<p>I'm a current HS senior, and I'm deciding between the Sophie Davis BS/MD program, Davidson College, and Stony Brook University's Engineering Scholars for Medicine program (assuming I get in, which I find out from next week). Each school has its own pros and cons, but in your opinion, which choice is the best in terms of the following factors?</p>
<p>Intellectual environment (the level of one's peers)
Research/internship opportunities, study abroad programs
Meaningful professor-student interaction (class size)
Personal development
Preparation for future career as doctor</p>
<p>(an added note... I live in Stony Brook, so if I went to SBU, I'd live at home for another 8 years. Naturally, I would like to have the time of my college years to mature as an independent adult, but do you think the program outweighs this consideration?)</p>
<p>I have a similar decision to make!
I’m deciding between Union/AMC LIM and Amherst College.</p>
<p>Any insights would be lovely.
While Union is definitely a reputable college in its own right, it doesn’t hold much against Amherst, the premiere liberal arts college in the nation. I don’t know how much I’d be missing if I chose Union over Amherst. </p>
<p>I’ve heard good things about Sophie Davis, though… And my guess is for BS/MD students in particular, opportunities for research would be plentiful. To be honest, most of your concerns are objective, and answers should be readily available online.
I know I wasn’t too helpful –
BUMP</p>
<p>Sorry I don’t know much about Union and not much about Amherst either but I have read lots of threads like this. The way your question is worded makes me think that you are focusing on what you would be missing out on. Who could know that? You might feel better if you focus on what you want and which one will get you closer to that.</p>
<p>Also don’t just compare the next 4 years but also years beyond that. </p>
<p>Even students who have gone to both schools could not give you good objective views because they don’t go to both schools. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just meet someone who went to one school and then transferred to the other?</p>
<p>classicgirll, I agree, it’s better to focus on what you have rather than what you don’t. And you’re right, a lot of the criteria I posted were objective. What I’m really looking for is current or past students at any of these programs to give their insight on how good it really is, as opposed to what the college touts on its website. For example, Davidson has a 100% met financial need policy, but I only received a scholarship for half of my need. SBU is offering me a full ride, but only for the first four years.
Is the liberal arts education and extremely high medical school acceptance rate worth the risk of no guaranteed med school spot?</p>
<p>It’s not only risk, you will need to work really hard for 4 years to be a competitive premed. With a program, you can do whatever you want as long as you get a minimum GPA and MCAT, but a traditional premed needs to have higher stats and more activities.</p>
<p>It is very important that UG matches your personality and wide range of interests. Only you can determine that. Do not underestimate your own perception of each school. The next four years are 4 most important years of your life, treat them as such! Med. School consideration is very important but still secondary to this. This is from prospective of a parent of first year med. student, who admitted many times that her choice of UG was perfect and it had positive effects in many aspects of her life. (D. was in non-accelerated bs/md, but applied out and currently is in Med. School outside of her combined program).</p>
<p>neoevolution, how difficult exactly would it be to get into medical school the regular route? Davidson does advertise a nearly 100% acceptance rate into medical school for its premed majors. Is it harder when majoring as a biomed engineer? What do medical schools look for in an applicant?</p>
<p>MiamiDAP, thanks for your advice! I’ll try to gauge as best I can how much I like each school.</p>
<p>Just as an aside, when a school advertises that they have a 100% acceptance rate for pre-meds into medical school…that doesn’t mean that 100% of students who go in pre-med to the school are accepted into med schools. JHU, for example, also cites a 80-100% number, but the truth is far from that.</p>
<p>What the 100% number refers to is the percentage of students that are accepted into medical school from the pool of applicants the school writes an admissions committee recommendation letter for. Most schools have strict cutoffs for GPA, etc — basically, if you do not do well as a pre-med, your school will not endorse your application by writing you a recommendation letter and you will either be forced out of applying to medical school because it would be unrealistic to apply, or even if you do apply, you won’t be counted in the “100%” calculation that the school cites.</p>
<p>I agree, be very wary of premed acceptance rates published by a school for those reasons, those numbers are highly manipulated.</p>
<p>I have heard that BME lowers your GPA and makes that aspect harder, but also that med schools understand its rigor and appreciate the major more, so YMMV. A lot of the same BS/MD stuff carries over for a traditional premed, just a higher standard of work. The SDN forums are better suited to giving you premed advice IMO.</p>
<p>Definitely a good point, and one that I’m strongly factoring in as I make my decision. However, if you want to apply out of the program, you generally have to have the same stats/activities as a regular premed anyway… right?
Perhaps MiamiDAP can help with this question?</p>
<p>Thanks for your help! After some consideration, I am going with the BE/MD program on this one classicgirll, have you decided yet? I looked up Union/AMC, and it looks like a terrific program. While I do wish I could also have the small liberal arts school experience, being in a combined program means you have more flexibility in your undergrad years to do exchange and study abroad programs which can give you the same or an even better experience.</p>
<p>To BS/MD or not is a very personal decision. The toughest part is the self-evaluative portion. “Would I be good enough to perform well enough to get into medical school later?” Going through other students stats and studentdoctor blog site can help with that. You should know yourself well enough. If you are sure you are a good candidate then you will probably make it into Med school the traditional route. </p>
<p>But most students are just not sure. Then the next question is “Do you really want to be a doctor?” If you even have a slight doubt maybe you should not go to combined program. Not only are you taking up a spot of someone else who really wants it but also you are limited to the UG experience that particular school offers.</p>
<p>If you are considering between ivy and combined program (or any other UG) then maybe you are focusing on the next 4 years and/or the other possibilities that the particular UG offers for your future. Either way, medicine seems slightly secondary to the experience of the next 4 yrs IMHO.</p>
<p>The other thing to consider is the particular program. All the combined programs have something unique about them. I have spoken to students in the Union/AMC program and they absolutely LOVE it!. But it’s not for everyone who wants to be a doctor just like any other program. In other words, no red flags.</p>
<p>Bottom line no matter which combined program you all go to - you will all be doctors!!! Congratulations!!!</p>
classicgirll, have you decided yet? I looked up Union/AMC, and it looks like a terrific program. While I do wish I could also have the small liberal arts school experience, being in a combined program means you have more flexibility in your undergrad years to do exchange and study abroad programs which can give you the same or an even better experience.</p>