<p>Having a hard time deciding which of the following colleges to go to - University of Wisconsin - Madison, University of Chicago, or Northwestern University.</p>
<p>Not taking into account the social scene or location, and based off of pure academics, which one would be best to go to for pre-medical studies with a major in either Chemistry or Biology? Obviously rigor of the school would be important, as I would need to be able to maintain a decent GPA (3.5+) to be able to get into a good medical school. So far throughout high school I've managed to maintain a 4.0, with a rigorous schedule (AP chem, AP bio, AP calc, AP physics, AP psych), and enjoy challenging myself.</p>
<p>So basically, which one has the better science programs with a decent amount of grade inflation?</p>
<p>If you want grade inflation, go to Northwestern. They’re phenomenal in many programs. UChicago is an excellent school, but it is known for being incredibly rigorous and having grade deflation; Wisconsin is a public school, so it too has less grade inflation. I would choose NU, no other factors deciding.</p>
<p>Are you in-state for Wisconsin-Madison? If so it’s an incredible deal and I’d go there.</p>
<p>I don’t think any one of them is objectively “best” for biology or chemistry. Undergraduate biology and chemistry are pretty basic, most schools do them well, and the differences between those three schools would be negligible.</p>
<p>Since GPA is highly important (with MCAT) for getting past medical schools’ initial screenings, grade inflation may be desirable. Rigor of course work is desirable in that the pre-med courses prepare the student for the MCAT. Note that it is not required to major in biology or chemistry to take the pre-med courses.</p>
<p>3.35 in 2006 at Chicago
3.41 in 2008 at Northwestern
3.20 in 2007 at Wisconsin - Madison</p>
<p>However, these need to be taken in context with the competitiveness of the students at those schools. Also, variation between different departments may differ at each school.</p>
<p>Chicago is somewhat known for it’s grade deflation and as a school that’s not particularly great for pre-med. You could still succeed if you worked hard, but it could be easier elsewhere.</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard on this thread and many of the others, pre-med at Chicago is extremely difficult, and NU isn’t all that much better. </p>
<p>And yes, I am in-state for UW, and agree that it is an amazing deal. But I do know that the prestige of undergraduate school plays a roll in getting accepted into top medical schools, so I wouldn’t want going to UW to hinder my chances at all (not that UW isn’t an amazing school, it just doesn’t have quite the prestige of UC or NU).</p>
<p>In addition to course work that is good MCAT preparation and grade inflation, a very desirable school attribute for a pre-med is low cost, in order to save money (avoid debt) in preparation for very expensive medical school.</p>
<p>If you do major in biology or chemistry, you will want to keep cost and debt down anyway, since if you do not get into medical school, your job and career prospects at the bachelor’s degree level will not be that great.</p>
<p>And yes, I am in-state for UW, and agree that it is an amazing deal. But I do know that the prestige of undergraduate school plays a roll in getting accepted into top medical schools, so I wouldn’t want going to UW to hinder my chances at all (not that UW isn’t an amazing school, it just doesn’t have quite the prestige of UC or NU).</p>
<p>===============</p>
<p>Oh good heavens! </p>
<p>Your grades, etc, from UW will be viewed the same as if they were from UChi or NU. You don’t get a bump by going to either of those schools. </p>
<p>If you can go to NU or UChi without financial difficulty or loans, then fine, go. But if going means accumulating debt, then it’s a bad idea. Med school is very expensive and you’ll have lots of debt from that. </p>
<p>What is your obsession with “prestigious med schools”? All US med schools are very good…and they all get you to where you want to be.</p>
<p>A similar question was asked by another student and these two answers are very good:</p>
<p>from momofwildchild:</p>
<p>If you know anything about medical school, you will know that it is not at all important to go to an Ivy or even a “top” medical school. A state medical school offers a great medical education and if it is in a major city with a large trauma practice (Houston, Chicago etc) you will get better experience than many other medical schools affiliated with top undergraduate schools. The important part is where you do your residency AFTER medical school.</p>
<p>from pizzagirl:</p>
<p>Read MOWC’s post 11, twelve times if necessary. It is absolutely correct. The medical field is relatively “flat” when it comes to prestige. To a great extent, med school curricula is so standardized that the schools are very similar. And the average workday of the Harvard educated doctor doesn’t look any different than that of the State U educated doctor. Oh, and Blue Cross doesn’t reimburse the Harvard med guy a penny more for being a Harvard med grad.</p>