<p>why are you two skeptical about VCU's program? MCV is one of the top medical schools and nationally ranked. its also got amazing seperate programs such as geriatrics and neurology and its trauma unit was number one in the nation...</p>
<p>there's a group for gmed students in general, but you have to be in the VCU network to join</p>
<p>It's not just VCU, I'm pretty much skeptical about all the colleges I applied too. I'm just trying to make the best decision...</p>
<p>I'm actually turning down UPenn, UMich, and UVa for VCU gmed and my reasoning is that VCU has a good program and I'll be able to get a lot of credit for my APs and IBs. Also, with VCU's program, I can apply out for medical school and still keep my guaranteed spot. This way I can keep my options open and be able to apply out to schools I really want to go to, like UPenn and UMich. But thats just my reasoning, to each to his own...</p>
<p>nurhajan, same question as tj... why do you think cornell is so much better? (i'm just wondering)</p>
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I'm actually turning down UPenn, UMich, and UVa for VCU gmed and my reasoning is that VCU has a good program and I'll be able to get a lot of credit for my APs and IBs. Also, with VCU's program, I can apply out for medical school and still keep my guaranteed spot. This way I can keep my options open and be able to apply out to schools I really want to go to, like UPenn and UMich. But thats just my reasoning, to each to his own...
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<p>I turned down the ivy league and a couple top 10's for VCU. I'm happy with my choice, and I'm sure you will too. perhaps the ivy league is a better fit for nurhajan, and that's fine.</p>
<p>in response to all your questions:
Yes, I am turning down VCU Gmed for Cornell.
tj9854: I have been accepted by cornell, georgetown, princeton, UPEnn and GMed
and I think geogetown or cornell is much better than VCU/MCV
The reasoning is as follows:
(1) I talked with the advisor and she said that in the past 10 years- there is NOT a single GMed student who has been accepted by yale and harvard medical school- or infact any prestigious med school. There was one who had an interview at harvard but he/she didn't make it. AND I talked with the premed advisors at UVA and Cornell and they said that quite a few students have received interviews and have been accepted by these prestigious med schools.<br>
(2)If you attend GMed program, you will not be as motivated to work hard as you would in a competitive and prestigious school. So rejecting gmed will make me do my very best. I know people will reject this BUT ultimately this is going to happen- you will slack off- etc. etc
(3) I talked with GMed/honors college advisor and you know what she said: she said that although medical schools have no preference over undergraduate school- THEY HAVE A BIAS-They will think that an education attained at Cornell/georgetown/UVA is SUPERIOR than VCU.
(4) If you are going to do medicals school, you will go to med school no matter what.
(5) VCU is just not good enough for me- I desire a good campus, best faculty and students, and a competitive background. and VCU isn't even in the top 100 schools- the Cornell lady didn't even know VCU existed
(6)Honestly saying, VCU's medical school is not that great- I know it is in the top 100, but UVA and EVMS and emory are far superior than MCV</p>
<p>i hope this answwers the questions- (you can rebutt if you like)</p>
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i hope this answwers the questions- (you can rebutt if you like)
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<p>I will not rebutt your conclusions since you seem to have already made up your mind. But if anyone else wants to see why he's wrong, let me know.</p>
<p>It comes down to personal choices. I dont aim for harvard. Do you know how hard to get into yale and harvard medical school? But I do know one who got in =) VCU doesnt have the best campus, but it fits me well =)</p>
<p>Hey Son of Liberty</p>
<p>I would like to know why nurjahan is wrong. </p>
<p>I wasn't accepted by VCU's gmed program but am still gonna go there. I have full intentions of going to medical school but have decided to major in finance.</p>
<p>VCU's school of business sent me a $10k scholarship on top of the presidential which makes the total cost (for out of state tuition) nearly free.</p>
<p>I am planning on doing the Preferred Applicant Track in Medicine and have a few questions. Basically, I'm a hardworking student with a 4.0 uwgpa in high school and believe that obtaining at least a 3.5 (probably a 4.0) will be doable at VCU. I also plan on volunteering at my local hospital to get the required 120 hours of service each year.</p>
<p>Assuming I meet all of the outlined criterion (up to the end of sophomore year) by the time I apply for the Preferred Track, how difficult is it to gain acceptance? I've heard that only 10-15 people apply each year even though they offer as many as 30 interviews for 15 seats. If you meet their requirements, are you automatically admitted to the program? Or are they still looking for the top 2 or 3 of this 10-15 people group?</p>
<p>(1) well the fact is it's hard for anyone to get into those schools, and just because they're harvard and yale doesn't mean they have the best medical schools. generally, the people who are in the gmed programs (and most combined programs) are looking to become doctors, and those are the type of people these programs aim to get. schools like harvard and yale are, if you pay close attention, known as top tier <em>research</em> schools. the best schools in primary care are schools that aren't in constant limelight, such as the university of washington. i also doubt that very many people in gmed even applied to harvard/yale. MCV is a school that is more focused on primary care and people in the program who apply out apply to programs that are focused on primary care. also, how prestigious a program isn't parallel with how good it is.</p>
