Need some brutally honest opinions

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Medmedmed3x

Medmedmed3x

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I'm starting my first year of college during the fall of 2011, and I have absolutely no idea where I should go.

I have no idea of what feels "right" or any college that I've been enamored with since early childhood (feelings that many of my friends seem to have..)

Also, to avoid berating remarks, I'm asking this on this forum because I fear hSDN members are just as confused as I am. I just want advice from people who have...experience!

So, places I've been accepted:

George Mason University

University of Pennsylvania

Virginia Tech

University of Virginia

Virginia Commonwealth University

All of these schools are afordable. Now, my first inclination would be to go to either Mason or VCU and get a stellar GPA and a great MCAT and live happily ever after in the land of Medical School.

However...I want, no I NEED to go to an Ivy for Grad School. Why? I'm a pretenious nut who is obsessed with the high standard imposed by those institutions. Harvard would be my number 1 choice.

Now, will going to GMU or VCU automatically diminish ALL chances of me attending the good ole' H-bomb (Or any other Ivy Med for that matter)??

I'm ready to give up my social life if it means being the best Medical applicant that I can possibly be.

I'd appreciate it if you gave me cold, hard reasoning behind your answers. Most people say the person makes the app, not the school, but is that REALLY true?

Thanks guys, YOU ARE APPRECIATED (Tupac...anyone?).
 
Not like I'm saying I'm a brilliant God send or anything. It's just something that I really want, more than anything else.

You know people who go to Ivy Med's are still actually PEOPLE, who had dreams & accomplished them.

I mean if you're not going to give me advice, why even comment..right? haha...people...
 
Medmedmed3x said:
Not like I'm saying I'm a brilliant God send or anything. It's just something that I really want, more than anything else.

You know if people who go to Ivy Med's are still actually PEOPLE, who had dreams, accomplished them.

I mean if you're not going to give me advice, why even comment..right? haha...people...
Click to expand...

Go where you will do the best. You might be best served in smaller, private institutions.

The name doesn't mean much (=among the names you mentioned), but you'd probably be able to continue being a dbag longer at a smaller school before being identified.
 
UPenn or UVA

But you need to get a stellar gpa/MCAT at these places to get into a top med school.
 
Yeah I mean I think I'll have to have a good GPA/MCAT everywhere to get into a top 20.

And yeah, UPenn is an ivy, but I'm more obsessed with the Med School Ivy than the Undergrad.

I feel like Undergrad ivys aren't that hard to accomplish, so the sense of prestige in my head is smaller than a med school ivy.

But yeah I feel like all of those schools, with the exception of VCU (which is just GROSS), are great. GMU might be a less regarded one, but the campus is great and the resources are even better.
 
How did you do on your SAT?

ps. and nobody is going to take you seriously if you talk about how great your MCAT and gpa will be in four years, when you haven't even started undergrad. Try to be a little humble
 
Medmedmed3x said:
I'm starting my first year of college during the fall of 2011, and I have absolutely no idea where I should go.

I have no idea of what feels "right" or any college that I've been enamored with since early childhood (feelings that many of my friends seem to have..)

Also, to avoid berating remarks, I'm asking this on this forum because I fear hSDN members are just as confused as I am. I just want advice from people who have...experience!

So, places I've been accepted:

George Mason University

University of Pennsylvania

Virginia Tech

University of Virginia

Virginia Commonwealth University

All of these schools are afordable. Now, my first inclination would be to go to either Mason or VCU and get a stellar GPA and a great MCAT and live happily ever after in the land of Medical School.

However...I want, no I NEED to go to an Ivy for Grad School. Why? I'm a pretenious nut who is obsessed with the high standard imposed by those institutions. Harvard would be my number 1 choice.

Now, will going to GMU or VCU automatically diminish ALL chances of me attending the good ole' H-bomb (Or any other Ivy Med for that matter)??

I'm ready to give up my social life if it means being the best Medical applicant that I can possibly be.

I'd appreciate it if you gave me cold, hard reasoning behind your answers. Most people say the person makes the app, not the school, but is that REALLY true?

Thanks guys, YOU ARE APPRECIATED (Tupac...anyone?).
Click to expand...

I'm going to assume this is a serious thread.

I agree with others that you need to lose the attitude. It's nice to want to attend HMS, but you appear way too pretentious and caught up in names; at least you admitted it!

About getting into elite Medical Schools... most of their students went to major undergraduate programs, but that's probably just selection bias since those are the schools that have large concentrations of the top undergraduates (while less selective schools have excellent students as well, but not as routinely).

My guess is HMS would prefer someone from Penn over GMU/VCU. That said, the main factors are MCAT score and grades. The MCAT is the same, so it's a wash. Since Penn tends to have a stronger student body, it maybe relatively less difficult to earn a higher GPA at GMU/VCU than Penn. It's also much less expensive if, as it appears, you're a VA resident. Besides this, HMS won't be impressed with you as a Penn graduate, as they get more applicants from top schools than they can even consider let alone admit.

