So, what is the advantage or disadvantage of going to a certain UG? I do not see how name of the college could be higher criteria when choosing the college than the criteria of the best fitting place. Well, we went with what was important to our kid. We knew that being close to home (within 3.5 hrs driving) and believe it or not a pretty campus will make her happy, so why not? Why these should be less important to her than the “Harvard” name? She did not think so and despite of all the pressure from her GS, she did not apply to any Ivy / Elite colleges. However, if the name is at the top of the criteria list, go for it. Everybody is different.
There is no way the pre-med will slack at any place, I can guarantee you this one for sure and the applicants from the low ranked colleges get accepted to the top of the top Med. Schools. One thing that happened to my kid, she simply ended up attending at Med. School of her dream way back in HS, she did not even realize that, she forgot. What I am saying is that any hard working pre-med can make it work for him / her at absolutely any place. I disagree that Harvard and JHU are “obviously the best”, not for everybody, only for those who want to be there and I certainly hope that they have heavier reasons than simply the name.