<p>so yeah, i live like 2 hrs away and i could go on the 18th or the 24th, i guess…i thinkwe should all go at the same time, just to meet:) i wasn’t planning on going to nu again for a scheduled visit, but since i live so close i guess i could just go whenever:P</p>
<p>about the stats: i really don’t think they matter as much as people seem to think they do…ec’s really trump them, and once you get to the interview stage, that pretty much decides it. of course, that’s just my opinion, but the past year has given me <em>some</em> experience (or so i’d like to think:P) and yeah…okay.:)</p>
<p>just let me know if you;re going…and i’ll try to be there:)</p>
<p>oh yeah, other schools…i’m still waiting on rice and upitt med programs and wondering how i can say no to early action from MIT…it makes me sad to think about decisions. and i guess money will play a pretty big factor in the end. (what fun:P)</p>
<p>our track meets are being canceled cause of the weather :(…but hey at least its sunny, birds are chirping, refreshing (cough cough) breeze</p>
<p>meadle, im goin either on the 17-18th or the 23rd-24th; probably the latter</p>
<p>does anybody know how northwesterns housign works?..the sooner we send in our acceptance of the offer card, the better the housing?</p>
<p>decisions decisions…ya, though i am now even more strongly leaning hpme, i still cant help feeling sad turning duke and brown down
but hey, its wat u make of it, and northwestern is a pretty awesome place to make something of, so i think im going to be accepting</p>
<p>and in terms of stats, i agree they’re not the main thing, but i have a lot of friends who had “lower” stats (lower than that 730 or so that i think is about the “cutoff range”) who are very bright and had significantly more ecs than me (and more impressive) who did not get interviews…so i do think stats do play a big role in gettin to that point (that is kinda sucky, but thats a subject for another discussion…and hpme does need to maintain the high average test scores of admitted students to keep demand up…another unfortunate fact…)…but really, 730 or above should do it i think</p>
<p>wat do all of u like to do for fun?</p>
<p>btw, that first post of mine was my first post in a blog ever…i just realized it was ridiculously long haha :P</p>
<p>SATI: M/800, W/800, CR/780
ACT: 35 composite
SATII: MathII 800, CHEM 800, Lit. 770</p>
<p>she was accepted into HPME 2011 class.</p>
<p>stantheman836,</p>
<p>Brown may have 80%+ placement rate to <em>any</em> med school (NU has around 80% too), but I bet they probably have less than 10% admit rate to NU’s med school. That’s what you should be comparing. 
Also, no more MCAT and pressure for high GPA (though most HPME are so self-motivated that they get high ones anyway).</p>
<p>Sam Lee, One thing to consider when you read that a school has an 80%+ placement rate is that they might not “support” those applicants who have less than top grades and MCAT scores. If a student can’t get recommendations, they are dead in the water. They end up not applying to med schools. The remaining “cream of the crop” students all get placements, making their undergraduate institution look good.</p>
<p>Oh yea, I am very aware of that (e.g Johns Hopkins).</p>
<p>and i’ve also heard that brown has historically had some problems with pre-med advising but i havent been able to verify that; in any case, i am 95% sure i am going to be an HPME-er</p>
<p>thanks for the answers</p>
<p>hmm, i’ve been giving HPME so much thought over the past few days, and i’ve decided to go to harvard instead. maybe they changed it this year or something, but the fact that we lose our guaranteed spot after 3 years if we apply elsewhere for med school totally discouraged me from going…</p>
<p>Northwestern’ medical school is one of the best in the nation though. I don’t think that going to Harvard will necessarily get you into a better medical school.</p>
<p>of course, like i said, nothing is guaranteed. but if i don’t take the “risk”, i know for sure that i won’t go to a better med school</p>
<p>BingCold,</p>
<p>If, by the third year at NU, you have crazy research experience under your belt and 38 on MCAT, then you can take a pretty manageable risk and apply to other med program. In that sense, you aren’t really locked into it and you “may” get to a better med school. You can of course just stay with NU med school. You will still be very much in control 3 years from now.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you go to Harvard, unless you are at the top quarter of the Harvard student body and score well on MCAT, chances of you getting into a med school as good as or better than NU is very slim. </p>
<p>Speaking of Harvard experience, I am not sure what the fuss is about given how constantly you’ve heard some Harvard students complaining about their experience and how profs are aloof and undergrads are not getting the attention. From what I heard, Yale/Stanford provide better experience. The Harvard diploma is special but the undergrad experience? I am afraid it’s nothing out of ordinary. Also, at Harvard, you will be spending a lot of time studying to try to get A’s and score well on MCAT–i.e. a typical premed experience with a lot of grinding. Whereas at NU, if you decide you’ll not be applying to other med schools, you’ll be more free to pursue whatever you are really interested without worrying too much about grades or how much/what kind of research you need to do (no resume whore). That to me, is a far more enriching experience.</p>
<p>I definately agree with Sam Lee.
Medical School admissions are so competative and can be really unpredictable based on the year you apply to med schools. If your year has a lot of applicants, then comeptition for the top med schools is going to be insane. Judging by how competitive undergrad admissions are becoming, med school admissions are bound to get harder. But everyone is entitled to his/her own choice. Good luck at Harvard BingCold! :)</p>
<p>Oh one more thing, NU’s med school is in a very nice part of Chicago. 
According to rankings, there are 20 schools “better” (let’s just assume ranking is a correct measure for simplicity) than NU. But how many of them are in better location? Probably not many! ;)</p>
<p>BingCold,</p>
<p>Here’s the princeton 5-yr premed admission data (1998-03); that should give you a better sense of the odds.</p>
<p><a href=“http://web.princeton.edu/sites/hpa/handouts/admit_stats.pdf[/url]”>http://web.princeton.edu/sites/hpa/handouts/admit_stats.pdf</a></p>
<p>Sam Lee, I don’t think you need to force him to HPME if he/she doesn’t want to. I’m sure BingCold thought this out long and hard.</p>
<p>three6mafia, i checked the rankings on the website student doctor</p>
<p>on the website it says the following:</p>
<p>Hopefully we’ve convinced you that rankings are pointless. Now we’ll prove the point by showing you the SDN Premed Index. This index is based on the impressions of premed students from the US and Canada.</p>
<p>The data is taken directly from the SDN Interview Feedback section. The ranking criteria are straightforward. Students are simply asked to rate each school on a scale of 1-10. We do not use any weighting system to manipulate the results. </p>
<p>Although the results make for interesting conversation, the index is completely unscientific and the results are bizarre. These results are presented simply for entertainment value. Do not use them to make career or application decisions.</p>
<p>lol…rankings really do suck</p>
<p>three6mafia and Sam Lee, thank you both for your input and some vital stats. But after consulting with many people of different fields (physicians included), I think Harvard fits me best and I think the pressure/goal of working hard for med school will help me grow in the long run. Obviously, HPME is an AWESOME program and that’s why it has been so hard for me to choose. But when I imagine myself about it 2 or 3 years into college, I think I’d regret turning down either one, but Harvard more so than HPME.</p>
<p>And three6mafia, thanks for your wishes. I’m sure you’ll excel at HPME and maybe we’ll meet one day as future doctors.</p>
<p>IMO, they are better than US News, which rank med schools solely on how much money they recieve for research</p>