<p>Ok so here's the scoop.</p>
<p>I've currently applied to 5 schools - (finances are not a problem for me)
U of I Champaign - Denied (still unsure how this happened o.O)
U of Indiana Bloomington - Accepted
U of Wisconsin Madison - Deferred
U of Michigan Ann Arbor - No response yet
Tulane University - Accepted</p>
<p>My parents strongly believe private schools are better than state schools, but I don't think it's that big of a factor in my decision making (small vs big doesn't influence me much...in fact I think I probably prefer big)</p>
<p>At first, I was thinking about attending U of Indiana (mix of things really...I've heard some good things from my counselor / college coordinator, and a good friend of mine is also planning on going there unless he gets accepted into his other school which then it will be a toss up. Campus seems nice, etc.)</p>
<p>According to my parents however (hooray for asian parents) I'm "obviously overqualified" to go to Indiana, and my mother even printed out these papers showing how the avg ACT scores of students that attend there are 21-27 (or somewhere around there) compared to say Wisconsin which is 26-30 (or somewhere around there). I tried to explain to my parents that just because a school has a higher / lower acceptance rate, dat does not mean nething for the programs the school has to offer. Being asian however, they are predisposed to believe Indiana is a "terrible" school (because it has a low ranking) and that my education will suffer.</p>
<p>My college coordinator (I went to him because i wanted 2 get the "real" "unbiased" answer) said that Indiana might even be a better environment for me than say Wisconsin or Ann Arbor.</p>
<p>I've also heard many claims that if a student plans on studying for pre-med (which I am) the undergrad school u come from matters very little, and I've also seen graphs / scatterplots on how MCATs have a bigger impact than the GPA (though I'm not very sure of how accurate these are).</p>
<p>So here's the bottom line...
Would the 5 core courses I would take for premed to prepare me for the MCAT b ne different (in terms of completeness and ne other important aspects) if I took it at Indiana or ne other school for that matter?
Is the undergrad school I attend more important than I've stated?
Are there any other things I should consider before choosing to attend a school over the other? Thx for ur input</p>
<p>The joke I was told was like " what do you call the med school graduate with lowest grade - Doctor". In that sense, what do you go to school in both under and graduate level really does not matter.</p>
<p>However, depending on your parents's social circle, you go to a second tier school (rank 50 or lower) could get them some look they don't want. I know I would.</p>
<p>Tulane is a tier one school, why don't you want to go there? How come you did not apply PHY?</p>
<p>I always assumed my parents wanted me to go to a good school so they can go around bragging "my son goes to so and so." (Although they always tell me that the school I go to is strictly for me which is true but then again...)</p>
<p>I understand that IU and Tulane are in two different "levels" which is actually one of my concerns. Despite my parents beliving (or atleast saying) I'm "the smartest kid" in the world (quite laffable n I wonder if alot of asian kids or others get dat in general for pressure) I'm not all that certain I would excel at Tulane, as the competition would be much more fierce (compared to IU and maybe even Madison / Ann Arbor). Even if a high GPA may not be all that important to me (mix of personal thought and probably for the pre-med prep) there are two things that still worry me.</p>
<p>1) As of right now, the main reason why I'm going into pre-med is due to my parents (must b an asian thing where every parent wants a doctor or a lawyer in the family). If I don't perform at a high level (aka my parents expectation of a ~4.0) I know I will be extremely stressed out due to their complaints, and this is something I want to avoid since I hear many stories about pre-med being one of the toughest undergrad programs</p>
<p>2) If I choose to take a different route (i.e. not pre-med) but my GPA is relatively low (which may be ok if I plan to med school but hypothetically speaking if I dont want 2 continue that path) I may hav a hard time switching.</p>
<p>Wuts PHY? I don't post here often o.O</p>
<p>
[quote]
How come you did not apply PHY?
[/quote]
The OP was deferred at Wisconsin and you think (s)he would have a better chance at HYP??? KrN-Sight, HYP refers to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton.</p>
<p>I strongly disagree with your parents. Indiana is a GREAT school, and going there will not keep you out of any medical school. Their other programs (including business) are top-notch, an advantage in case you decide to get off the pre-med track.</p>
<p>Yea I don't plan on applying PHY o.O</p>
<p>
[quote]
I strongly disagree with your parents. Indiana is a GREAT school, and going there will not keep you out of any medical school. Their other programs (including business) are top-notch, an advantage in case you decide to get off the pre-med track.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is exactly what I'm talking about. My parents on the other hand believe the name (i.e. saying "I attended University of Indiana for undergrad" vs "I attended <insert a="" highly="" reputable="" school="" name="" here=""> for undergrad" will make a big difference. I've tried numerous times to explain to them that ranking and admissions are not a very fair way to evaluate a school, but they just say things such as "Well how do u think they got those rankings?" and "Indiana is a bad school. Look at their average admissions scores." I even had my college coordinator call them to convince them, but they refuse to think differently, and they see me as being naive and ignorant of how society works. Anybody got ne suggestions? o.O</insert></p>
<p>KrN. To most of the people who do not have an indeepth study about the universities, they will go by 100% the US News ranking. If your parents are like me, they will not be happy for you to go to Indiana. </p>
<p>If you go read in the UChicago block, one guy got so upset because other Asian parents look down on him because he "only" got into the 9th ranking school. "Never heard of that". LOL. I will be somewhat happy if my kids got into U chicago with some merit money.</p>
<p>
[quote]
2) If I choose to take a different route (i.e. not pre-med) but my GPA is relatively low (which may be ok if I plan to med school but hypothetically speaking if I dont want 2 continue that path) I may hav a hard time switching.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Medical schools will not accept you with a low GPA. Most require a high MCAT and a high GPA. Good grades in the prerequisites are especially important.</p>
<p>
[quote]
KrN. To most of the people who do not have an indeepth study about the universities, they will go by 100% the US News ranking. If your parents are like me, they will not be happy for you to go to Indiana.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Sadly true on both accounts. : </p>
<p>
[quote]
Medical schools will not accept you with a low GPA. Most require a high MCAT and a high GPA. Good grades in the prerequisites are especially important.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>What I meant was (atleast from what I've heard) there's a less of a focus on GPA i.e. compared to the highschool -> college jump where Highschool GPA is probably weighted higher than SAT / ACT testing scores, the undergrad -> med school (grad) jump weights MCAT higher than GPA. Correct me if I'm wrong o.O</p>
<p>I'm not saying that I'll be blowing off school and just preparing for the MCAT, I'm just saying there's probably a less emphasis on it (plus theres no reason why a good GPA would hurt u)</p>