<p>(2) this may be true for you as an individual, and in that case i completely understand why you would choose not to attend a combined program. however, you can't say this is true for everyone and in every case. people are motivated by different factors, and for that reason people in combined programs have been able to keep their GPA higher than the minimum and successfully apply out of the program. i know someone in a program and they've kept up a 4.0 for two years now even though thats not required. i actually want to apply out of the program and see if i can get into a medical school that i love (umich, for the program and the area) but at the same time i wanted a guarantee... just to be safe.</p>
<p>(3) i don't completely agree with this. i would understand this more VCU did not have a good science program, but it does. however, when you're applying to graduate schools what would you rather be? average at an ivy league school or stand out in a lesser known school like VCU? schools will notice you more if you're applicant who's done better and more with with where they went. the bias may be there, but its more significant in some cases (such as two applicants who're similiar from different schools) than others. </p>
<p>(4) True, if you're smart enough and worked hard enough to get into a combined program you can most certainly get into medical school the regular way. there're are plenty of reasons for going to a combined program and if none of them apply to you, then its very well you choose you go to a regular undergraduate. my reason is that i have other interests than medicine and this way i can focus on more than one thing (medicine, business, and international studies) without the extra stress of ensuring that i get into medical school.</p>
<p>(5) VCU as an undergraduate school, as a whole, isn't in the top 100; however, that doesn't mean its not a good university. it has one of the best art programs and its science department is good and only improving in the last few years. also, a good campus is relative, it really depends on what you're looking for. VCU doesn't have the best or most beautiful campus (my personal favorites are umich and upenn) but it is what it is. i live near richmond so i'm more comfortable with the city and i think its something special. also, its one of the few combined programs and one of the few schools where you'll find diversity among the student body, which is something extremely important to me. so determining whether VCU is a good school or bad school based on these factors works on an individual level because what you want decides whether you like what you find. also, simply because a lady from cornell didn't know what VCU was doesn't validate your points... an advisor i spoke to at upenn never heard of the university of washington... should i trust her on that?</p>
<p>(6) MCV's trauma center was ranked number one and is still one of the top trauma center. Harvard is the only school beating its geriatrics unit. its neurology department has been growing vastly and is one of the top in the country, along with other units and several other specialities have been ranked. rankings are based on how much money MCV gets from NIH, and for that reason i don't think that they should be used to decide what medical is better than another. i don't agree with EVMS or UVA med school are better than MCV, UVA just gets more money than MCV does. I don't know enough about Emory's medical school to comment on that. </p>
<p>i think you made the right decision for yourself, and cornell is a great choice. however, i simply don't agree with your opinions about MCV and from what i've said, you can see i think its a fine medical school in its own right... just highly undervalued because of the way the system and rankings work.</p>
<p>afob, i know you're not automatically admitted even if you've met the requirements, you still have to get the interview and be chosen. i actually don't know how hard it is to get it, but i'm sure you can do it =)</p>
<p>wow i'm really sorry that post was so long, i didn't even realize... honestly i'll be surprised if anyone reads all of it haha :)</p>
<p>In 2005, one MCV student got into the Harvard Medical School Otolaryngology residency program, and another one got into the neurosurgery residency in UCSF. Here is the 2007 match list. Many went to Yale, Duke, Harvard residency programs.
<a href="http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=381605%5B/url%5D">http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=381605</a>
S would go to VCU/MCV (instead of PSU/Jefferson) if he had not accepted to NU/HPME. It's a personal choice. You won't regret going to VCU/MCV. Enjoy your college life and work hard, you will get a good residency program.</p>
<p>I think both abnime and river2 have pretty much stated what needed to be stated. </p>
<p>But this is the point I want to emphasize</p>
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i think you made the right decision for yourself, and cornell is a great choice.
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<p>that's key. just because cornell is the better fit for your needs, doesn't make it "better" than VCU/MCV's program in general. You seem to think that if anyone has a drive to get into medical school, then he or she will be able to. Well then by that logic, anyone who has a drive to be a good doctor will be able to, regardless of where he or she graduates from. I think this is the right idea, and I don't think you need to be measuring sucess just by the number of people who are accepted to harvard/yale. You'll learn this soon enough though--I was pretty starry-eyed about prestige in high school, too.</p>
<p>There were many pre-med students gave up Harvard, JHU, Duke, or Yale medical schools and went to state medical schools. Here were the Duke pre-med 2004 counts for applicants, acceptances, and matriculants for several high rank med schools:
Harvard Med school 71, 5, 2
Yale Med school 47, 1, 0
Standford Med School 83, 3, 1</p>
<p>river- i wasn't talking about residency programs- i was talking about VCU undergrads not being able to get into top medical schools.
and i agree- initially i was all about vcu Gmed- but i think that cornell is better (atleast for me) and even georgetown's NHS program is heavily funded for medicine</p>
<p>abnime is crazy.</p>
<p>haha, i hijacked the vcu thread.</p>
<p>tofu, go back to your psu/nj thread... or better yet... a nice piping hot bowl of hot & sour =P</p>
<p>well in the end, isn't where you get your residency what matters?</p>