Berkeley vs Cornell vs CMU vs UNC Chapel Hill for PreMed

[Fane05]

Hey everyone! I'm a high school senior that has been accepted into the following schools. I am interested in pre-med and I'm torn between my schools. I want to become a well rounded person and so I don't just want STEM classes. I have listed some pros/cons I have discovered from reading other threads. Please feel free to add pros/cons to my list or to correct them. Any advice would be appreciated. (Especially from students currently doing pre-med at these schools)

• UF (Honors program)
  • Pros: In-state tuition, Honors Program, Has a med school and hospital where I can volunteer, less cut-throat
  • Cons: Don't want to stay in-state, not very prestigious
• UNC Chapel Hill (Honors program)
  • Pros: Cheaper OOS tuition, Honors Program, Option to take classes at Duke, Hospital volunteer opportunities, less cut-throat
  • Cons: Not super prestigious, bigger class sizes, less advising/attention
• CMU (Mellon College of Science- Biology)
  • Pros: Right next to UPMC Hospitals, interdisciplinary program,
  • Cons: Really expensive, not a very strong/well known pre-med program
• Cornell (College of Arts and Sciences- Biology and Society)
  • Pros: Interdisciplinary major, strong science program, Ivy networking, smaller class sizes, very strong undergraduate research, flexible curriculum, respected school
  • Cons: very competitive, bad location (few shadowing/volunteering opportunities in Ithaca), horrible grade deflation
• UC Berkeley (College of Letters and Science- Biology)
  • Pros: Great location (USF Hospital), flexible curriculum, respected school, networking opportunities
  • Cons: Huge class sizes (most of the time a TA is teaching), very competitive, no guaranteed dorms (costs a lot to live in that area)

I prefer CMU, Cornell and Berkeley over the other schools based on my pros and cons list. I am planning to visit them to learn more. All 3 of these schools end up costing around the same for me.

I'm just worried about GPA and shadowing/volunteering opportunities. Do med schools take into account the difficulty of the school you're attending? Which would look better to med schools: a 3.5 from Cornell vs 4.0 at UF (assuming that MCAT and resume are the same).

I would appreciate anyones advice/experiences at these schools. Thanks!

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[deleted838145]

Just go where you think you'll do well. Generally med schools want to see good gpa, mcat, and ECs regardless of where you went. Don't think too much of the name. A 4.0 at your state school is much more impressive than a 3.4 at a top school. If I were you, I'd choose Cal or UF. But be careful, since the more highly ranked the ug is the more stressful the environment tends to be (among premeds).

 

[Chromium Surfer]

@efle will have some insight!

 

[Cali20002]

UF all the way!! Not only is it a great school, but it's cheap. Use any $ you save in undergrad towards medical school so you don't have 200K-250K in student debt. Prestige doesn't matter and you shouldn't let that affect your decision.

 

[motu]

1. Where you go for your undergrad has little to no bearing on what med school you go to. Prestige does not matter. The ranks have nothing to do with your future placement and career.
2. Med school will be expensive; go where you can save money in the long run (unless you're loaded).
3. All five of those schools will get you into Harvard or some crappy school, but not from their name. Med schools more likely don't even look at the name of your school. They care about numbers --> GPA, MCAT, Hours of ECs, research.

 

[deleted838145]

1. Where you go for your undergrad has little to no bearing on what med school you go to. Prestige does not matter. The ranks have nothing to do with your future placement and career.
2. Med school will be expensive; go where you can save money in the long run (unless you're loaded).
3. All five of those schools will get you into Harvard or some crappy school, but not from their name. Med schools more likely don't even look at the name of your school. They care about numbers --> GPA, MCAT, Hours of ECs, research.

hmm. from what I've heard, the ivy/top 10s actually do take your UG name into consideration. nonetheless for the vast majority of med schools you're totally correct.

 

[Cali20002]

hmm. from what I've heard, the ivy/top 10s actually do take your UG name into consideration. nonetheless for the vast majority of med schools you're totally correct.

Nonsense. There are many who went to my little UG who got into Northwestern, UChicago, and Yale.

 

[deleted838145]

Nonsense. There are many who went to my little UG who got into Northwestern, UChicago, and Yale.

I'm thinking more along the lines of UCSF, Harvard, Stanford. But I'm just saying what I've read before on this site. I don't know how much truth it holds.

 

[Cali20002]

I'm thinking more along the lines of UCSF, Harvard, Stanford. But I'm just saying what I've read before on this site. I don't know how much truth it holds.

It's nonsense.