<p>Many people consider HPME the most prestigious BA/MD program based on the fact that Feinberg Med School is rated 20 on US news compared to 40 for brown and plme... in that case why is Rice/Baylor's program considered less prestigious, as Baylor is ranked 13 on the list?</p>
<p>NU undergrad is better (#11) than Rice (#17)... even without rankings, NU is just a more prestigious place.
The med school may not be as great as Baylor, but the combo of the ugrad is good. Also, HPME is a yr shorter than R/B. The program requirements at HPME are more lax than R/B (3.3 sci GPA, 3.0 major) i think. In general, Northwestern just has a lot more prestige than Rice.</p>
<p>hmm, i actually think that Rice/Baylor is much more prestigious than Northwestern. Rice is an EXCELLENT university and Baylor Med School (13) is ranked higher than Feinberg (20). Rice/Baylor also accepts only about 15 students. Rice has a higher percentage of undergrad students accepted to grad school. I also don't think that programs that are a year shorter are more prestigious. If anything, going through regular undergrad and then grad school is much more relaxing and less stressful, which is what Rice/Baylor allows. R/B just guarantees a spot at Baylor, while I'm sure for NW, you would to spend a summer or so to make up for the lost year. I think that R/B is a much more prestigious program than NW.</p>
<p>Washington University is considerably tougher than both Rice and Baylor which states that you must maintain a 3.8 gpa and score a 36 on the MCAT. Hence, if you get accepted to the university scholars program in medicine, it is very difficult to maintain your position</p>
<p>qtpie , u are not required to stay a summer for northwestern's HPME.. you get your BS in medicine in the first year of medical school or if u can, u can get a BA or BS in one of the schools at Northwestern by fulfilling the requirements for a major.. </p>
<p>i think HPME is just a little bit more well known of ap rogram, since it was established in 1961 (oldest one i think?) and it accepts a good amount of students (50-60) whereas rice/baylor as mentioned above, only accepts 15-20</p>
<p>so if prestige is based on how well-known a school is to others, than northwestern wins, but i can't judge on which one is more prestigious b/c i don't know much about rice and its academics</p>
<p>brownjigga, rice is 3.2 sci, 3.0 major. plus, R/B can be compressed into 7 years, they just don't encourage it that much. but it still is a possibility.</p>
<p>mistaippa, ACTUALLY, johns hopkins had the first program, which they cancelled 8 years later. Penn State/ Jefferson started their program (which was 5 years at the time) a year after johns hopkins began, and its still be goin. so PSU is the longest running program right now.</p>
<p>in general, i think that HPME is a more well- known program just because its been around longer. but it all comes down to personal issues (i.e. weather, length, social life) that really makes the big difference. but personally, rice/baylor just because baylor's a good med school with Texas Medical Center, and rice is a pretty tight place, academically and socially, to be undergrad.</p>
<p>they're both great, the only time you should be worried the ratings is if you get accepted at both</p>
<p>can i have the site or article where it says the top medical colleges? cuz i wanna see where you're getting all these rankings from.</p>
<p>here's the link for ratings of medical schools:
<a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/med/medindex_brief.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/med/medindex_brief.php</a></p>
<p>sorry about that mistake mistaippa. i think that both programs are excellent. i guess it all comes down to whether you want 7 or 8 years, what type of weather you would rather live in, etc. but prestige-wise, i think that both are about the same. NW is much better known because it has been around longer and accepts more students.</p>
<p>one reason i turned down my Rice/Baylor interview when i got into HPME was because Baylor Medical School is on a grade based system and from what i have heard it is very competitve. While, Northwestern's Feinberg is on a pass/fail system and students are generally more helpful.</p>
<p>But to state what another poster said: Rice/Baylor is not really on a graded system it is Honors/High Pass/Pass/Marginal Pass/Fail. LOL like calling it by another name somehow changes the fact that it is a 5 interval system. Rice/Baylor delays the stress free atmosphere until med school where one will be hit suddenly and forcefully by it. But in all fairness to Rice/Baylor it is objectively the best as it also very affordable. Northwestern HPME is prohibitively expensive for many since its undegrad (compared to USC, Case Western, Rice, and Boston U.) is pricey.</p>
<p>jksbond007- If prestige is so important to someone they should go to HYPS. I think somewhere along the line people who choose this path become guided by career and practical concerns than pedigree. If going to a more prestigious school allows one to feel more entitled to become an M.D than someone else, it only engenders an elitism that goes against the spirit of cooperation and mutual respect necessary to provide the best patient care...</p>
<p>Well said bharath2007, I completely agree. You may have misinterpreted my post - I was curious as to why many <em>not all</em> people consider HPME the best combined program. I was not trying to encourage that an M.D. from R/B should hold their head higher than an M.D. from somewhere else.</p>
<p>armapan: "ACTUALLY, johns hopkins had the first program, which they cancelled 8 years later. Penn State/ Jefferson started their program (which was 5 years at the time) a year after johns hopkins began, and its still be goin. so PSU is the longest running program right now."</p>
<p>Just a minor correction, since you also corrected (not that it means a whole lot) but BU's program and Northwestern's were the first combined programs to be established in 1961
<a href="http://www.bu.edu/news/facts/%5B/url%5D">http://www.bu.edu/news/facts/</a>
<a href="http://www.milbank.org/reports/americanmedicalcolleges/0010medicalcolleges.html#northwestern%5B/url%5D">http://www.milbank.org/reports/americanmedicalcolleges/0010medicalcolleges.html#northwestern</a>
Penn State's-Jefferson program started in 1963
<a href="http://www.science.psu.edu/premed/6yrpremedprogram.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.science.psu.edu/premed/6yrpremedprogram.html</a></p>
<p>I know nothing of Hopkins' program.</p>
<p>oops, srry my bad.</p>