<p>Hi, I'm currently stuck in a dilemma between these two choices:</p>
<p>Yale and Wash U concurrent admission to their med school. Wash U's program is not binding, but I am still required to take the MCAT and maintain a fairly high GPA. In addition, I still have to go through the application process, even though I'm basically guaranteed admission to Wash U Med School.</p>
<p>I know for sure that I want to go to med school, but I also have interests in other fields, like business, as well.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how strong Yale's pre-med is? Or even statistics on where Yale undergrads go for med school? I keep thinking that Wash U is a much safer bet, because it's probably a lot harder to get into a good med school from Yale than from Wash U, since Yale is a lot more competitive itself.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any advice or suggestions? Please help! Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Go to yale. I'm familiar with the Washington program. I recommend Yale for the following reasons:</p>
<p>1) Wash requires a fairly high GPA and MCAT for entrance into the med school. This is hardly a guaraneed med program.</p>
<p>2) If you maintained that gpa and MCAT, you essentially would be guaranteed an acceptance into med school, provided you have decent ec's and such (not hard to do). </p>
<p>3) Maintaining that high of a gpa at Yale (as opposed to at Wash) will get you into better med schools. </p>
<p>Yale's premed is VERY strong; when you're at bulldog days, please come to career services and ask to look at the binder of statistics...you will see for yourself that Yalies do very well! </p>
<p>Also, especially if you have interests in business, the degree matters. and of course, the yale degree is a valuable one.</p>
<p>Yale's premed program is very strong. Over 90% of Yale premeds go to medical school after college. The school they get into range from top schools to not-so-good schools, depending on the candidates' grades and MCAT scores.</p>
<p>Given that you were able to get into a program at Washington University that allows you to go their medical school regardless of your performance in college, you'll probably excel at Yale as a premed and have a wide range of medical schools to choose from after you graduate.</p>
<p>My advice is not to think about medical school. If you like Washington University more than you like Yale, go there. But if you go to like Yale more, definitely go to Yale. You shouldn't give up something that will be great for the highly unlikely event that you don't get into med school after Yale.</p>
<p>"Yale is at once a tradition, a company of scholars, and a society of friends." How can you beat that?</p>
<p>My advice is to definitely think about med school. If you do, I think you will definitely go to yale</p>
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Maintaining that high of a gpa at Yale (as opposed to at Wash) will get you into better med schools.
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<p>Considering that there are only really three other med schools at most that are better than WashU, I'm not sure how much that matters. And I wonder why you think a high GPA at Yale is better than a high GPA at WashU, especially given the known difficulty of the pre-med program at WashU.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.collegejournal.com/special/top50feeder.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegejournal.com/special/top50feeder.pdf</a></p>
<p>On that list, Yale is ranked MUCH higher than WashU in terms of med school (and law and business) placement. Yes, the methods used to get the rankings are flawed, and yes, just the school isn't enough for a student to get into med school--they still need the grades and the scores and the commitment. BUT, ...it's Yale. IMO, she'll be getting a much better undergrad experience, even if she is premed*; especially considering that she's already shown that she has the skills and intelligence (and luck) needed to succeed, e.g. she got into Yale and the WashU Scholars program, so no doubt if she keeps this up in college she'll be able to get into a med school of her choice.</p>
<p>*Also, considering that the WashU program really is NOT guaranteed acceptance (36 MCAT and 3.8 GPA?! AND interview?!), her academic life at WashU would be pretty typically premed.</p>
<p>Also, it really doesn't matter how 'difficult' a pre-med program is, unless you're going to a school known for hardcore sci/math or deflation, e.g. MIT or UChicago, which WashU really isn't... what matters is what grade you get. And though this might not exactly be the most upstanding thing to do, it's better to go to the place with more grade inflation in that case (if what you say about WashU is true, which I doubt).</p>
<p>As to only three other med schools being better than WashU. a) rankings aren't everything b) she might not want to limit her options, because as she takes the premed courses, she might realize she has a particular interest or wants to do combined MD/something else degree or something, and c) maybe she'll want to go to med school in a particular region of the country later too.
