that has to be taken based on personal preferences. 
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