upenn (benjamin franklin scholar/vagelos life science) vs. stanford

Colleges & Universities University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>I’m still in the process of deciding (-__-) lol…only 2 more days. It seems like penn is giving me alot of special attention. The two “honors” program at penn gives me a lot of personal attention, with opportunities of getting paid to do research (5000 for summer at penn). I’m thinking about going biology/bio engineering/premed. Can anyone at penn tell me about the advantages of these two programs/how many ppl are selected each year? They seem really special but I feel like there’s no point in doing this especially when I’m just gonna go to med school? what are the disadvantages (if any)? I heard that alot of the ppl in vagelos drops out in the end</p>

<p>Also, Stanford seems to give alot of opportunities for undergrad research as well.</p>

2

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Apparently you are not excited and challenged by these offers of opportunity. I did BFS and it enriched my experience at Penn immeasurably. If gpa for med school is all that you desire…choose Stanford. Early research takes time, effort and dedication. Many students can do early research w/o an honors component.

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3

<p>Easy hazmat…</p>

<p>First of all congratulations on some very impressive offers and acceptances.</p>

<p>I’m going to say that in the end this is really a decision you should make based on your own preferences/interests. At UPenn you have been designated as one of the strongest students. As above one of 100 freshmen in the BFS program, and one of I believe the number is 30 in biochem/chemistry who earn the Vagelos designation. Vagelos - search it, made my own thread earlier - is supposed to be very demanding, but does offer huge research opportunities… if you’re into that.</p>

<p>On the other side of things there’s Stanford, better weather, better “prestige,” known for its strength in sciences, seems like you’ll be more “average” (not necessarily bad thing), smaller school etc. Then of course there’s the financial component, guessing that with those accomplishments Penn’s also given you the trustee scholarship etc.</p>

<p>Stanford has the name, and I believe academic edge (though this is very arguable), UPenn you’ve got the special attention (huge if research is something you want).</p>

4

<p>FYI I did PM and congratulate the candidate and welcome him to the Penn Community…I am not w/o heart.</p>

5

<p>if you’re planning on being premed, Penn has a reputation for having considerably better advising than stanford, which has a reputation for being pretty aloof.</p>

6

<p>im choosing penn over a top guaranteed program if that helps</p>