<p>My son was accepted to all 3 schools and wants to major in Classics then go to medical school. I know the reputations of all 3 schools- solid for placing kids in med school. </p>
<p>It is mentioned in some posts that JHU selects which applicants they will support when it comes to application time, thereby inlating the acceptance rate. Wash U says on their website that the acceptance rate for their students is in the 90's, but is this only a select group with this acceptance rate (ie. GPA above 3.7, MCAT above 30?). I've also read that Michigan do not pick and choose and that their acceptance rate is in the 60's. Anyone have a take on this?</p>
<p>I don't think my son will go wrong at any of the three schools listed, but I wanted to get some thoughts from others. There are some obvious differences between Michigan and WUSTL/JHU, but he's still thinking over everything- not sure what he is looking for, so I am helping him with objective data.</p>
<p>I am fairly confident that WUSTL supports those students it believes unlikely to get accepted.</p>
<p>(The figures in the pre-health handbook show ~72% of applications are accepted; however most students send >1 application. Assuming some students have some applications rejected, yet still attend medical school, the 90% figure for pre-med students attending med school is plausibly correct.)</p>
<p>Well the stats in the handbook are about as convincing as it gets- this proof that even lower science grades with an average MCAT score at WUSTL still leads to a higher than average acceptance rate (which is currently at about 45%). I can see where statistics can be a really mean (no pun intended).</p>
<p>I choose WashU over Hopkins. I am PreMed. During my visit to Hopkins I met with some students. It came across as cut throat competitive. I met with a person in the Neuroscience Dept at Hopkins- the med school acceptance rates weren’t as high as they were at WashU.</p>
<p>Undergrad is all about best fit. Where would he see himself happiest? When it comes down to things deciding all three schools will give him a chance to excel and a chance to pursue his dreams. But just because grad school is in the picture, doesn’t really affect where he should go between the three.</p>
<p>Visit all campuses, and ask him where he can truely see himself in a years time.</p>
<p>Thanks Marcdvl- he has visited all three. The one factor that he likes at Michigan is the campus spirit- I obviously told him that this should not be the defining aspect of his college life. However, he knows that the smaller schools like WUSTL and JHU will allow him to interact more with professors. My bet is that he’s going to choose between WUSTL and Michigan (nice advantage of WUSTL is that my brother and family live 10 minutes away and would be there for support).</p>
<p>I chose WashU over Johns Hopkins. When I visited Johns Hopkins, I liked the campus although its surrounding area is a bit scary. Later I heard from many people that JHU premed is a cut-throat and I searched internet and found more about the cut-throat of JHU. I finaly checked with my college counselor who has many years experinces at different boading schools. He confirmed and convinced me that WashU is a better fit for me. Now I think it was a wise choice. Of course I have to work hard for premed even at WashU. No matter where you go, you will get stressed and you should work hard for premed. But I have good friends and I am working hard with them. Now I am a happy camper at WashU!</p>
<p>Campus spirit is a big thing to many. My D is making same decision, WUSTL vs Michigan (but not for premed). I see her happy and doing well at WUSTL and I guess want that to be the choice. But I know she will be afraid to pull the trigger - she likes so many aspects of WashU but does want that whole root for your team, campus spirit thing. I’m kind of bummed but I’m not the one going so I can only influence so much.</p>
<p>WUSTL does not have a huge edge of Michigan in academics or undergraduate research opportunities - they are comparable in both aspects. Many people think that due to Michigan’s sheer undergraduate size makes it harder to get into contact with professors - that is simply not the case. Although more students may want to talk to the professors at the intro-level classes, that can be expected at universities all around the country. Most students don’t bother going to the professor’s office hours. In my experience, professor want students to come visit them (they get lonely)!</p>
<p>In terms of undergraduate research opportunities, I can speak about this for myself because I have been participating in research my entire experience here. UROP (undergraduate research opportunities program) is a major program here at UM. The university gets all sorts of endowments and funds from external sources so professors are always looking to bring in undergraduates to do work for them. The opportunities and exposure a student would get at Michigan rivals any other top-notch college. Saying that WUSTL has a major edge shows a lack of experience with other universities.</p>
<p>@greenenergykid21: Well I appreciate the fact the you’re trying to defend your university. But How would you know if Michigan offers opportunities comparable to other top university without studying in all of them? I agree that saying WUSTL has better opportunities does show a lack of experience with other universities. But you’ve done the same thing(showed a lack of experience with other universities) by saying UMich is comparable to all other top schools with other schools having no edge whatsoever. Well WashU’s endowment per student is alot greater that of michigan’s so in terms of endowment alone, WUSTL students are presumably exposed to more opportunities. I’m just rolling out facts and no opinions.</p>
<p>Happysaver. You were the one who made this comment initially:</p>
<p>“If it’s between Mich and WUSTL, WUSTL does have a huge egde when it comes to quality of academics, undergraduate research opportunities etc.”</p>
<p>Huge edge? Seriously? </p>
<p>“I’m just rolling out facts and no opinions.”</p>
<p>You rolled out no facts and gave a very biased opinion.</p>
<p>I have to agree with rjkofnovi on this one. Saying WUSTL has a “huge edge” is all opinion and no fact, and endowment has very little to do with it. Especially since both schools have very hefty endowments, and Michigan gets support from the state as well. I personally believe that the atmosphere at WUSTL is certainly different than at Michigan, I doubt many would argue with that. And certain people will prefer one or the other. But what the basis is for saying that WUSTL academics are superior to Michigan’s in any way is completely lost on me. How many classes have you taken at Michigan, Happyasever?</p>
<p>Michigan is the second largest research expending university in the world. Beyond the official undergrad research programs such as UROP, SURE, SROP, Research Scholars and the multitude of undergraduate research fellowship programs, you can just go up to practically any professor and ask to help them out with their research. I’m just a sophomore at Michigan, but during my short time here I was able to work on 3 separate research projects with 2 different professors. Getting research experience at Michigan is incredibly easy and is available to all students. </p>
<p>With regard to academics, I’m really interested in why you think WUSTL academics are so dramatically better than Michigan’s. If you look at the USNWR departmental rankings, Michigan is almost always ranked higher when comparing like fields. Now you could say that many of those rankings are graduate programs and that’s definitely a valid critism, but even when you look at the undergraduate teaching rankings, Michigan holds the edge. Michigan is ranked 6th wheras WUSTL isn’t even listed. </p>
<p>You mentioned the endowment per student disparity, but you need to remember Michigan’s 8.5 billion dollar endowment is not the extent of their revenue. Michigan also receives just under 300 million dollars from the state in unrestricted allocations per year. They also have the ability to request even more state money for capital outlay projects given legislature aproval. Michigan gets a little over 300 million dollars on average in donations which is expected to go up to ~420 million once they start their capital campaign later this year. Also, when comparing the finances, you really shouldn’t forget the proportion of WUSTL’s endowment that is restricted towards patient care. Michigan has similar endowment investments in patient care, but since they have many alternative sources of revenue, the overall proportion is much less than WUSTL’s. </p>
<p>WUSTL is a great university, but you don’t need to pretend that its’ peers are beneath it.</p>