<p>D got into MIT/Caltech early and now wondering if she should apply to Yale at all.
She has already applied to Harvard, Stanford and Princeton.</p>
<p>While having a discussion with her she put forward the reason that if she get into Yale it might provide her a better platform for MD admission.</p>
<p>My first preference have always been MIT so from my side she is done. </p>
<p>And also what about Brown PLME?</p>
<p>I have no clue about the MD part, but in terms of the computer science part, MIT is really second to none in terms of computer science. And no one will ever question you once for choosing Caltech computer science over Yale (or for choosing between MIT & Caltech CS, for that matter)</p>
<p>There are lots of reasons to choose Yale, but I fail to see anyone ever going wrong with choosing MIT or Caltech over Yale.</p>
<p>How does a BS in CS relate to an MD? Is your daughter planning on doing bioinformatics or something?</p>
<p>considering how many people enter college pre-med, and how many actually attend med school, I’d say it’s a safe bet to go for the major that you want if you’re not going to be a doctor.</p>
<p>“While having a discussion with her she put forward the reason that if she get into Yale it might provide her a better platform for MD admission.”</p>
<p>Oh yes, MIT is such a poor school, med school admissions officers will scoff at it. @@ That’s an eye-roll.</p>
<p>For the life of me, I don’t understand why no one seems to get that medical schools admit people from ALL DIFFERENT COLLEGES – from Ivies and near-Ivies to state flagships to even the less competitive directional schools, and once you’re in medical school, it doesn’t matter in the least where you went for undergrad, you’re all at the same level. If your daughter got into MIT and Caltech, she’s hit the jackpot. She has two excellent schools; she should pick whichever she prefers and call it a day. I don’t know where you picked up this idea that Ivies are superior to MIT and Caltech and that one should trophy-hunt, but it’s ridiculous. Stop trying to game the system, and stop applying to Ivies to game the system. She should apply to Yale if she really wants to go to Yale. Given that it’s mid-December and she’s not really “sure”, she obviously doesn’t really want to go to Yale in the first place, in which case … save it for the people who are dying to go there.</p>
<p>If I recall correctly, your D has always been quite keen on Yale (whilst you have not), so if it’s a school she likes, she might as well apply. If she gets in, well it’s hardly the worst problem to have, choosing between all these great schools. Same for Brown. If she likes Brown, she should apply to Brown. If she’s only considering it because it’s an Ivy and won’t people think she’s a great person because she got accepted at all these schools, then she shouldn’t bother.</p>
<p>MIT and Caltech are better for CS, but it’s not like people would laugh in your face if you applied for CS jobs with a degree from Yale. Similarly, I’ve heard that Yale GPAs tend to be slighly higher than those at MIT (don’t know about Caltech) so people think that Med School admissions may be easier, but again, plenty of people from MIT do go on to Med School and Med Schools know how MIT grades. Really, the quantifiable differences between these schools in terms of academic outcomes are very small and often exaggerated by people wanting to “prove” that one is better than the others. The real differences are in the atmosphere and focus of the schools, and what you make of those is down to your own subjective preferences, and in this, these schools are very different. The only thing they really have in common is that they are top schools. </p>
<p>My brother is at MIT and I am at Yale. I can appreciate that MIT is a fantastic school, very shiny and exciting and dynamic, my brother loves it and it is an excellent school for him, but I should not want to go there myself. I like Yale, for many reasons, but on the other hand my brother would be kicking the walls there, because the Yale experience is just not what he is looking for or values. My brother likes Stanford, I don’t. I like Princeton, he doesn’t. We unite in our hatred of Harvard, although we would still admit that it is good school and people <em>can</em> get jobs after graduating there.</p>
<p>In terms of academics, there are no wrong decisions here, all the schools your D is considering are great and will give your D a lot of opportunities that it will be up to her to take. She (not you) should choose a school (pending acceptance) where she (not you) would be happy. In general, happy people do better.</p>
<p>For CS, Stanford or MIT are the best.
