Dartmouth UG vs UIC BS/MD Guarantee

[classof 2020]

I am a graduating High School senior and I have been accepted to Dartmouth College and a combined BS/MD program-UIC College of Medicine GPPA program. I am having trouble deciding. Please share your thoughts on what you would do in my situation.

Dartmouth:
Pros:
I think I would enjoy the undergraduate experience much more than UIC. I may go into academic medicine, so the Ivy League brand may be helpful.
Cons:
No guarantee that I will get into any medical school. Will have to work hard to get high GPA, high MCAT and stand out ECs. UG will cost about $250k.

UIC GPPA:
Pros:
Guaranteed spot in UIC medical school, if I keep a GPA of 3.5 and get an MCAT of 31(tree tries allowed). Can apply to other medical schools and keep UIC Med as a backup. Finish UG in three years using AP credit. Will probably get merit aid and UG cost will be much less than Dartmouth. - as little as $75k if I do it in three years.

Cons:
Probably will not enjoy UIC undergraduate experience as much as Dartmouth. This is an undergrad that I would never consider if it was not for the Medical School Guarantee.

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[Plue00]

Can't go wrong with guaranteed med. It would probably be a lot easier than Dartmouth too.

 

[sector9]

Moved to hSDN

 

[SeminoleVesicle]

Take the sure thing.

 

[nysegop]

I would go with guaranteed medical school.

 

[Green Grass]

I would take the guaranteed route as well. If you think about it, you will probably have to do better than 3.5/31 to get accepted into medical school from Dartmouth. It makes your UG years just a little easier and more enjoyable.

Plus, you will have many routes into academic medicine. I don't think graduating from Dartmouth vs. UIC will endanger your future aspirations in any way.

Good luck!

 

[youmed]

Seems like the UIIC APPA program sounds better. The fact that you have the option to apply to other medical schools just seals the deal in my opinion.

 

[Morsetlis]

Can't go wrong with guaranteed med. It would probably be a lot easier than Dartmouth too.

👍

Nothing's keeping you from applying out either. I see very, very little disadvantages in taking the safe path here (unless you're a genius bent on curing Hemophilia A by inducing pluripotent stem cell transplantation by the age of 21, or something).

 

[Keepitclassy]

Class of 2014 at UIC only accepted 16 GPPA Medicine students, I'm not sure how many they've accepted in the more recent years, but you're a very select bunch.

Of the 2014 GPPA students I know two of them, one turned down acceptances to both UChicago & Northwestern, the other turned down Stanford and a handful of other prestigious schools and neither have regretted the choice. Both have scored insanely well on the MCAT (37 & 38 respectively, 31 is necessary to continue in the GPPA program) and have near perfect GPA's (Both are 3.95+) and unless something drastic happens they both will be matriculating to UICCOM.

As prestigious as Dartmouth is, Ivy's aren't the easiest school to maintain good standings. To maintain your standings as a GPPA student at UIC you'll need to keep a 3.5+ GPA and score a 31 MCAT, which is do-able.

Anyways, the final call is yours but there's my 2 cents, if you have any questions I can relay them to my GPPA friends via facebook/text and see if they can answer them for ya, congratulations on your acceptances!

 

[deleted393595]

Can't go wrong with guaranteed med. It would probably be a lot easier than Dartmouth too.

And cheaper?

 

[I'm No Superman]

Question that is relevant to the topic: What happens if you decide medicine isn't right for you halfway through sophomore year of a BS/MD program?

I know that the OP already had to have made the decision but I might as well ask in case someone actually uses the search function in the future.