Tufts vs. Lehigh/Drexel 7 year

Pre-Med & Medical School Multiple Degree Programs
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<p>this is a friend's username cuz i lost mine. but anywayz so tufts or lehigh/drexel 7 year program.</p>

<p>my parents encourage me to take advantage of the program, as it guarantees my admission into medical school if i decide to enroll. however, i recently visited lehigh then visited tufts and frankly, i loved tufts--the campus, the people, the whole vibe. so while hearing that the students at tufts are down-to-earth, collaborative, friendly and all that, tufts if very attractive to me. on the other hand, lehigh, i know is a big party school with the greek life dominating (so i hear), and putting it bluntly, i'm a really dorky kid and i don't drink or have any interest in being in that kind of environment. after explaining all this to my parents, they think i'm basing too much of my future on intuition and want me to go the 7 year program. and it is true that it saves a year and guarantees med school. (though there are some stipulations such as a 3.45 GPA and 30 on the MCATs)</p>

<pre><code>i'd like to know 1) how strong a 30 is on the MCATs? (if i need to bust my butt to get a 30 anyways, why not bust it a little more and get a 33 or 34 and apply with that?) 2) truly, how hard is it to make med school applying regular? (the professor of who teaches intro bio at tufts told me that in one year about 120 recommendations are written, about 80 for seniors 40 for juniors--implying that only 40 will go directly from undergrad to med school (my parents have taken that fact and are convinced that the other 80 aren't going directly because they just can't make it into med school)) 3) i am aware of the early assurance program at tufts, which is very attractive to me, which requires certain courses to be taken by the summer after sophomore year (?) and a 3.5 GPA i'm wondering if it is very difficult to achieve this gpa. i would say that i am a dedicated student, i am currently taking five ap courses and averaged about 3.67 unweighted first semester (i am sooooooo bad at calculus =P)
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<p>now i keep hearing all this stuff about how hard it is to get into med school, i'm thinking maybe i should suck it up and just go to lehigh. reply w/ what you feel and stuff anything helps. i gotta decide really soon. (my parents want me to deposit both and take my time to think about it--can i get caught?) (i also have three waitlists: northwestern, wash u, duke; maybe i could make those) (you gotta understand i'm not as hardcore programmer as some of you pplez)</p>

<p>i know this is long please take a little more time to respond</p>

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<p>hey unenergized, i was in the exact position you are in. It was bettween lehigh's program, unions program and tufts. I loved the atmosphere at tufts too, it was amazing. One thing i particularly didnt like about lehigh was that it was accelerated, 3 yrs, and i really want to study abroad and enjoy undergrad. For myself i decided on Union because i saw that i really want to be a doc and it saves all the added stress. I have one friend who is going to lehigh, she was deciding between northwestern and lehigh. She decided on lehigh and plans to use drexel as her safety. Therefore if she gets a good MCAT score, she will drop the program and apply to medical school the regular way. </p>

<p>I talked to people about the early acceptance to tufts. It is pretty tough everyone says because for the first few years, tufts tries to weed out the hundreds of premeds. All you need is dedication and you can probably make it. I opted for union because i liked albany med, and it does a great job in residency placements which drexel does as well. </p>

<p>It just comes down to where do you see yourself, cause you will succeed at either place. Good luck with your decision, i know how hard it is to decide!</p>

3

<p>I am in the same position as you are. I got accepted into the lehigh program and the schools i'm am also considering are cornell and barnard. I didn't like the environment at lehigh and i don't think that I would be happy there (kind of far away, not the college atmosphere I was looking for) and I don't know if I want to spend the next seven years of my life at a place I am not comfortable with. Right now I am thinking of going the regular route at a college I like... I wish I had applied to more programs so I would have been given more choices! Plus lehigh is really bad with giving ba/md students aid i got nothing also drexel med is 60,000+ a year... if i could predict the future lol i would want to know if i could get into a cheaper, closer by state med school but i guess i'll gave to take my chances</p>

4

<p>ashah, i think i met you at lehigh, and tufts. your father asked a lot of questions at tufts, that's how i remembered you. we shook hands, i was the tall asian wearing a blue jacket? probably. anyways, i've talked to a lot of people and lehigh doesn't seem too bad. but tufts still is really great in my mind. so still undecided. i'll post when i've decided but i really have no clue when i'll know... and i have ap exams to study for oh boy.... all 5 of them</p>