Need a Bit of Advice

The program that I applied for and was able to get into was the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Exceptional Research Opportunities Program (HHMI - EXROP). HHMI is a nonprofit medical research organization that ranks as one of the nation's largest philanthropies and plays a powerul role in advancing biomedical research and science education in the Unitied States.

The EXROP links the resources of HHMI's Sciences and Grants program to provide selection studetns with outstanding summer research experiences that encourage them to pursue careers in academic science. Using a source of HHMI-funded programs at liberal arts colleges and research universities, EXROP matchers students with HHMI investoris or professors who have volunteered to provide mentored research experiences.

There are more details than than such as HHMI-EXROP, paying for all long distance transportation and housing, $4500 stipend for the 8-12 weeks of the summer, and making a research presentation in 2010, however, I dont think that is all that discussion worthy for the situation at hand

I have spent the last few days going plowing through the list of researchers and research institutions heavily and have possibly been able to make my decision on whom I would like to work with. Being that the site is password protected I can not reveal the researcher nor the contents of the research, however, I can reveal the institutions which I am considering.

University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington
Stanford University, Stanford, California
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts

All in all I think they are all good ideas for places to spend the summer at. Quite possibly the experience that I gain from the summer will reveal the university that I desire to get my Ph.D. at. I should mention that after this program is one more HHMI program that, if I am chosen, will fund up to 5 years of my studying to get a PhD (about $42,000 a year). And lastly Im currently in my third year in college so in 2 years I graduate (with bachelors and masters in Bioinformatics and Statistics)

The problem is that I have to commit to one program and it is quite hard to decide since I have never been to any of those cities before. Please help me decide.

Thanks guys and gals.

Harvard and Stanford are both big names and the only one of those cities I personally have been in is Seattle which in my opinoin is great

But the thing is I'm only sixteen so that is all i can say

Yeah I kind of like Seattle too

Well the good news is no matter what you choose they're all exceptional programs. I don't know much about American universities/colleges, so like mariorulezman I would go for Harvard or Stanford. From what little I do remember about each school Stanford was supposed to have the leg up on Harvard for sciences, and vice versa for arts and law and such. However, I wouldn't be surprised if I was proven wrong on that.

If you look north you could attend McGill University in Montreal. Its ranked among the top 10 universities in the world (although I believe Harvard and possibly Stanford as well are in that top 10).

Last time i checked harvard is the big time in america