IMO, the supposed "guaranteed acceptance" at WashU isn't stellar enough to turn down Yale, and all the opportunities that involves, for.</p>
<p>Then again, it ultimately comes down to which school you feel is the best fit for you.</p>
<p>First of all, I think it's fair to warn the OP that she'll get biased answers given that this is the Yale board.</p>
<p>Secondly... WashU has one of the best medical schools in the country. If you know 100% you want to go to Medical School--- Do NOt Pass This Up. </p>
<p>Why? First of all... if you can maintain a high GPA at Yale you can maintain a high GPA at WashU. Secondly-- guaranteed is guaranteed because I know of two people that were in the program. The admissions office essentially makes sure you get in or else this entire program will falter. </p>
<p>Thirdly-- even doing relatively well at Yale will not guarantee you admissions into a medical school of WashU's caliber. Plenty of Yale grad's end up somewhere wayyy down the ranking or not at all. The people that do get into the top medical schools- like washU are the creme of the crop. Now given this... why would you risk it if you KNOW YOU WANT TO DO MEDICINE?</p>
<p>Guranteed admit into WashU Medical School should only be passed up if you're not sure you want to do medicine. ANd since it's non-binding... you can always apply to "higher" (3 to be exact) medical schools. Also, with both parents as doctors- one from HMS and one from Columbia MS, they've both told me again and again that it does not matter where you obtain your medical degree from. A doctor is a doctor is a doctor and is universally respected and the pay is the same across the board. The only time it makes a difference is if you might want to hold a chair or something. But any doctor opening up their own practice makes $$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Put it this way... when you're saving someone's life- they don't care if you went to SUNY or Harvard.</p>
<p>Bottom line-- best case scenerio at Yale you end up at one of the top 5 medical schools including WashU.</p>
<p>Worse case scenerio at WashU (given you maintain GPA and MCAT), you're guaranteed admittance into somewhere a top yalie would've gotten in anyway.</p>
<p>Now which sounds better?</p>
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Also, with both parents as doctors- one from HMS and one from Columbia MS, they've both told me again and again that it does not matter where you obtain your medical degree from. A doctor is a doctor is a doctor and is universally respected and the pay is the same across the board. The only time it makes a difference is if you might want to hold a chair or something. But any doctor opening up their own practice makes $$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Put it this way... when you're saving someone's life- they don't care if you went to SUNY or Harvard.
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<p>I don't know if you realize it truazn, but that quote undermines your entire argument. If it doesn't matter what med school one goes to, then guaranteed admission to WashU's med school has no advantage over going to Yale. Anyone who meets WashU's GPA and MCAT requirements is going to be able to get into a good medical school, even if it's not quite as good as WashU. Almost all Yale pre-meds end up in med school, and the ones that don't certainly don't have 3.8+ GPAs. So, since the med school you go to doesn't matter (according to truazn) and going to Yale and doing as well as WashU's program would require you to do at WashU will ensure that you get into med school, you should choose based on which school you like better, attaching basically no weight to the WashU med-school program.</p>
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rankings aren't everything
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<p>Of course not, but I am implying that she will have an acceptance to WashU (basically meaning she's done very well overall) and will thus likely have an excellent shot at any other medical school.</p>
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even doing relatively well at Yale will not guarantee you admissions into a medical school of WashU's caliber
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<p>Exactly!</p>
<p>My point is simply this:</p>
<p>If you get a 3.8 and 38 MCAT from Yale, and do well in extra-curriculars (there are an unbelievable number to do well in), then you will get into a good med school. If you are risk averse enough to absolutely need the guarantee in writing, that with these stats you will go to a good med school, go to Wash U.</p>
<p>Truazn, you analysis is faulty in your best case/worst scenario depiction: </p>
<p>The worst case scenario at WashU is that you DONT make the 3.8 and 38, DONT get the guaranteed acceptance, and face the med school process coming from a lower undergrad than you would have coming from Yale. You cannot simply go about depicting the worst case scenario as having maintained the requirements for admission. Get real. </p>
<p>And in the case that you don't meet the requirements at Wash U, you are definitely better off coming from a better undergraduate school when you face to med school process. Don't let anyone say otherwise.
I strongly believe that, having extensively looked at Yale's statistics, a 3.8 and 38 is a defacto acceptance into most top medical schools. If this is still too risky for you, WashU is the best option.</p>
<p>WashU's program is hardly a guaranteed program on the likes of the other combined degree programs, like say Northwestern, Rochester, or Brown. They still want you to work like a dog to get the acceptance. </p>
<p>If you're going to work like a dog, do it a better school, take the better degree. If you meet the requirements at either place, you're going to end up at a top med school.</p>
<p>Also, say you wanted to for a combined MD-MBA program, given your interest in business. Since WashU's business program (do they even have one?) is not strong, you will have to apply out. Again, you're better off applying from a better school.</p>
<p>Bottom line. Just pick which school you like better.</p>
<p>hey. i'm virtually going through the same dilemma. yale vs. northwestern guaranteed med program. so i can't really tell you anything, but that i'm also very very unsure of what to do. </p>
<p>good luck, and tell me what you decide!</p>
<p>you're in a totally different boat choe. Northwestern is more of a guarantee in the sense that you dont have to keep up with strict requirements to eventually attend the med school</p>
<p>Thanks for your help guys, I'm officially a Yalie now :)</p>
<p>glad to have you :)</p>