<p>Hey,</p>
<p>I'm actually in the brooklyn program (3rd year). I completely understand where you're coming from. I was accepted into the program off of the wait-list, so I was already set on going to NYU. There was a huge debate in my house over whether or not I should go to the program. I really wanted the college experience, and Brooklyn doesn't have dorms. But at the same time, I'd have the assurance of getting into a med school. After my first semester, I was still unsure as to whether I made the right decision, partly because I had a lot of expectations/dellusions about college.</p>
<p>Now, my opinions have completely changed. The social experience you get from college has everything to do with the effort you make. At Brooklyn, you have to work a little harder to get large groups of people to do stuff (go out etc). But I think the overall social experience is a lot better than other colleges since you enter into a program that has a good number of people who are quality friends and who you'll be with for a while, as opposed to have a different set of friends each year as your housing arrangement changes.</p>
<p>Most importantly though, you can REALLY enjoy your college experience without having to stress about getting into med school. The key thing about med programs is that your mentality completely changes. When you're a pre-med student at universities like NYU or Cornell, you have to constantly fight for a spot as a big fish in a HUGE sea so that you can get into a good med school. When you take a class, you're not just taking it to learn/pass with a decent grade. You're competing for the top grade, the praise of your profs, etc. For the program, when you take your MCATs, which I'm doing in two days, you just have to worry about keeping your spot, getting straight 9's. A 27 is less than avg for the MCAT. (Note that I'm at some random website responding to a post by a person I don't know two days before my MCAT.) A 3.5 gpa and a 27 on the mcat at Cornell won't guarrantee you anything. You need a really good resume, application essay, interviewing skills, etc.</p>
<p>Basically, it comes down to how you want to spend your college years. If you don't mind the extra (and unnecessary) stress, and if name is really important, go for it. Go to Cornell. But if you want to really enjoy college without stress and if you Downstate is good enough for you, stick with the program. I'm not trying to pursuade you either into going to the program. The fact is, it's really up to what you want out of college.</p>
<p>Anyway, back to studying.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>