Choosing Undergrad

[deathnaut]

Hey guys!

Senior year is coming to an end and I'm still trying to figure out where to go to school.
I'm majoring in Philosophy, and I'll be doing my pre-med prereqs. I hope to go to UWash's School of Medicine.
So far, I've been accepted to Texas A&M with a $14,000 scholarship, U of Arizona with a $120,000 scholarship, U of Texas with a $40,000 scholarship, Penn State, U Pitt, and I'm waiting to hear from U Penn. I am a Texas resident so location is a huge factor. Any input? I can't seem to find much on UT's medical school undergrad student acceptance rates.

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[BarryZuckerkorn]

Texas resident here.

Congratulations on some fine options indeed. But go ahead and cross A&M, Penn State, and Pitt right off the list. UT is a great school in a great city, and the scholarship makes this an easy decision.

A priority throughout your schooling would be to minimize debt. After you crunch the numbers, you'll have to see if going to UT vs. Arizona will be worth it for you (assuming UT will cost more). That said, UT is a better school and Austin>>>Tuscon. But you will be fine at either, as both are big state schools with plenty of opportunities. Pending your potential Penn acceptance, if you're dead set on medical school it's controversial whether or not an ivy education makes much difference from an acceptance standpoint. But that is a separate issue. You will probably graduate with more debt from there, though.

As far as "acceptance rates" go, try your best to ignore those. If you do it right, you'll get in somewhere. But UT alums have a formidable presence at every medical school in Texas.

It is good to have a goal in mind. However, you'll have a tough time cracking into the Northwest as a TX resident. But as people will tell you, focus on doing well in college and worry about where to apply to medical school when the time comes. You absolutely cannot beat the in-state TX med school tuition rates though...

 

[mmmcdowe]

As far as U of A vs U of T, the money is nice but the overall fraction of your tuition that it pays is more important. If equal, pick based on fit because they both have what you need.

 

[deathnaut]

Thanks for the input.
UT is quite possibly #1 on my list because it isn't too far from home, but then again, this could change next week.
I am actually in search of a big academic challenge, hence UPenn (but the prestige is also nice).

On the note of medical school, do you guys have any suggestions as to potential schools to apply to? I plan on becoming a trauma surgeon, and am quite unfamiliar with schools that have strong surgical programs (if any). I really want to go out of state for med school, if possible. I know it's pretty early to decide, but even in middle school I knew where I would apply to for undergrad xD

 

[deathnaut]

Thanks for the input.
UT is quite possibly #1 on my list because it isn't too far from home, but then again, this could change next week.
I am actually in search of a big academic challenge, hence UPenn (but the prestige is also nice).

On the note of medical school, do you guys have any suggestions as to potential schools to apply to? I plan on becoming a trauma surgeon, and am quite unfamiliar with schools that have strong surgical programs (if any). I really want to go out of state for med school, if possible. I know it's pretty early to decide, but even in middle school I knew where I would apply to for undergrad xD

 

[mmmcdowe]

Your choice of medical school only minimally affects your general surgery residency choice. There are certainly places with more substantial trauma than others, but as a student your education is much more general than that and if you are heavily involved in a specific specialty it will primarily be through research. Regional preferences and how your scores match up with other medical schools will be major determinants.

 

[pyrrion89]

deathnaut,

Go for the cheapest option now, unless your parents are rich. So pick U of A. You can get good grades there, do well on the MCAT, and get into any medical school you want. Prestige does not matter too much for getting into medical school.

Last thing you want is to get into a top med school and turn it down because you can't afford it due to undergrad debt. I ended up picking the cheaper state school and ended up getting into good med schools, and now have no debt going into med school. If you want prestige, just go to a prestigious med school.

 

[BarryZuckerkorn]

For some reason I thought UT was ~$15k per year, but looks like it is indeed ~$10k. If that's the case, then you obviously have a full scholarship offer from both schools. Go to UT, hands down.

As far as out of state med schools, unless you're looking at a scholarship comparable to the cost of Texas schools, don't go. Future you will thank me.

 

[solitarius]

If you want to have a shot at UWSOM, then you need to show through your activities a strong commitment to serving rural, underserved areas.

 

[deathnaut]

@solitarius
Thanks for the advice. Where can I find opportunities to engage in those kind of activities? My high school isn't very helpful..

 

[solitarius]

@solitarius
Thanks for the advice. Where can I find opportunities to engage in those kind of activities? My high school isn't very helpful..

That's where you are going to have to be resourceful. I'm not familiar with opportunities in your area.

This is directly from their website:
Non-WWAMI Applicants: Applicants from outside the WWAMI region who come from either economically or educationally disadvantaged backgrounds and/or who have demonstrated a commitment to serving underserved populations will be considered.

The school's mission is to train physicians for five states, four of which are very rural. Outside of the Seattle area, Washington state is very rural. There are more than enough doctors in the Puget Sound region; thus, they have a bias in favor of people committed to serving rural underserved areas.

Getting an OOR interview or acceptance from UWSOM is very difficult. You shouldn't tailor your interests around a school. You should find a school that suits your interests. You don't want to invest all this time for just one school and then get crushed if they decide not to interview you. If you're genuinely interested in rural underserved populations, there's opportunities everywhere outside of a major metropolitan area.