Cost doesn’t matter, just want to know which you’d prefer.
All great choices! Have you visited them?
I can only speak to WashU as I have a current senior there - but it is tough to beat for pre-med. Also, I would be concerned about the quarter system at NW if you are pre-med as one bad cold/illness could tank the GPA as that system moves fast! Cornell has more grade deflation of the 3 from what I have heard. However, what are the factors that are most important to you?
I’ve visited all but Cornell, but will. I think I like washu a little more than northwestern based off campus
One thing that i’m worried about Washu is that I might drop out, since i heard that washu weeds out like those that aren’t the most motivated.
This is true of any of these schools and any top ranked school honestly. I feel Cornell has more grade deflation than the other 2 as I said, based upon 2 kids I’ve know who went there, but again every person has different strengths/motivation.
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That would be any school - but three top notch schools admitted you, so I’d have confidence in your abilities. And weed out doesn’t mean drop out. And WUSTL sends plenty to med school - so sometimes hype like you fear is unfair. It won’t be easy - at Wash U or W Washington. It’s pre med. it’s not supposed to be easy.
The name for pre med doesn’t matter.
Whose campus (you already said WUSTL over NU), curriculum and timing system do you prefer? Cornell will be rural relative to the other two but still in society.
Who has possible shadow opportunities ?
What would you major in at each? Pre med is not a major but an intention.
Im either doing biological/biomedical eng or bio as major. They all have shadow opportunities, but washu is probably the most accessible. From my friends at Cornell, cornell is probably going to be my favorite campus/location/experience. However, i’m not sure if like the premed at cornell is good enough compared to the other two to justify it though.
What would make it not good enough? In the end, pre med is an intention and you’ll take a bunch of classes…so I don’t think it matters if it’s Colorado State or Cornell, it’s good enough…
the preparation for your med app. Like cornell doesn’t have the best access to a clinic + gpa is important for your app. REsearch should be better at cornell, but from the numbers, more % from washu get into med school.
I think you are over analyzing.
I’d take med school out since statistically, most who intend don’t apply and of those who apply, over half don’t get in. So if you weren’t pre med, where would you want to go? Right now, WUSTL but you’ve not gone to Cornell yet.
Your MCAT will be important no doubt.
If you choose WUSTL, then it’s great. Same as Cornell - also great.
Best of luck
According to College Transitions (I don’t see a year/timeframe), NU had 811 MD Grads (that went there undergrad), Cornell 664, and WUSTL 402.
You can run yourself nutty over analyzing every little nuance.
I’d be more concerned that if I majored in bio and didn’t go to med school…then what? Likely - but not necessarily, a low paid job is coming. But if you BME, it might be harder to get a good GPA.
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that’s what i was thinking. engineering is far easier at washu than the other two, which would let me keep high gpa while going for med school.
Engineering isn’t easy ANYWHERE - but if you choose WUSTL - it’s great. It’s a fine school. Best of luck.
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I feel as if premed-intending students often end up in this “biology vs. biomedical engineering” dilemma, as if BME were the only more-employable major available. There are other great alternatives that occupy more of a middle ground between a pure life-science major and engineering. For example, WashU has a genomics and computational biology specialization in the bio department. They have both statistics and data science majors, both of which can be great as far as complementing the med school prereqs and imparting employable skill-sets, both in case med school doesn’t happen, and in the event that the student wants to work for a few years in between undergrad and med school. Getting an engineering degree that you’ll never use as a physician is a whole lot of work in addition to a potential GPA-buster.
Same story with Cornell - there are many, many major options! Which school are you admitted to? Engineering can be a bit of a weed-out experience, and I agree that there may be a bit more grade deflation overall, but the range of choices, in terms of fields of study, is vast, and the Research Scholar opportunity could be valuable.
It sounds to me as if Northwestern is the odd one out here. You like the WashU campus/vibe better, and you don’t have a special scholars program offer like you have at Cornell. I’m not hearing a reason that you’re keeping Northwestern in the mix at the moment, other than perhaps that it’s the highest-ranked of the three (which honestly doesn’t matter; they’re all top-tier). Is there a reason you haven’t narrowed the decision down to WashU vs. Cornell?
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If you’re worried about your Cornell GPA, you can choose human development or nutritional sciences or a non-STEM major in an area of strength, or a mix of biology and humanities via the biology and society major.
If you are talking about premed weed out courses…they are at EVERY college and they are not easy courses anywhere.
I’ve been to all three of these colleges, but where I might choose doesn’t matter. It’s what you want that matters.
You can take the required courses for medical school admissions at any of these colleges. In addition, if you change your mind about premed (like most freshmen premeds do), there are plenty of other courses of study from which to choose.
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I think that Northwestern and Cornell have more grade deflation/competition than WashU so idk what are your other options?
Yeah but it’s the least prestigious for engineering out of the 3. I would say go to Cornell if you want to do engineering and Pre-med. If you just want to focus on pre-med then go to WashU and change your major to something other than engineering so that you can keep your GPA quite high with a bit less effort.
And yet all three are placing heavily in med school - with WUSTL sending the least (although we don’t know how many have applied). And obviously the school sizes are different.
It’s over analyzing in the extreme.
That the student likes WUSTL and not NU makes the first part easy.
That they will visit Cornell and it’s larger and more rural than WUSTL - that will make the second part easy.
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