For people in Med School

COLLEGE_2
Mon, 24 Apr 2006 12:07:54 +0000

bluedevilmike, you seem to be very well-versed in pre-med issues, so maybe you could help answer my questions:

I’m a high school senior and I will be attending either UCSD or UPenn in the fall (for bioengineering). Both are great schools. At UCSD, bioE is ranked #2 or 3 in the country, I have been labeled as a Regents Scholar, and I will probably have a research position in the medical school in my freshman year (I have already talked to some researchers who have agreed to give me a position). However, Penn has the prestige (#4 in the country, Ivy League distinction, etc) and it seems like they really want to prepare their pre-med students to go to a good medical school.

My questions are: Is the prestige of Penn enough to overshadow the opportunities I would be getting at UCSD? Assuming I stay in BioE, do you know if med school admissions committees will take into consideration the high BioE ranking at UCSD? Also, do you know of any oddities with these schools that might affect my decision (such as the fact that med school adcoms will likely know that a high GPA at Case Western is probably due to grade inflation)?
Thanks!