Once you get into these combined undergrad/med school programs, they try hard for you to stay in. You would have to be absolutely awful to fail out. They might make you do it in 7 or 8 years instead of the 6 that was planned.

Students who get into top schools have a lot of confidence coming out of high school. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees that she'll hit it out of the park at BU or even do well enough to stay in the program, depending on the stipulations. Stuff happens--kids get sick, get depressed, or hit a wall in some weeder class. So it's very possible that she gets graduates with just-ok grades, as just another BU student competing with everyone else....or as a Yale degree holder, with all the advantages that brings.

That's what happened to me. My HYPS undergrad made all the difference.

I went to BU (albeit in the late 1990s). It's a much more international school, in an urban (but not urban blight) environment. If your DD would feel like she'd get lost in the crowd, then maybe it's not a place for her (though I don't know how small Yale is).

My roommate was premed and it was definitely tough/time-consuming, and they weeded out a lot of kids (she survived but then never went on to medical school because she changed her mind).

There are plenty of opportunities for internships/paid jobs in the field, with all the hospitals and medical centers and research labs. If your kid is good enough to be accepted to Yale, she can maybe get a job at MIT (just across the river), etc. In short, outstanding people find opportunities outside their immediate environment as long as she has the confidence to look around.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The choice is not Yale vs full pay BU but Yale vs full pay BU with guaranteed admission to medical school. The latter is worth picking BU over Yale.

Northwestern and Brown have this too. It's to tether superstar (HYPS) kids to a lower ranked undergrad and medical school than they would otherwise get into. You always have to consider their motives. There's no free lunch.

i am pretty sure everyone is aware of their motives. and they are irrelevant.

Few on this thread have stated the implication though. They're tying the student to a lower-tier medical school than she might get into otherwise.

BU has a pretty good medical school...

BU medical school is not top tier to prestige- and status-obsessed kids at Yale. Yale kids want to attend top 10 medical schools, not top 40.

and yet... most of them won't get into top 40 let alone top 10. only best yale students will go to top medical schools. it's a different level of competition entirely.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Few on this thread have stated the implication though. They're tying the student to a lower-tier medical school than she might get into otherwise.

BU has a pretty good medical school...

BU medical school is not top tier to prestige- and status-obsessed kids at Yale. Yale kids want to attend top 10 medical schools, not top 40.

It's not just "status-obsessed" kids at Yale. Even the pro-BU posters on this thread admit that the quality of the med school one attends is important.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The choice is not Yale vs full pay BU but Yale vs full pay BU with guaranteed admission to medical school. The latter is worth picking BU over Yale.

Northwestern and Brown have this too. It's to tether superstar (HYPS) kids to a lower ranked undergrad and medical school than they would otherwise get into. You always have to consider their motives. There's no free lunch.

i am pretty sure everyone is aware of their motives. and they are irrelevant.

Few on this thread have stated the implication though. They're tying the student to a lower-tier medical school than she might get into otherwise.

BU has a pretty good medical school...

BU medical school is not top tier to prestige- and status-obsessed kids at Yale. Yale kids want to attend top 10 medical schools, not top 40.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The choice is not Yale vs full pay BU but Yale vs full pay BU with guaranteed admission to medical school. The latter is worth picking BU over Yale.

Northwestern and Brown have this too. It's to tether superstar (HYPS) kids to a lower ranked undergrad and medical school than they would otherwise get into. You always have to consider their motives. There's no free lunch.

i am pretty sure everyone is aware of their motives. and they are irrelevant.

Few on this thread have stated the implication though. They're tying the student to a lower-tier medical school than she might get into otherwise.

BU has a pretty good medical school...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The choice is not Yale vs full pay BU but Yale vs full pay BU with guaranteed admission to medical school. The latter is worth picking BU over Yale.

Northwestern and Brown have this too. It's to tether superstar (HYPS) kids to a lower ranked undergrad and medical school than they would otherwise get into. You always have to consider their motives. There's no free lunch.

i am pretty sure everyone is aware of their motives. and they are irrelevant.