Do yourself a favor and try to lose the 'tude. You may feel on top of the world right now, but you're young and will realize that there are plenty of people just as talented (if not more) out there. Don't try to impress others or inflate your ego. Even you got into HMS, so what? There are going to be others better at Medicine than you. If you go into Medicine, there will be people making more by age 30 than you'll ever make. There are already people your age with generous aid financial aid packages to Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Yale and other places.

Just try to do you best in College and, if you end up Medicine, be a good doctor.
 
Penn or UVA. I am biased though since I really liked both during my application process (Penn swiftly rejected me outright though). Places like Harvard med are more likely to be "name ******", but it won't kill your chances if you go to VCU/GMU. Now, if you go to the less competitive school and get a 3.2/30 then yes, you will likely have no chance. You should realize that on average it will be harder to get a 3.8+ GPA at Penn than at other schools (Not saying that you can't do it). My English prof here did say that he didn't think students at Penn got as good of an education as you might think, and that I was better off where I am, but he is probably biased too. Of course if you go to Penn people would continually confuse your school with Penn State, and that just would just be too annoying to put up with for 4 years 😉. I would go where you will be most comfortable based upon your ideal class size, setting (is the campus nice? dorms? surrounding city/town? etc.), and what yields the best education:cost ratio.

Edit: I better not have just been trolled by the way (shakes fist)
 
Medmedmed3x said:
And yeah, UPenn is an ivy, but I'm more obsessed with the Med School Ivy than the Undergrad.
Click to expand...

Oh good, thanks for the clarification--I wasn't sure 🙄👍

As someone who attended an ivy undergraduate and will be attending an ivy medical school next fall, I strongly suggest you not give up your social life but instead give up your ivy fascination, you should enjoy the place you're going to live for four years, not just wearing the t-shirt.
 
Medmedmed3x said:
Why? I'm a pretenious nut who is obsessed with the high standard imposed by those institutions...
Click to expand...

Well as long as you recognize that you're pretentious (and remarkably abrasive)...

Anyway, straight from Harvard's website:
The class is made up of students from 74 undergraduate institutions, 32 states and 10 foreign countries

... and there are fewer than 74 Ivy schools, therefore you do not need to graduate from any Ivy to get into Harvard.
 
Hahaha have fun crying in 4 years after Harvard rejects you along with the other ~5000 people it rejects every year.

Seriously you'll realize eventually that its best to assume you're going to get rejected from most places you apply...that way when you do get rejected you aren't too worked up about it. I'll be back in 4 years for the "Didn't get into harvard should I take a year off???" thread.
 
Having been born, raised, and educated in the state of Virginia, I say Penn.

But that has nothing to do with quality of education.
 
Out of that list of schools, I would say Penn. Seriously though, you need to stop worrying about the name. You can get a good, if not better, education at some of the non-ivys. The name won't really mean much when you don't have the GPA or MCAT score to back it up or to get in
 
Go to where you get the most scholarship $. You'll thank yourself 4 years later.

And yes - lose the 'tude. US MD schools schools are all accredited by the LCME, which means they are all held to the same standard. Textbooks at HMS aren't made of gold, and where-ever you go, the education you receive will completely depend on how much effort you put in.
 
U Penn and U of Virginia are really good..

I know Virginia is considered a public ivy
 
Medmedmed3x said:
I'm starting my first year of college during the fall of 2011, and I have absolutely no idea where I should go.

I have no idea of what feels "right" or any college that I've been enamored with since early childhood (feelings that many of my friends seem to have..)

Also, to avoid berating remarks, I'm asking this on this forum because I fear hSDN members are just as confused as I am. I just want advice from people who have...experience!

So, places I've been accepted:

George Mason University

University of Pennsylvania

Virginia Tech

University of Virginia

Virginia Commonwealth University

All of these schools are afordable. Now, my first inclination would be to go to either Mason or VCU and get a stellar GPA and a great MCAT and live happily ever after in the land of Medical School.

However...I want, no I NEED to go to an Ivy for Grad School. Why? I'm a pretenious nut who is obsessed with the high standard imposed by those institutions. Harvard would be my number 1 choice.

Now, will going to GMU or VCU automatically diminish ALL chances of me attending the good ole' H-bomb (Or any other Ivy Med for that matter)??

I'm ready to give up my social life if it means being the best Medical applicant that I can possibly be.

I'd appreciate it if you gave me cold, hard reasoning behind your answers. Most people say the person makes the app, not the school, but is that REALLY true?

Thanks guys, YOU ARE APPRECIATED (Tupac...anyone?).
Click to expand...

No, it doesn't matter where you go.

Harvard Medical School only accepts people who have been destined for HMS. If you are one of the chosen, then you'll get in...no matter what you do. If you aren't, then you're just trying for no reason.
 
