Yale or Northwestern 7yr Med Program?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
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<p>Ironically, Dr. Sanjay Gupta spent a lot of time at Yale because he reputedly was dating a few undergraduates there.</p>

<p>Slipper, Northwestern's HPME program is not stress free. I know several students who have gone through it, and for various reasons, it was FAR more stressful than enjoying life at the best 4-year undergrad institution in the country and applying to the top 10 med schools could ever be. Of course, if you stretched it out from 7 years to say, 9 years, it might be better, but that's A) besides the point and B) few actually do it.</p>

<p>SamLee, the WSJ is not "bogus", it's pretty clear what their data show.</p>

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<p>"...(HPME) was FAR more stressful than enjoying life at the best 4-year undergrad institution in the country and applying to the top 10 med schools could ever be. Of course, if you stretched it out from 7 years to say, 9 years, it might be better, but that's A) besides the point and B) few actually do it."</p>

<p>That is total BS.</p>

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<p>My cousin choose HPME over two top schools (Dartmouth and Stanford) and he had a pretty laid back experience (relatively), walked out with a "gentleman's" 3.2 and spent an extra year doing research and hanging out. He isn't terribly ambitious and while he thinks he would have preferred Yale or Dartmouth undergrad, not having to ace the MCAT or get a super high GPA was worth it.</p>

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<p>posterX,</p>

<p>HPME doesn't squeeze 4 years of undergrad into 3 years. The HPME students are exempt from certain requirements so they don't need to take as many classes as others to gradaute from the college. They are usually taking 4 classes per quarter just like other students.</p>

<p>slippers,
I've seen from other posts that the HPMEs have an average GPA of 3.7 upon graduation. I personally knew quite a few HPMEs (all were very nice and humble) that took their studies pretty seriously (though they don't have to as far as not keeping the spot goes). ;)</p>

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<p>thanks everyone so much your help.</p>

<p>sadly, i thought i was decided, but i'm still unsure. I HATE THIS.</p>

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<p>but again, thank you, thank you, and thank you!!!</p>

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<p>Hi Gina,</p>

<p>While I think NU's program will be a nice choice for you, I can also hear in your voice how much you love Yale. That's an irreplaceable experience.</p>

<p>If you happen to like NU better, then by all means take the guarantee and be grateful. Just remember that (apparently) they won't let you keep the guarantee if you eventually decide to apply to other medical schools.</p>

<p>But you don't. You like Yale better.</p>

<p>There are times when you need to suck it up and make a smart decision. If you happen to really, really hate snow, it doesn't matter; you should still pick Penn/Columbia/Harvard over a hypothetical weak/expensive school in, say, California. Too bad for that kid.</p>

<p>But that's not what you're facing. Your favorite place is the place that offers the premiere undergraduate education in the country -- an education that you will find fulfilling, which will open doors for you, and which will, in the end, probably help keep your medical school choices broad as you try to find a school that will help you meet your goals.</p>

<p>Does Northwestern offer you a chance to go to a nice medical school afterwards? Sure. But Yale kids have plenty of choices in the end, too, and in any case that guarantee is not worth giving up a powerful, amazing undergraduate experience.</p>

<p>And remember, as well as the average Yale student does, you're going to do even better. You're not the average Yale student. You got admitted to a medical school already. That should tell you something about your qualifications -- in not just testing and schoolwork, but essays and interviews.</p>

<p>Go to Yale. Love it. Excel there. Don't work too hard. I'll congratulate you in four years when you're attending a medical school you love. Maybe it'll be Feinberg -- who knows?</p>

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<p>My feelings exactly. Go to Yale. Enjoy the four years and then be ready for a new experience!</p>

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<p>you will regret it if you don't go to yale. four years from now, if you go to northwestern, you might regret it. if you work hard, four years from now you will not regret having gone to yale. </p>

<p>you CAN succeed academically! much of the med school process is overblown.</p>

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<p>oh, i forgot to add another component. if people are still interested, i'd like to share that I want to major in english. </p>

<p>how would that fit in? would the perspectives change?</p>

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<p>well not really. i think that as far as academic departments and such are concerned, nobody is questioning yale's dominance. </p>

<p>it's a tough choice, but i feel like if you made the resolve to work hard and go for it, you know you won't go wrong with yale. </p>

<p>i wouldn't be able to go on, knowing that i gave up a good thing because I was afraid of the challenge. That's the part that would bug me the most.</p>

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<p>Time to weigh in after reading from the sidelines. I am a first year HPME student and I cannot even begin to describe what a blessing HPME has been.</p>

