<p>“Question is whether there is an advantage in applying to Cornell over Michigan if medical school is the ultimate objective. This is not a financial decision since I could pay for either, but if the schools are close the savings would be nice. I know by comparison that about 95% of Princeton grads applying to med school get in on the first try.”</p>
<p>Several thoughts: 1) going to Michigan would mean the opportunity to make contact directly with professors and there is also a quantifiable “hook” from UM undergraduate to the medical school; I’m not familiar with the framework at Cornell but is there a possible proximity issue (Cornell campus upstate, some (all?) elements of Cornell medical in New York?) in that it may be harder to establish, while an undergraduate, research relationships with medical school faculty? I simply don’t know but it might be worth researching; 2) from memory, however defective, I remember something like 60% of UM applicants being accepted; this is far lower than Princeton, but percentage is a bit deceptive in that the Michigan cohort is probably much larger and probably places more people in aggregate; 3) I would guess that Michigan is roughly a wash with Cornell as to teaching undergraduate sciences; 4) Michigan has poured a lot of concrete and invested over $1,000,000,000 in life science research over the last 10 years; not sure where Cornell is in terms of relative investment; I believe that Michigan has more highly cited researchers and the facilities are bleeding edge; 5) Michigan has 100 departments (whole university, not just med) ranked in the top10 nationally…if she hits a bump she’ll find something to do at either school, but Michigan also has a great biomedical program and a great engineering school…though Cornell is probably, again, a wash in this regard; 6) UM medical school “matches” either 100% or close to 100% of its graduating medical school class.</p>
<p>If the final goal is medical school it is worth noting that UM medical school and hospitals are very highly ranked for both primary care and research, but excel particularly in research. So, in part, is she a potential academician or a potential practitioner?</p>
<p>Over all, while I’m not that familiar with Cornell, my sense is that they are an institutional wash. For people who don’t know Michigan, Cornell may benefit from a halo effect.</p>