Chance Me for Either Duke or Brown ED 1 [MA resident, 3.94 UW, 1570 SAT, Biochem/Biology]

Chance Me / Match Me
21

So first off, for med school, the where likely doesn’t matter. Your GPA, MCAT, shadowing and more will. One might argue that going to a top school is harder because it will be harder to stand out.

But let’s tackle a few things - you like the open curriculum. So maybe Duke shouldn’t be #2. Maybe Rochester or Wes or Vassar or Grinnell or Hamilton should be with Kalamazoo as a safety.

On the flip side you mentioned sports and that’s not Brown or Emory. Maybe it’s Alabama, which has the McCullough Pre Medical Scholars. Or Va Tech, which has shadowing possibilities on campus. And there’s no bigger cult - I say in a good way - then Texas A&M.

So I know you are thinking - why go to a lesser school and not saying you need to - but think about your four years. Each day. Every day. A ‘rank’ doesn’t bring happiness.

So look - where do Drs at some of the top hospitals do their undergrad.

At Vanderbilt’s Hospital, schools like Ole Miss, UMass, Sewanee, UF, Murray State, N Illinois, Kansas, Luther, Lipscomb, OK State. And yes the UNCs, Lafayettes and Vandy’s of the world too - but not by and large.

For Duke Hospital, Tuskegee, UCF, Muhlenberg, Minnesota - that’s four of the first five. The 5th being Dartmouth.

The next resident year - Temple, FSU, Cornell, Gannon, Earlham, and Campbell.

The point is - the big name isn’t impressing the top med schools or teaching hospitals.

But you need to do well so find the right environment - whatever it is. All I see is you love very different reach schools and created a story for each that doesn’t necessarily jive.

You want to be happy to do best. And don’t forget while you have no cost concerns, med school is another $400k plus followed by poor earnings.

Make sure your family knows.

Good luck.

1 Like
22

I think Rochester is more like Brown than Duke is.

4 Likes
23

Then you need to budget for a full 8 years in university. If you are full pay at a private university in the US for 4 years, and then also do another 4 years of medical school, you are very likely to spend at least $800,000 and might spend closer to $900,000 before they call you “doctor”. You need to take as little of this as possible as debt. If you and your parents are not ok spending something over $800,000 on university, then it will be easier to save during your first four years (undergrad) rather than the last four years (medical school).

If budget is not an issue at all, then Brown and Duke are both excellent universities. Either one would prepare you very well for medical school. If you decided to take a different path (which most premed students do) then both will prepare you for a wide range of other possible intentions and potential careers. In this case I would apply ED to whichever school you think is the best fit for you.

In terms of maximizing your chances of getting to medical school, I doubt that your chances are likely to vary significantly attending any university ranked in the top 100 in the US, and very likely any school in the top 150 or even 200. Yes Harvard and Duke and Brown and Emory might get more of their undergraduate students into medical school compared to UNH or U.Mass Lowell, but a huge part of this is just the consistent academic strength and drive of the students who start as freshmen at each school in the first place. Any one excellent and hard working and highly driven student can do very well at a wide range of universities.

I am not a big fan of ED unless you have a clear first choice. If you do have a clear first choice, and if you are sure that you can afford it, then that is the school to ED to IMHO.

A standout EC for a highly ranked university is to do what you want to do, and what is right for you. Whatever you do, do it well. Treat people well (or at least fairly).

Perfect!

When you get into premed classes at any “top 200” university in the US course rigor is going to get tougher. On the most part as you get to higher ranked schools this is likely to be even more true.

In most cases highly ranked universities will also have quite a few highly competitive students. I still remember at MIT one time when I failed to write down the homework assignment in a freshman year physics class. I asked a “friend” who was in the same class. He said “I won’t tell you because you are competition and I want to do better than you in the class”. Fortunately two other actual friends overheard this conversation and told me what the assignment was. This is just part of life.

2 Likes
24

Rochester is a great choice. Like Brown and Wesleyan, they utilize an open curriculum. Since that’s one of the things which has attracted you to Brown, then Rochester bodes well for you as well. Rochester is extremely well resourced. First rate.

1 Like
25

I’d consider Case a match, not a safety.

2 Likes
26

oops didn’t mean to respond to you, @Bill_Marsh - that was for the OP

1 Like
27

Have you visited these schools? I would not apply ED unless you have a clear first choice school, and it doesn’t sound as if you do. Duke has a lot of energy regarding sports. Brown…not so much. I would really think about what you want.

Your grades and test scores are excellent. Most will have taken calc BC- not sure how much this will matter, but I would not worry about it.

Your ECs are good! They show you were a busy and involved HS student. Will there be students with higher level awards and ECs? Yes, but do not worry. You be you.

Hopefully your LORs will be detailed, they will show how you stood out in class, etc. Teachers in our HS will write that this is the best student they have ever had in their 15+ years of teaching, and then go on to explain why. Right now you do not know much about your letters, and there is not much you can do about it. Again, make an appropriate list and do not worry.

You have/had total control over your essays. Take advantage of this!

When we visited Duke there was a parent who raised her hand and asked this question: “How can you expect students to have top grades and rigor, and also expect them to do all of these activities where they stand out?” The response- “That’s what we expect.”

We visited Rochester and our tour guide told us that he was struggling with a math problem. He wrote it on the board in the library and jokingly wrote “help.” He stepped away to use the bathroom and when he returned, somebody solved the problem and also wrote a detailed explanation. He went on to say that this was typical of Rochester.

Pitt blew me away. My daughter interviewed for something there and the honors students were some of the most accomplished kids I have ever met.

You are an exceptional student and many schools will be happy to have you. But…chancing you for Brown and Duke is impossible due to the high number of students who are also exceptional. Choose safeties that you love and I have no doubt that you will thrive.

4 Likes
28

Don’t put rolling admissions schools on the back burner— they can fill up early. So can a lot of the public’s that have EA. Make sure to apply early to those too!

if you like Case Western, make sure to show a lot of demonstrated interest. It’s important to them. Open their emails, click the links, spend time on their webpages. They track this. Also have your parents open any emails from Case that come to them!

5 Likes
29

Exactly. Just do the application today. Then it’s one that is already done. If you have plans to do ED someplace, you likely have things like essays etc all done anyway. So…apply to rolling admission schools now. You will get a quick turn around in terms of admissions…or not.

4 Likes
30

Based on relatives at Duke and other kids I know there your profile looks like a great fit, as long as you are aware/happy with the prominent Greek scene. Well done on much hard work and a v strong profile.

31

If you apply wisely there will be nothing to fear. ED is used if you have a clear first choice school.

Do you like Duke? Then look at Lehigh (not a safety), Syracuse, Alabama (medical scholars).

Do you like Brown? Consider Rochester and Pitt honors.

I will tell you first hand that the anxiety kicks in down the road…when you are applying to medical school, highly competitive graduate programs, competitive fellowships, etc.

Apply wisely, set yourself up for success, and you will have plenty of great options.