pmyen

Am a faculty member at a top research medical school. Was formerly at HMS. Have advised a number of students with similar options. I would say it really depends upon many factors. How certain is the student about medicine as a career? What does the student want to accomplish in college? How much exploring does one want to do in college (in your case the visual arts)? Does the student mind being part of a small preprofessional cohort (within the university) vs. being part of a larger college community? And as someone has pointed out, what does one want to do with their M.D.? If someone is going into primary care, where he/she gets the degree does not matter so much. However, if someone is interested in academics and research, going to Harvard, taking the requisite courses (upper level science courses will be different than med school classes) and perhaps getting research training by doing a thesis, should land you into a top research medical school. Brown is a very good medical school but it is not research oriented. In fact, I would argue, on the basis of medical school research alone, USC is stronger than Brown. It is equavlent and maybe even be higher reputationally among residency program directors, especially once you apply outside NE. That does not address the undergrad component of the combined program nor the medical school curriculum of Brown vs. USC. Their may be curriculum features of one versus the other that are attractive to you, atlhough quite frankly, most students usually do not choose particular medical schools on the basis of curriculum. Given your interest in the visual arts, Brown PLME may be the best option. If you are interested in gaining some major research experience, Harvard and USC offer more opportunities. Last, I think you should ask yourself, how well do you handle stress and the small chance you may not get into medical school? I think is very likely you will get in as long as you maintain at least a B+ average at Harvard but competition will get tough as as the peak for boomer kids applying will happen when you apply to med school. I know a number of Harvard students who turned down Brown PLME, and all of them went on to fine medical schools. They also felt that had a real college experience, too. No specific recommendations but perhaps some questions to help guide you to arrive at your own decison.