<p>Hi Everyone,</p>
<p>Thank you in advance for reading my long-winded story, but I felt it was necessary to give you the scope of what I'm dealing with. I have received all of my decisions already and I am deciding where I should spend the next few years of my life. I am very confused because I never even thought I was going to apply to USC, but here they are, offering me some wonderful things.</p>
<p>I was accepted into some great schools and need to decide what to do. I have narrowed it down to Wash U, Berkeley, Emory, Michigan (w/ Honors), and USC. I am planning on studying Neuroscience as a pre-med and pursuing Neurosurgery in the future. However, this is not the path I planned on taking (undergraduate-wise). I applied early to Stanford and was rejected, and was killed by the 3 ivies I applied to in the RD round (except for a waitlist at Dartmouth). </p>
<p>I know that Wash U, Berkeley, Emory, Michigan, and USC are all great schools, for which I am very happy for my admission, but I am confused as to where I should attend. I know Wash U's reputation for Biology/Neuroscience is superb, but I have heard that it is very competitive and cutthroat. As for Emory, I have heard that NBB (Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology) is a great program if one wants to pursue Neuroscience as a career.</p>
<p>However, the biggest dilemma of all has been USC. I initially applied to USC as a safety school, but they have captured my interest as they throw money and opportunities in my face that I seemingly can't refuse. I was accepted as a Trustee scholar (full scholarship for undergrad) and was recently accepted into the Bacc/MD program (1 of 30 students who gets guaranteed admission into medical school assuming GPA is above 3.0 and MCAT is 30+). Also today, I got an email from a doctor I worked with at an internship who now works at USC that wants me to help pilot a research program for all 8 years. I feel like all the stuff that USC is giving me is unbelievable and that I am being given an offer I can't refuse. I had a preconceived idea that I was going to go away for college (whether it be northern California or the east coast), but it looks like my best offer is still in SoCal, even though USC is not the most highly ranked/prestigious school on my admitted list. Can any of you guys give me some guidance as to what I should do?!?! I am confused and need some advice. Thank you!!!</p>
<p>I feel obligated to plug Wash U, since it’s anything but cutthroat. People are always more than willing to help out one another, even in notorious majors such as BME.
In your specific case, though, I would recommend that unless you have a significant reason that requires you to absolutely not be at USC, you take that spot. I’m a fan of programs such as the one you described, or Brown PLME, because it does allow you to explore your options in ways you possibly couldn’t with the pressure of med school admissions on your back.</p>
<p>thank you for your advice! I really appreciate it! :)</p>
<p>Although I am a huge WashU fan, I think you should take the opportunity that USC has given you. The guaranteed med school admission will take a lot of the pressure off of you.</p>
<p>just to echo previous comments, I love WashU, it’s great here, and our programs are excellent–but if you like USC and would be happy there, I don’t think it makes any sense not to snatch the offer when it’s available.</p>
<p>USC is a great school. Since your scholarship only runs 4 years and USC does encourage its kids to go elsewhere for medicine (even those in your program), you can decide after the 3rd year about medical school choices while you already have an admission in the pocket (nothing to beat that). If someone wants you to help you with a study that might run 8 years, it sounds like you can make even more money on the side while putting great experience on your resume (trust me, most kids show up at college and frantically look around for research opportunities to pad their resumes while you seem to have it made). There was a girl from USC last year (hearsay from someone in her batch so I dont know her name) who went to Wash U with a full scholarship to medical school and so you know USC undergrad education is considered quite good.</p>
<p>thanks again for the input from all of you! I understand that the med school acceptance in my pocket is a great opportunity. I’ve just never imagined myself at USC and have to shift mental gears.</p>
<p>Don’t know if you’ve made your decision already but my older D was Bac/MD at USC and younger D is bio major (finance & psych minors) at WUSTL. But for the Bac/MD & $$, my older D would not have considered USC. I would go with USC. Although my D did not stay in the Bac/MD program (for personal reasons), she was a neuroscience and biology double major and is currently preparing for applications to medical schools. She has been working at a genetics lab at UCLA for just under a year now and the professor she is working with is amazed at her depth of understanding which she described as graduate level. D1 herself has frequently stated that the coursework and preparation she got at USC was unbelievably thorough - she compares herself to others in the lab who were UCLA undergrad who have nowhere near the understanding of the research going on that she has. </p>
<p>IMHO the Bac/MD program is fantastic. And believe me, I am a STAUNCH supporter of WUSTL for other reasons. As a parent, however, I felt that USC let my D down (didn’t recognize mental health issues even after I asked them to “look”). It is large and impersonal; dorms and food, etc. nowhere as nice as WUSTL. However, the academic program at USC (and the BAC/MD opportunity especially) is top notch and I would say comparable to WUSTL. Also, I believe that WUSTL’s neuroscience program is somewhat limited insofar as number of students allowed in the “formal” neuroscience program.</p>
<p>Uhh, what?</p>
<p>Of course they already made their decision. This thread is from April and decisions are due in May…</p>
<p>Point taken. Hope the substance of my belated response is useful to somebody despite my inadvertent yet glaring “error.”</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your heartfelt response. It definitely is useful, even though I have already made my decision.</p>