Prestige does matter for getting into top med schools. Prestige of UG adds an additional point to your application over a state school UG. However, if the cost of the ivy league is a lot, I would just go for state school. I know a few people from TCNJ that got into HMS this cycle.
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Oh wow thatâs awesome! Does that prestige factor also stand true for schools like Tulane that arenât necessarily like ivies, but nevertheless are pretty selective and rigorous? Iâm just not sure of whether to go for a big-fish-small-pond dynamic to a state school or small-fish-big-pond to a âwell knownâ but perhaps not ivy-level school (though Iâm waiting for Ivy Day)
When rating the applicants, AOs give 1 point for a low tier school, 2 points for a mid tier school, and 3 points for a high tier school. Tulane probably would get 2 points IMO. Good state schools like UCLA, Berkley, and Rutgers would probably also get 2 points.
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I would like to believe most parents want their kids to succeed (in their field of choosing) and have relative financial stability in their careers.
Lack of financial stability can lead to issues in personal / married life.
I know of parents who have let kids follow their heart in journalism, film making, 3-D animation, business, pharmacy, health policy, occupational health, math, economics, and other fields. I am personally concerned about pay scales in some of these industries e.g. 3-d animation - starting pay for someone with a Masters degree is ~$20/hour - imagine try to support yourself at that pay in LA!
So, I respect any parent wanting to secure the financial stability of their kids by suggesting career choices. After all, not everyone works in silicon valley or investment banking and gets million dollar bonuses or stock options.
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I agree but one of the reasons quoted for BSMD is kids may change their path and not pursue medicine and thatâs somehow is bad/failure. Let them pursue their passions. Yes some of them have low starting salary but you can make money in field but have to work harder or have to be unique.
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Tell all the doctors who got laid off during the pandemic that medicine is recession proof. And talk to all the bankruptcy lawyers about whether medicine is a path to success. There are no guarantees in life. So let kids explore and find their way. There are so many opportunities out there besides medicine, engineering, etc.
What evidence do you have of this point system?
When I spoke about medicine, Iâm speaking private practice. I would never pursue medicine if I was going to continue to be tied to a hospital corporation and be an employee. The idea of being my own boss is something I value career wise. Also, the pandemic is the only type of recession that may somewhat impact doctors employed by a hospital. Pandemics are once in a hundred years occurrence. Look at the last three recessions: Black Monday, the dot.com crisis, and financial crisis. The industries most severely affected were tech and finance.
If there is another career path that interests someone else, by all means you should pursue your passions and be happy in life. My prior post was illustrating the pros and cons of three different careers: investment bankers, doctors, and engineers.
Source is from a former UCSF admissions officer.
I donât do hearsay.
Just following the passion without knowing the financial outcome or the end result will be disaster. Parents need to educate them based on their life experiences. Financial literacy is the main lack for most in this country. Most ORM parents try to steer their kids or try to influence them away from those disasters! As long as kids are making a well informed decision, they would be fine.
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Whether you want to believe it is up to you. This point system is widely used in many application processes and you can certainty take to forums and google to find out yourself.
The most important thing if your end goal is medicine, how likely are you going to be a top student wherever you decide to go. Preferably at a Magna cum laude level if you are of ORM background. If medicine is not necessarily your end goal then it wonât matter.
The second most important thing is finances (for most if not all). You need to spend good amount on med school no matter and donât listen to people here advertising that you will get that free ride at NYU. It wonât happen. And also donât listen to people whose kids have been fortunate to get free rides for undergrad and asking you to go to top whatever schools. Your family will be paying the bills, not them.
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Looks like youâre a high school student, so here is some advice. When you get to college and have an exam or paper to write, answering that you heard or that everyone knows based on forums or Google will get you a failing grade. Thatâs not evidence.
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Actually there has been an increase in viral genetic shifts, so there will likely be many more pandemics in the future, so there is likely another pandemic around the corner. We have a lot more crowded live stock which gives greater changes of viral mutations and a virus leaping from cow to human, monkey to human, bird to human, you get my point.
I donât recall anyone said or suggest here that NYU free ride is a slam dunk. Fact is UGs are using MD carrot to attract top talent that otherwise wonât even opt for that UG. And no offense to any parents, but paying parent are buying into that narrative and pays for that UG. It is a BSMD business.
wait a minute, who had advocated and advised to kids or parents that break your retirement savings to send your kid to top school let alone any school. âFree rides are fortunateâ sounds entitlement.
I think the question of failure happens in such a case when the student himself/herself/themselves think they came up short and especially when the change of path was a decision they had to take based on the situation they found themselves in.
In the 3-D animation space, for example, except for a few âstarâ animators, most will hardly see any money in their lifetime - working hard may not solve their financial problems because structurally that industry works in a certain way.
Teach them financial literacy but donât decide career for them.
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No body said NYU admission is guaranteed and those who got free rides didnât get due to luck. May be BU SMED did a lottery in 2017 and thatâs why my S and your D got admission and same luck helped out kids in MCATđ
Advocating spending 500k+ on any bird is a great and wise recommendation