Do you know “which top residency” ? It is such a vague statement and may mean different things to different students. It all depends upon what you do when you land up in medical school. Pick your medical school by visiting them, talking to some students in the program if possible.
By top residency, I mean a residency in surgery at schools like NYU and UPenn. In general I just want to know pros and cons of both programs like which one would be a good choice.
General surgery may not be so difficult to get in and then you can do specialization (fellowship) in your field of choice- cardiac etc. Neuro surgery and Plastic Surgery are integrated ( Gen Surgery + Specialization ) programs.
Definitely will try to give updates 
After discussing financing with my parents we ultimately decided GPPA was the right choice, especially with the pandemic and changing restrictions. Ultimately I feel my success is largely determined by my own drive and while a top 20 school helps, my success is in my hands, so it just made more sense to stay in-state with the bird in hand.
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Good thought process. GL to you!
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Okay, makes sense. Thanks!
What is SDN?
Student Doctor Network
@grtd2010 neurosurgery and plastics are separate residencies from general surgery (cannot subspecialize after general surgery), only cardiothoracic you can do as a fellowship after general surgery.
@mddmdlovers honestly both of those medical schools (SBU and GWU) are in the same ballpark in terms of reputation so I don’t believe the chances of matching at a top surgical residency is significantly better at one vs the other on the whole (but I’m not privy to the particular strengths of each surgical subspecialty department at each program). I would look at other factors if you were deciding between the two.
They are both mid-tier schools so if you want to go to a top academic program you will have to do very well in medical school. The alternative would be to bet on yourself and make it to a top medical school which can make it easier to match into a top program
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So does anyone know if you can bargain with IVYs for matching ( or closing gap) for BSMD rides at SBU or JHU/NYU/Harvey Mudd kind of schools??
Am going to try for sure.
From what I heard ivy leagues match offers close to other ivy leagues/Stanford/MIT schools. Not sure about BS/MD but you should definitely try.
They don’t care about BSMDs and other low tiers.
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Haha - Perhaps they can make more money by starting like PLEM!!!
Damn D should have got Caltech!
How about Harvey Mudd or JHU??? Meaning can you bargain with HYP? Think Dartmouth may match!! Is Dartmouth a real IVY???
Are you talking about need based? You Ivies don’t have merit scholarships.
I know a professor whose D went to Columbia and got about 30K. Think Harvard and Cornell give 20-30K. Not sure on others. I dont think most pay 80K.
@lilbody - UVA will be free. With the full ride at UVA, you can save up for medical school. You can also apply to in-state medical school which will also be the cheapest for you.
But the money saved will require a lot of focussed hard work. UG at UVA is known to be difficult. Your D should be focussed on her UG studies getting 3.8 GPA while using all the extra resources i.e. free study abroad & internship & research) she is going to get to build up a solid profile. She can then try for a better medical school or instate medical school. Inspite of this, there is no guarantee that you will end up with a medical school better than Thomas Jefferson/SKMC. Average medical college costs 300-400K approximately. However, with multiple medical offers, you might have a choice to get better/cheaper med school.
Penn State and SKMC total cost is approx. 420-470K. Penn State PMM UG on the other hand will be very easy with pretty much guaranteed medical seat in SKMC. (GPA 3.5 and MCAT 508)
So, your choice is between “bird at hand option that is costly but is very easy” compared to “cheaper option that might open doors to something better but will require lot of hard/focussed work”
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@srk2017 is right. Usually Ivys have only need based scholarships and do not offer merit based scholarships since Ivy Leagues get plenty of well-qualified students willing to pay full price of 80K/year. However, they do meet full demonstrated need (based on family EFC)
I have however heard Columbia offers Egleston Scholars that provides $10000 stipend but this is one time only (as per my friend whose C got this) to be used for specific purpose (research or attend conference etc.)
Thank you for sharing your stats + perspectives on the Results thread.
Congratulations on GPPA.
I hope your mom feels better and you continue to get to spend time with her.
You hit the nail on essays - personalization and geniuneness.
I wish you the very best.
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Sounds like she applied as safety for home turf.