Brown PLME is an outstanding option if she’s sure about MD.</p>
<p>Your dtr will have tough choices between MIT, Stanford, CMU, Caltech, UCBerkeley for CS. Any of these schools offer CS courses in bio, neuroscience, etc.</p>
<p>I have known premeds who decide research is really their goal, and shift to PhD programs.</p>
<p>Congrats to D!!!</p>
<p>What does your DAUGHTER want to do? MIT has better comp sci, but Yale is no slouch. There are lots of reasons to prefer Yale to MIT. There are also reasons to prefer MIT to Yale. Brown PMLE is a great program from all I’ve heard, if your daughter is sure she wants to be a doctor. Let her apply and make the decision in April.</p>
<p>I asked the question above because it’s worth noting that Caltech CS is very theoretical. If your daughter wants to be a doctor who does some programming on the side I wouldn’t suggest a CS major here. Maybe something else like bioengineering.</p>
<p>I heard that it does not matter what UG you go if you plan to go to Med. School. The most important is GPA and MCAT and MIT considered to be the most challenging for pre-meds. My D. decided to take path of combined bs/md programs. They are very competitive, so she applied and got accepted to state school bs/md. We are paying close to nothing, she is very happy and has guaranteed spot at Med. school. D graduated at the top of her HS class from well known small private school, where top few graduates usually get accepted to Ivy’s. She gets plenty of intellectual stimulation (if this is a concern), she actually keep saying that classes are much more challenging than she ever imagined in HS (she never had anything but “5” on her AP exams in HS). In regrad to PLME, it is the most selective of all bs/md programs, D did not apply, we did not want to spend too much $$ on UG, we would like to help her financially thru Med. School.</p>
<p>
Yes, she did 2 years of research in Bioinformatics and both mentors were BS computer science with MD. She also is of the view that in future most of the research and surgery in medicine will be using computers and robots.</p>
<p>^ If that’s the path she wants, she should apply to Stamford, or stick with MIT.</p>
<p>
Yes, indeed she grew up with Yale in mind influenced by Gilmore Girls and my wife. But it changed after the visits to the schools during this August.
The town of New Heaven was bad. She doesn’t want to be there even though she liked the Yale campus. She liked Princeton, Brown and Columbia. But Cambridge had a distinct affect on her. She really liked the vibrant community of Cambridge. After visiting MIT and Harvard both moved very high on her list.
I think since Yale was her first choice for so long that she still might think about it some time which seems to be causing the dilemma.</p>
<p>
We are willing to support her thru medicine so presently $$ not an issue even though market have moved south since last year. She seems to be responsive in that regard and already saved $10000 thru internships, prizes, work etc. She is planning to go for evening internship with a lab during the next semester and will be doing the summer internship.
I’ve told her if she takes care of her recurring expenditure like food (including the meal plan), entertainment etc. then we will be paying the fixed cost (Tuition and Dorm) till she gets her MD.</p>
<p>What about the summer study/research programs that CalTech offers? My oldest looked at CalTech and MIT…and if your daughter wants hands on opportunities for research, then I would think that CalTech would be the winner. I may be wrong on this, but that was one factoid I took away from our visit there…and for kids that love labs, CalTech is the answer. </p>
<p>We too left an MIT visit complete impressed with the campus… we liked it much more than Harvard… but these are not primary reasons for picking a university. </p>
<p>Have you considered hiring someone to help your daughter with her interests and requirements resulting in school/program recommendations? CC itself offers that type of service. Speculating about the PLME program at Brown might be a total waste of time if they are done with the class of 2013. I saw on the Brown forum that 120 kids applied early to PLME and they took 20. There are already 100 other kids who beat your daughter to that program…assuming 100 remain deferred. I personally think you need professional guidance for your daughter…so she ends up at a school/program she wants. Just my 2 cents…</p>
<p>
That was the main reason for applying to Caltech as research is something that is her passion. But we would like her to have a complete experience during the 4 years of her undergraduate program. Most of the past Caltech students from her school has told that the life outside of academics is not great. But Harvard/MIT and Cambridge town seems to provide the best overall experience.
Also it seems that MIT allows students to cross enroll at Harvard.</p>
<p>jbusc You can major in anything you want and go to med school as long as you take the pre med courses. My son is at Yale and is pre med
ParentOfIvyHope your D can not go wrong with any of her choices.She should choose the school and major she thinks will make her happy. She will become a Dr.with any major and applying from any of her schools.It can’t hurt for her to apply to Yale,just to keep her options open</p>
<p>
Well at this stage, she is only applying, not making a firm committment to attend. Unlike Pizzagirl, if I was undecided, I would put an application in. Better to do that than risk regret later. Even if you ultimately are rejected or decide not to go there, at least you know you looked at all the cards. The only reason I can see for not doing it is if she would definitely choose MIT because the location is such a deal-breaker for her.</p>
<p>One of the reasons I chose Yale was New Haven. Never really got the Cambridge hype. Different for different people.</p>
<p>When my d was applying to college someone told her to do an overnight at MIT. They said that people either love it or hate it there, and one night would be enough to tell which category she would fall into. She had an overnight, loved it, and is now very happy there. The admissions office can arrange an overnight for your d if she contacts them.</p>