<p>In high school I was that kid who signed up for (and eventually became in charge of) every activity, had a perfect GPA, etc. I was pretty anal and would be upset at anything less than superb. Then I came to NU through the HPME, and suddenly the external pressure was lifted. Now my motivation is completely internal. For the first time in my life, I'm doing activities because I know that I enjoy them, not to pad my resume. I volunteer a bunch because I genuinely want to help. I go in to my professor's office hours to get more insight into a subject or just have an interesting conversation- I know I don't have any ulterior motives because I won't need a recommendation. It feels amazing. </p>

<p>So many people run around me constantly looking stressed and frazzled. I'm the exact opposite. I have never before felt so calm and relaxed.</p>

<p>HPME gives you plenty of room for electives, so I'm taking courses far outside of my comfort zone. So many premeds look for the easiest A classes to complement their science courses, while I'm tackling anything that seems interesting, not worrying about the grade consequences. Which is lucky, because NU is not easy by any means. Besides my 4.0 high school GPA (at a competitive high school too!), I'm not getting all A's in my science courses. And because of the HPME, I don't need to. My mind has been stretched in ways I couldn't have imagined. If a class I'm taking is especially interesting, I'll go to the library and check out more books on the topic. I never would have done that in high school, and I certainly wouldn't have time to do that if I was stressed about having perfect grades. </p>

<p>And Northwestern is awesome! Our campus is so pretty and the student body is incredibly driven and motivated. I know most HPME kids turned down top ivies, and to be honest, they don't seem any different from the majority of the NU population. I can't imagine that yale's student body is so incredibly different from Northwestern's. Have you visited NU? It really is a fantastic school. IMO it has the perfect size student body, great location (Evanston is nice and Chicago is...well... Chicago), interesting courses, accessible and talented faculty, lake michigan, quarter system, and the list goes on.</p>

<p>I really am having such a great undergraduate experience. And in 3 years I'll be at Feinberg, a top notch medical school with my MD by 25. It's hard to imagine anything much better than this. </p>

<p>But of course you have to follow your heart- do what feels best. HPME obviously was the right choice for me, but that doesn't mean that it is for you. I picked HPME and have not looked back once.</p>

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<p>


oh, i forgot to add another component. if people are still interested, i'd like to share that I want to major in english.

You could do that at either Yale or the HPME. You are able to major in whatever you like and go to med school.


i wouldn't be able to go on, knowing that i gave up a good thing because I was afraid of the challenge. That's the part that would bug me the most

</p>

<p>If you are only considering HPME because you want the "easy route" to med school, then no, it's not a good choice. Go because it would significantly alter your undergraduate experience, IMO, for the better.</p>

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<p>good post, HPME. Your last point is especially noteworthy. </p>

<p>I really do encourage people not to go to these programs just because they think it will be easier.</p>

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<p>For what it's worth, Yale is considered to have the best undergraduate English department in the country. Actually, I know three students who went there as pre-meds, and loved the English department so much that they decided to pursue Ph.D.'s at Berkeley, Yale and Harvard afterwards instead. There are almost unlimited numbers of small seminars with amazing faculty. I think anyone who is passionate about English or the humanities in general (there is a "Humanities" major, I think, which is very interdisciplinary) would find it to be heaven.</p>

<p>For what it's worth, faculty quality as rated by the NRC has Yale at #1 in English (tied with UC-Berkeley) and #1 in comparative literature, while Northwestern is #24 in English and #15 in comparative literature.</p>

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<p><a href="http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/424?badlink=1%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/424?badlink=1&lt;/a>
It seems like Yale premed really enjoy their undergrad experience and really soak in the intellectual atmosphere at Yale. [/sarcasm]</p>

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<p>moot point eternity. </p>

<p>nobody's denying that letting go of the program is the harder route - it's been pointed out that you can coast into med school with a 3.1 and parties every weekend. the point we've been making is, does the OP want to play it safe and live the easy life, or work hard and go for the gold? </p>

<p>people at yale work hard. if you're afraid of a challenge, go somewhere else.</p>

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<p>Also, you do realize the original column is satirical, right?</p>

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<p>again, thank you everyone for your thoughtful comments.</p>

<p>on may 1st, i reluctantly sent the deposit to northwestern; 400 dollars.... it was a lot.</p>

<p>but really my heart was in agony, and i couldn't find the comfort that i thought i would after i made a decision. </p>

<p>then yale admissions officer, who had been contacting me privately to convince me to go to yale, sent me an email telling me i have another day.</p>

<p>so at the very last minute plus one more, i switched to yale.
and i didn't know how happy i would be. i never knew how much i loved yale until now. it feels so good! although there still is the fear about how i'm going to survive, i've started to embrace that fear seek ways to improve myself as a human being.</p>

<p>so, as you told me, i'm going where my heart told me to go. and i will end up in med school someday. (right? i'm desperaate for some assurance.=( )<br>
but....I'M A YALIE!!!</p>

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<p>yes you will. congrats on sticking up for yourself and having the strength to make the best decision!</p>