<p>@tamtiger I’m in the Life Sciences and Management dual-degree program at Penn and I love it. Back in the day my choice came down to this program and a 7yr like Boston or Miami. I decided that if I was going in to medicine I would do a program, and if I was going in to something else I would choose Penn. I decided that I probably wasn’t passionate enough about medicine to lock myself in. I’ll probably be doing something in finance now, funny enough. My view was that as a physician you only have the power to help a few, and as a businessman you have the power to help millions. To that end I hope to eventually do something in the healthcare/pharma space which is not what I envisioned just a couple years ago. It goes to show how things play out in way you can never predict (I thought 90% chance I’d end up in med program). As most people will say about where they’re going, I have absolutely no regrets and it was an extremely easy choice to come here, probably because of my lack of passion for medicine. I continue to support med programs because for a certain type of student, they’re great. It takes the stress and annoyances out of the way for people who really want medicine. At the same time, sometimes the talents of a few people are wasted when they lock themselves in to a field like medicine where their skills aren’t best aligned. My overall view is that a student , when deciding where to go, should maximize their potential. If it means choosing between normal (definite) pre-med and med program I think med program wins because in the end the outcomes will be very similar with not many benefits coming from going to an elite undergrad. If a student goes to normal undergrad knowing there’s a reasonable chance they’ll switch from pre-med in to something more fulfilling for them vs med program, clearly the normal undergrad wins. I believe a student should go to the place where they think they’ll be able to reach their potential; the worst feeling is turning down an ivy for a sub-par undergrad school for 3 yrs and regretting it every year because you feel limited/unchallenged and like you deserve more. I’m not sure about your situation, but thanks with checking in–if you’re a prospective applicant to a med program or Penn, good luck and I’d be happy to help you.</p>