@kirstenm44 thank you so much for your response, you answered the other follow up questions I had as well! One concern I have is: people told me that since UMass Amherst is a public school, I am less likely to make it into medical schools such as Columbia. is that true? I know that its annoying when people say “I want to go to columbia!111!” but a lot of my mentors (neurosurgeons) 3/7 went to Columbia and said they have one of the best neuro programs. so is that true at all?