Medmedmed3x said:
However...I want, no I NEED to go to an Ivy for Grad School. Why? I'm a pretenious nut who is obsessed with the high standard imposed by those institutions. Harvard would be my number 1 choice.
Click to expand...

No. You're a nerd who will quickly learn that you probably don't have what it takes to get into an Ivy league medical school and that no one gives two ****s about where you went to undergrad, outside of other nerds who went to Ivy schools.
 
I definitely would go to Penn. Virginia would be a distant second. George Mason plays some pretty good basketball once in awhile. Was it George Mason that upset Virginia Tech in football last fall?

Anyway, go to Penn and you can watch the Penn vs. Harvard basketball games.

If you have the option of going to Princeton, go there, otherwise, Penn.
 
bucks2010 said:
Go to where you get the most scholarship $. You'll thank yourself 4 years later.
Click to expand...

Glad someone said it. Seriously, the names are nice and all, but try to get into as little debt as possible. I went to a state undergrad school and had no problems getting accepted in the #2 PT program in the country. Not med school? No, it's not, but I still got into a highly ranked school for my future career and I didn't go to an "ivy league" undergrad.

Names are money. No one cares where you went unless you pass the boards.
 
markelmarcel said:
Glad someone said it. Seriously, the names are nice and all, but try to get into as little debt as possible. I went to a state undergrad school and had no problems getting accepted in the #2 PT program in the country. Not med school? No, it's not, but I still got into a highly ranked school for my future career and I didn't go to an "ivy league" undergrad.

Names are money. No one cares where you went unless you pass the boards.
Click to expand...
stopped reading.
 
Medmedmed3x said:
Yeah I mean I think I'll have to have a good GPA/MCAT everywhere to get into a top 20.

And yeah, UPenn is an ivy, but I'm more obsessed with the Med School Ivy than the Undergrad.

I feel like Undergrad ivys aren't that hard to accomplish, so the sense of prestige in my head is smaller than a med school ivy.

But yeah I feel like all of those schools, with the exception of VCU (which is just GROSS), are great. GMU might be a less regarded one, but the campus is great and the resources are even better.
Click to expand...

Please refer to Bleargh's avatar.
 
If you wanna get into HSM stop worrying about undergrad and start working on your non-profit/major medical breakthrough or bribing, sleeping with, and/or blackmailing adcoms. This is valuable extortion time you're wasting.
 
aSagacious said:
So, naturally we are supposed to initiate a "Public Ivy Power Rankings" poll now, right?
Click to expand...

Will this only be the original 8 public Ivy's (with the 9 runner-up's) or the expanded list with the 20-30 wannabes? lol
 
aSagacious said:
I don't think that's ok by Etzio's standards. He'd likely inform us that we would be kidding ourselves to settle for 'runners up'.
Click to expand...

haters-gonna-hate.jpg
 
searun said:
I definitely would go to Penn. Virginia would be a distant second. George Mason plays some pretty good basketball once in awhile. Was it George Mason that upset Virginia Tech in football last fall?

Anyway, go to Penn and you can watch the Penn vs. Harvard basketball games.

If you have the option of going to Princeton, go there, otherwise, Penn.
Click to expand...

No, the university president refuses to allow Mason to have a football team, saying that it would forever change the environment of the school. There's a traveling not-quite-intramural one, though. He didn't know that existed.😏
 
Myuu said:
...the university president refuses to allow Mason to have a football team, saying that it would forever change the environment of the school.
Click to expand...

Sounds like someone is still bitter from being cut from the junior varsity football team in high school back in '66.
 
Well, I feel like you are being a little severe for someone who isn't even in college yet...


With that being said, there is no formula to get into an Ivy medical school, especially Harvard. But I believe you better your chances by going to an Ivy undergrad. You listed PENN as one of the schools you got into. So go there. It's a good school that is ivy and I hear that for med school they fight for students between them and Harvard.

Your welcome.
 
Jeeze, you're going to burn out quick.
Honestly, go where its a good combination of cheap, comfortable and where you're likely to get good grades. Try "Can I see myself happy and getting a good education here?" rather than "OH GOD, WHAT WILL ADCOMS WANT?!?!"​
 
aSagacious said:
So, naturally we are supposed to initiate a "Public Ivy Power Rankings" poll now, right?
Click to expand...
Best public Ivy's to to attend if you are pro-circumcision: (incidentally, the list is the same if against)
1)Berkeley
2)UVA
3)UCLA
4)UNC
5)Georgia Tech
6)U Washington
7)U Michigan
8)UI-UC
9)William and Mary
10)UT-Austin
11)U Wisconsin-Madison
12)Ohio State/Penn State (random tie as catalyst for heated debate about arbitrary ranking)
14)U Vermont
15)Rutgers (mostly because it's so damn old)
16-however many thousand: All tied for awfulness and bring shame upon one's family. In fact, if you find yourself at such a school, you might as well give up those M.D. dreams and just go the naturopathic or voodoo priesthood route.
 
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