Question for Sam Altman: Which College should I go to?

[spontaneousfire]

I had a question about college. I was accepted to both Columbia Engineering and Rice-Baylor's BSMD program. My main interest is in understanding new ideas in biotechnology and healthcare. My worry about RB is that, located in Houston, I am more isolated from the SV and Boston ecosystems, which will make it difficult to work with startups and larger companies to learn about the space, as well as its comparatively less known Computer Science department. Any thoughts?

[gordonzhu]

If medical school is something you're interested in (I think this is a safe assumption), I would choose Rice-Baylor's BSMD program.

The reason is that many pre-med students (whether they will admit it or not) took a watered-down course load and chose easy majors so that they could maintain a high GPA, study for the MCAT, and do a bunch of bullshit to impress medical schools. In a lot of ways, that ruined their college experience. Always wondering how things you do will affect med school admissions is a terrible way to go through college. It narrows your options and is the opposite of freedom.

Now let's say that you choose Rice-Baylor instead. You don't have to optimize for med school admissions because you're already in. Now you can take hard classes and do any major without fear of having a competitive GPA for med school. You can do internships that have nothing to do with medicine. Basically, you can do all the things a pre-med student (or you at Columbia) would not do.

This is the freedom option. It's the option I would choose if I were in your position. Also Rice and Baylor are great schools. You can't lose here.

With your freedom, spend your summers in Silicon Valley. If you got into BSMD I assume you're pretty smart. It will not be hard to convince people to hire you.

I know this is a big decision, if you want to chat more, email me at gordonmzhu[at]gmail[dot]com.

[spontaneousfire]

This was an amazing response! Thanks! My interest in healthcare is clear to me. I've read more books than any normal teenager probably should about healthcare industrial organization, policy, and new companies in biotechnology. But I'm unsure whether the way to best engage with healthcare and biotech is through being a physician. My interest is more in industry, being on the forefront of synthetic biology and digital health, as opposed to clinically practicing. I want to spend my time in the valley when possible, I just don't know whether I will be able to get positions at growing companies from Rice (Is it well-known/respected in the valley?). Related, computer science is something I've become very interested in, in the context of how software is aiding both biotechnology and healthcare organization (digital health, telemedecine, surgical robotics, etc.). Rice's CS is nowhere near as respected as Columbia's--does that matter through the lens of industry internships/work experience?

[dluan]

Read these:

http://www.paulgraham.com/before.html

http://www.paulgraham.com/mit.html

http://www.paulgraham.com/hs.html

For the lazy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii1jcLg-eIQ

[brudgers]

[I am not Sam Altman]

Living in Manhattan is likely to be a distinctly different experience from living anywhere else. The Rice Baylor BSMD program offers a unique experience of a different sort due to the program's extreme selectivity.

Neither is as tightly integrated with Silicon Valley or Boston startup culture as California Schools.

In the end, nobody is going to have a better insight about your best option than you...and if you find yourself at one or the other and realize it's not for you, then go someplace else. It's ok to make a mistake. It's even better if you own it. The best thing is if you learn from it.

Good luck.

[spontaneousfire]

Haha, yeah, idk, I saw someone post a question with "To Sam Altman" and he responded, so I thought I'd try it.

I am very conflicted about the decision, I've oscillated too many times.

Honestly I am very interested in startups in biotechnology--but if I can do that from RBMS, then I don't think there is much contest between the two. I just don't know whether internships and startup jobs at interesting, breakout companies are available from Rice. I talked to previous individuals in the program who told me it was difficult. That is what makes me hesitant.

[jklein11]

Why did you post a question posed to a specific person on a public forum?

[wooderson]

Aren't you already past the deadlines to make your enrollment deposits?