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[carlos8]

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[Doggeronie]

BU hands down. dont look back

 

[Dr. Anonymouss]

BU, derm and ortho won’t be an issue

 

[efle]

You can still do research during undergrad and medical school at BU. If you are 100% set on going to medical school, take the BS/MD and have a relaxed college experience without the stress of building a medical application.

If you are not 100% on going to medical school, I might choose Penn instead.

 

[Dr. Anonymouss]

You can still do research during undergrad and medical school at BU. If you are 100% set on going to medical school, take the BS/MD and have a relaxed college experience without the stress of building a medical application.

If you are not 100% on going to medical school, I might choose Penn instead.

Yes, you don’t realize how terrible applying for medical school really is. Baylor will take you where ever you want to go, just look at their match lists...

 

[Dr. Anonymouss]

Oh sorry, I was unclear with BU. It is Boston University, not Baylor. Thank you all for your advice.

Well I’d still go to Boston knowing it’s a guaranteed acceptance. You won’t have to go through all the application crap everyone else had to, you won’t need to take the MCAT, and you still won’t have any issues matching into derm or ortho if you do research, network, and nail step 2

 

[lidlyft]

You need to be sure you like Boston University. You need to be okay being compared to Harvard, BC, UMass forever. If you are good enough to get into Penn (meaning you have the stats and didn't just get in because you are an athlete, alumni connections, etc, I would go to Penn. You will have a step up on everything for the rest of your life. If you go to Penn medical, they have the best match list in the country. You will likely do fine on the MCAT.

If you are deciding between derm and ortho, I bet you won't be applying to derm or ortho when medical school ends. You sound like you don't know what you want yet.

 

[DokterMom]

Penn and Dartmouth are both great schools - but so's BU. BU just has the unfortunate disadvantage of not being the 'top' school in it's city, which, to someone craving prestige (I get it) can be a bitter pill to swallow.

But BU medical school is a great outcome. To do better than that, you'd have to excel at Penn or Dartmouth with virtually no room for failure. Four years is a lot of time for something bad to happen -- home-sickness, trouble adjusting, death of a relative, depression or anxiety problems, burn-out. You'd also need substantial research and volunteering in order to snag a 'BU or better' medical school acceptance. You've got a guaranteed top-30 med school acceptance now that none of the above will derail.

As @efle mentioned, if you're not 100% certain you want to become a doctor, that changes everything. And you didn't mention any financial considerations. Do take those into account, because if I recall, BU is one of the most expensive programs in the country.

 

[washboardEarth]

dont most acceleeted programs still require you to maintain a certain gpa and mcat?

I transferred from a state school to an ivy in undergrad. go Penn and never look back. medicine is becoming less worth it by the year and if you decide in 2-3 years you still want to do it you'll be able to easily. but Penn will open up more options. if I were in your shoes I'd be going to Penn and setting my sights on IB or consulting. the whole reason accelerated programs exist is to poach students who will otherwise end up at better schools if they apply traditionally. and about "saving yourself from the stress of applying to med school". this whole process is one kick in the groin after another. so if applying to med school makes you uneasy you'll really hate med school itself.

pm me if you want to talk more

 

[efle]

Choosing Penn with the assumption that you will do well and get into Perelman is a mistake, in my opinion. They have hundreds and hundreds of premeds every year and only accept a couple dozen of their own into the MD cohort. You'd be much more likely to have to go elsewhere than to remain. In fact, given the significant weedout of the premed process and the caliber of students at Ivies, you are probably more likely to drop off the track altogether than you are to matriculate to Perelman.

Building a top-tier medical application can be a real pain in the ass. I did it, and can tell you firsthand that college would have been so, so chillaxed if I didn't have to care about an A vs A- or spend hundreds of hours on ECs. Plus all the expense, time, and stress of the MD application cycle.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a huge fan of BS/MD programs, because I think they lock you into medicine too young. If you know you want to be a physician they can be a golden opportunity, but if you are just defaulting to premed because that seems to be what most smart Asian kids go into? Then I might hesitate. As the above poster said, if you were to change your mind and want to do something like finance, consulting, VC, a PhD, or any other career than medicine, then Penn will be a better launchpad into your first job.

 

[Doggeronie]

For those of you who have gone through the medical school application process, do you know about how much stronger an Asian applicant has to be? I know affirmative action is really prevalent in this process and many schools have high MCAT medians like 518+, but as an Asian would I need to get a 520 to stand a chance at med schools above t20? Thanks.

Just go to BU. You will save yourself headache, uncertainty, money, time, and a lot of risk. And you can still match wherever you want. It's not even a debate

 

[makethemostofit]

BU easily. You'll be able to enjoy your college experience, explore new interests, make new friends. The lack of stress is freaking AWESOME. This is coming from a person who was in a 8 years bs/md program.