Exactly. The students who are strong enough (both academically, and in terms of determination and drive) to get into Princeton and then get into medical schools are also strong enough to go to a SUNY, do very well, and get into very good medical schools (very likely the same medical schools). There are very strong students at Princeton (or Stanford or MIT or …) and there are very strong students at any SUNY. There are just a higher percentage of the strongest and most determined students starting at Princeton (or Stanford or MIT) which is why a higher percentage of them later get into medical schools.
Exactly. The cost of medical school is a potentially huge problem.
I understand that high school students who intend to be premed usually change their mind and do something else. However, I do not like to see a high school student who wants to be premed put a big hurdle in the way of their path to medical school before they even set foot on an undergraduate campus. Also, some students who start off premed and change their mind end up in a field where a master’s is useful anyway, and if they have saved college funds with the intention of using it for medical school, they can always pivot and spend the same saved college funds for a master’s if this turns out to be the right path for them.
Regarding my comment about “determination”. Medical school is a long path and a lot of work. It is also expensive. To get accepted requires quite a bit of experience in a medical environment (which might be volunteer work – something you need to do while an undergraduate student but that might not pay). Being academically very strong is important. However, being very determined is also very important. I do not think that I fully understood this until my daughter started studying in a DVM program (which admittedly is not quite the same, but does have some similarities). Leaving out some details, I think that her determination and drive have been just as important as her academic ability in terms of surviving and doing well in the program.