Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hopkins yes, Wash U no. Nothing special about Wash U.

Wash U has lots of $$$ and the administration will spend tons of money to improve its departments and national standing. It's Ivy-equivalent but JHU isn't. The students are hyper-competitive, has no school spirit or whatsoever. Everyone who went to JHU hated the school, but not WashU. It's like the Princeton of the midwest and is situated in a much more pleasant area of STL.

Anonymous wrote:In-laws, wife works part-time, husband is an MD. A super genuine and good family. They are upper middle class but I don't know if they're "rich." He's a first generation MD.

Their kids are great students and obsessed with becoming doctors like dad. It's obvious they are one of those families that somehow grooms their kids to become doctors. The oldest is a senior and has a free 100% full scholarship on the table to a regional hometown private college where they live (not DMV).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hopkins yes, Wash U no. Nothing special about Wash U.

Wash U has lots of $$$ and the administration will spend tons of money to improve its departments and national standing. It's Ivy-equivalent but JHU isn't. The students are hyper-competitive, has no school spirit or whatsoever. Everyone who went to JHU hated the school, but not WashU. It's like the Princeton of the midwest and is situated in a much more pleasant area of STL.

Anonymous wrote:Hopkins yes, Wash U no. Nothing special about Wash U.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, not going to JMU for free, just at in-state tuition rates.

Oh yes, definitely a lot of red flags with the neighbor kid. I too have serious doubts about this kid, for a lot of reasons.

I am not that enthusiastic about JMU. However, I don't discount it as a "degree mill." It's what is available to NOVA folks since UVA/VT/W&M is becoming less available to us.

BTW, JMU said that they had 12 graduates entering MD programs in 2016 (which is what I could find via Google):

So it's not 5 kids per year. And during the 2002-2012 period, JMU grads went to the likes of Yale, UVA, Tufts, BU, UCLA, Georgetown, GWU. Some other schools that aren't name brand. But they are still medical schools.

5 to 12 is about what I'd assume. That's out of 22,000 undergraduates. And how many of the 5 to 12 are URMs and first generation college students, i.e. highly hooked medical school applicants. Probably all of them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In-laws, wife works part-time, husband is an MD. A super genuine and good family. They are upper middle class but I don't know if they're "rich." He's a first generation MD.

Their kids are great students and obsessed with becoming doctors like dad. It's obvious they are one of those families that somehow grooms their kids to become doctors. The oldest is a senior and has a free 100% full scholarship on the table to a regional hometown private college where they live (not DMV). Mom shared the other few colleges the oldest is applying to are Wash U, Hopkins, and Vanderbilt.

I'm just wondering the analysis $75K x 4 = $300K for undergrad vs. literally $0? I safely assume the teen will have a far better chance at a near 4.0 GPA at the regional college. That said, of course the competitiveness, experiences, and the all new friend group (and potential spouse, if we're being frank) you meet at a place like Wash U has value, too – but how much (extra) value?

I went to Wash. U. and took a premed weed-out class there. I got weeded out of my intended, non-premed major, but that was because I was cocky and lazy. The weed-out class itself was a big, pleasant class. I never really felt as if I was competing against the other students.

The premeds I knew who went to medical school were lovely people. So, if it’s really true that premeds at Johns Hopkins premeds are unpleasant, maybe that would be a reason to prefer Wash. U. over Johns Hopkins.

As for choosing between the local school and Wash. U.: If you have a kid who (after adjustments for socioeconomic status, test phobia, IQ test quality, weak testers, etc.) is the kind of kid who scores about 164 or up on a good IQ test, that kid really needs a T20, or the equivalent top liberal arts college program, or an equivalent state flagship honors program, because, unless that kid went to Stuyvesant or Thomas Jefferson, going to a top college is the only hope the kid will have of hanging out with many other equally bright kids.

The smartest kids at Wash. U. or Johns Hopkins are to a regular local college student what a regular local college student is to a kid in classes for children with severe learning disabilities.

If you had a kid with severe special disabilities, you’d hit up relatives and borrow what you could to give that kid a shot at a normal life.

I think parents should do the same for kids who are at the 164+ IQ level. If they’re in a program at the Wash. U. level or higher, maybe 5 percent to 10 percent of the kids they meet will be of comparable intelligence. They might be a little lonely even there, but at least they can go for four years without having to dumb down everything they say. They can experience the joy of having to work a little to get a good grade. I think it’s cruel for parents who could send a kid like that to a very selective school without big problems to try to save money by not doing that. Why do you have money if not to be able to give your kids a chance to flourish?

For regular bright kids, the local college might work just as well. The classes might not be quite the same, but, if the classes help kids like yours get good MCAT scores, they’re good enough. Regular great bright kids might get more faculty love, and regular bright students might have more time and energy for application-enhancing activities.

Seek therapy.

Anonymous wrote:It is not your family, so it is not your business.

Anonymous wrote:No, not going to JMU for free, just at in-state tuition rates.

Oh yes, definitely a lot of red flags with the neighbor kid. I too have serious doubts about this kid, for a lot of reasons.

I am not that enthusiastic about JMU. However, I don't discount it as a "degree mill." It's what is available to NOVA folks since UVA/VT/W&M is becoming less available to us.

BTW, JMU said that they had 12 graduates entering MD programs in 2016 (which is what I could find via Google):

So it's not 5 kids per year. And during the 2002-2012 period, JMU grads went to the likes of Yale, UVA, Tufts, BU, UCLA, Georgetown, GWU. Some other schools that aren't name brand. But they are still medical schools.

Anonymous wrote:Eh, I think many parents (including doctors) do think this way.

My VA neighbors (both are doctors) have a son who graduated from a Big 3 earlier this year. DS did not have strong enough grades to get into a T20, but did get into the likes of BU and Fordham. DS is set on becoming an MD, so they sent him to JMU. Parents specifically felt that lower cost, easier competition at JMU and their connections for research/internships, plus studying hard for the MCAT would get DS into medical school without the higher cost and higher risks of a BU. They hope/want DS to take over the wife's specialty practice.

Again, this all depends on the priorities - does having an MD matter above all else? Or is name-brand important to the DC? The neighbors went to non-name brand colleges and medical schools yet here they are, living in the DC suburbs. They don't think the undergraduate school matters one bit, just the medical school.

One can only prepare for so much, as happenstance can affect life.