Few on this thread have stated the implication though. They're tying the student to a lower-tier medical school than she might get into otherwise.

It's understood of all merit scholarships -- you get them because you're at the top of the applicant pool; by definition you're never getting big money from a reach school.

Should've said:
It's understood of all merit scholarships/honors program/guaranteed admits like this -- you get them because you're at the top of the applicant pool; by definition you're never getting these from a reach school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The choice is not Yale vs full pay BU but Yale vs full pay BU with guaranteed admission to medical school. The latter is worth picking BU over Yale.

Northwestern and Brown have this too. It's to tether superstar (HYPS) kids to a lower ranked undergrad and medical school than they would otherwise get into. You always have to consider their motives. There's no free lunch.

i am pretty sure everyone is aware of their motives. and they are irrelevant.

Few on this thread have stated the implication though. They're tying the student to a lower-tier medical school than she might get into otherwise.

It's understood of all merit scholarships -- you get them because you're at the top of the applicant pool; by definition you're never getting big money from a reach school.

I have a masters degree and an MRS degree. Guess which one pays more. Much more. MRS degree is still alive and well -- even for gay women!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The choice is not Yale vs full pay BU but Yale vs full pay BU with guaranteed admission to medical school. The latter is worth picking BU over Yale.

Northwestern and Brown have this too. It's to tether superstar (HYPS) kids to a lower ranked undergrad and medical school than they would otherwise get into. You always have to consider their motives. There's no free lunch.

i am pretty sure everyone is aware of their motives. and they are irrelevant.

Few on this thread have stated the implication though. They're tying the student to a lower-tier medical school than she might get into otherwise.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The choice is not Yale vs full pay BU but Yale vs full pay BU with guaranteed admission to medical school. The latter is worth picking BU over Yale.

Northwestern and Brown have this too. It's to tether superstar (HYPS) kids to a lower ranked undergrad and medical school than they would otherwise get into. You always have to consider their motives. There's no free lunch.

i am pretty sure everyone is aware of their motives. and they are irrelevant.

Anonymous wrote:The choice is not Yale vs full pay BU but Yale vs full pay BU with guaranteed admission to medical school. The latter is worth picking BU over Yale.

Northwestern and Brown have this too. It's to tether superstar (HYPS) kids to a lower ranked undergrad and medical school than they would otherwise get into. You always have to consider their motives. There's no free lunch.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has been raised before, and it's a bit old-fashioned and tongue in cheek, but...

If DC is girl, there is more value in going to a "prestige" school because she will be surrounded by rich young guys. But this probably won't matter since she wants to be a doctor. For men, it's almost better to go somewhere more humble, where he won't be dismissed as one of "the poors" by the rich girls at Yale.

OP here. DD is a lesbian. Gasp!

Anyway, decision will be made by Wednesday evening! She's doing the Bulldog Days M-W and will decide then.

Thanks for all your input.

Then, she needs to be surrounded by young rich women. BU is a school where most kids are comfortable.

Lost of ruch Foreign students at BU. Maybe DD could Marty a Saudi prince or zchinese magnate's son.

did you not read that her DD is a lesbian??

OMG, you people are nuts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has been raised before, and it's a bit old-fashioned and tongue in cheek, but...

If DC is girl, there is more value in going to a "prestige" school because she will be surrounded by rich young guys. But this probably won't matter since she wants to be a doctor. For men, it's almost better to go somewhere more humble, where he won't be dismissed as one of "the poors" by the rich girls at Yale.

OP here. DD is a lesbian. Gasp!

Anyway, decision will be made by Wednesday evening! She's doing the Bulldog Days M-W and will decide then.

Thanks for all your input.

Then, she needs to be surrounded by young rich women. BU is a school where most kids are comfortable.

Lost of ruch Foreign students at BU. Maybe DD could Marty a Saudi prince or zchinese magnate's son.