<p>I have a profound hearing loss, and I am using an American Sign Language interpreter. I have a high GPA, and I want to go to Duke for undergraduate and Stanford for graduate/medicine. But, my father is concerned that if I get an average lower than an A in Duke because it is a very tough school, I would not be able to go to an excellent school like Stanford. In fact, he suggests that I should go to lower college than Duke like William and Mary (with respect)for undergraduate and get an excellent GPA, and then apply to Stanford or Duke. I disagree with my father, and I believe that I would get a better chance in Stanford for medicine if I get lower GPA in Duke than high GPA in William and Mary or other colleges that are lower than Duke. What is your opinion?</p>
<p>go to duke. while w&m and duke are both great schools, you should go where YOU -not your father - want to go. i'm sure you would do well at either school. maybe you should look into which school would better accomodate your needs. good luck :)</p>
<p>i HIGHLY doubt that you would get a better grade at w&m than you would at duke.</p>
<p>it is true, however, that you will probably need As to get into stanford. the average Duke student that is accepted to Stanford med has a 3.75 or so overall GPA. (3.7 is an A- average). But that will be true if you want to go to ANY top medical school, no matter what school you go to undergrad. The average GPA for med school acceptees to any med school from MIT was like 3.7, so they didn't give MIT kids any breaks even though that is a very tough school.</p>
<p>To be honest, you're better off not speculating about exactly where you want to go to med school right now. The acceptance rate for Duke Med is 4.7% I think. If you think getting into top colleges is crazy, med schools are even more of a "crapshoot," so to speak. Trust me, think about getting into medical school at all before you even think about going to Stanford or Duke medical schools.</p>
<p>I'm not saying "lower your standards." I'm just trying to tell you to choose the college that you love because you will probably do better there and stand a better chance at medical schools. But also, let college be college before you make it into just a stepping stone to medical school!</p>
<p>Duke is very reputable in the eyes of medical schools and you really can't go wrong here.</p>