Penn Offer Lures Pre-Meds

Harvard pre-Meds say that new merit-based scholarships have significantly increased their chances of choosing to attend the University of Pennsylvania Medical School

Penn announced recently that it will offer full tuition scholarships to the top 25 applicants each year, beginning in 1995.

"I would seriously consider going there because of the money involved, even though Harvard has better facilities," said Lawrence C. Chewing '94, a Quincy House resident.

"The scholarship definitely will make them attract better students than they have in the past," said Lowell House resident Michael S. Gee '95, a joint biology and East Asian studies concentrator.

The Penn scholarships, which cover the four-year, $87,000 tuition, were made possible by a $10 million donation from an anonymous alumnus.

The scholarship was awarded this year to six applicants from around the country.

Goal is 200 Students

Penn officials said their ultimate goal is to make the scholarship available to 200 students by the year 2000.

Harvard Medical School administrators did not return calls yesterday, but Harvard has no existing merit-based scholarships, according to the financial aid office.

Lowell House pre-med advisor Hal J. Burstein '86 said he did not expect a major change in the quality of the Penn's applicant pool.

"Most of the better students already apply to Penn," Burstein said. "You'd be hard pressed to find a better school."

However, Burstein also said he thought the scholarships were very attractive. "It's a great deal," he said.