Need help choosing a school! WashU vs. Emory vs. USC

[dave2986]

•I’m a guy from northern California and I’m having trouble picking schools
• Hoping to follow the pre-med track and major in a public health related major and minor in business (finance if possible)
•My reaches were USC, WashU, Emory and I was accepted to all off them
• COA: WashU 35k
USC 30k
Emory 24k
•My scores were pretty average for these schools or a little below for (washu) so I'm not sure that going to these schools would be the best for my gpa.
• I visited usc and I loved it, but don't know if it's a place where I could really stand out and get a high GPA
• I also got great merit scholarships and grants from in-states such as ucsb, lmu, and Santa Clara. The cost for these would be 10-15k.
• Also USC, WashU, LMU, and Santa Clara have my preferred major if that helps
•Any insight is definitely appreciated before I set up a trip to Emory !!

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[efle]

•I’m a guy from northern California and I’m having trouble picking schools
• Hoping to follow the pre-med track and major in a public health related major and minor in business (finance if possible)
•My reaches were USC, WashU, Emory and I was accepted to all off them
• COA: WashU 35k
USC 30k
Emory 24k
•My scores were pretty average for these schools or a little below for (washu) so I'm not sure that going to these schools would be the best for my gpa.
• I visited usc and I loved it, but don't know if it's a place where I could really stand out and get a high GPA
• I also got great merit scholarships and grants from in-states such as ucsb, lmu, and Santa Clara. The cost for these would be 10-15k.
• Also USC, WashU, LMU, and Santa Clara have my preferred major if that helps
•Any insight is definitely appreciated before I set up a trip to Emory !!

I'm a Californian attending Wash U, and I also visited Emory. Both schools are absolutely beautiful and have a wonderful vibe, and I can tell you WashU has absolutely unbeatable quality of life (totally lives up to the "Dorms like Palaces" ranking and spot among "Unis with the happiest students" in the Princeton Review). Students are also very happy and collaborative in my experience and according to the Emory students I spoke with, unlike some other top premed powerhouses (ahem, Johns Hopkins the hellhole of competitive misery). Both WashU and Emory turn out a ridiculous proportion of med applicants relative to class size (among the top 5 universities along with JHop, Duke and Rice) so there is a TON of support and guidance for premeds there. I've found the huge amount of premeds to be a big plus, it's nice to have so many people to commiserate and study with.

First off, you're right about GPAs taking a hit at highly competitive top schools - it looks to be about a 0.6 difference between what GPA you get at Wash U vs nationally average university if you compare via MCAT scores. However, this is somewhat countered by the fact that selectivity of undergraduate is considered "highly important" alongside GPA and MCAT by private medical schools (see page 7). So it really comes down to your confidence in performing well in some extremely competitive classes - I knew coming out of high school I wanted a college that would be extremely rigorous to really push me to my best, but different folks different strokes. There's a chunk of people with very strong GPAs at even the toughest schools, so if you think you can be among them it's a good choice.

Do NOT underestimate the importance of low COA. The $44,000 you'd save by going to Emory should give them a big advantage over WashU. However, I was able to get Wash U to raise their scholarship offerings by $10,000 per year by showing them that a different Top 20 was being more generous, so you should definitely do what I did and email WashU financial aid with proof of your Emory aid offer and tell them you're going to Emory unless they can come up in their offer - lots to gain by trying, nothing to lose.

Out of curiosity, what is your preferred major? I may know of its quality at Wustl

 

[dave2986]

My major is global health which they have at WashU and usc, but only as a minor at emory. Should I just forget about usc and the other schools?

 

[efle]

My major is global health which they have at WashU and usc, but only as a minor at emory. Should I just forget about usc and the other schools?

My room mate is a global health minor, and he gives it mixed reviews - half the classes he says are fascinating and well taught and the other classes he called "a joke" compared to his Neuroscience major classes. It's fairly popular here though. Our strongest departments (in terms of class rigor and faculty quality) are in STEM departments, which fits with the fact that over half the incoming class each year is declared premed (and 1/5th of the class ends up actually applying).

I just don't know enough about USC to comment, I didn't apply there. USC has relatively few premeds compared to most other top schools though, and is known for very strong business (and film, interestingly) programs more than for STEM. Also no experience with LMU and Santa Clara. No reason to forget about them, you certainly should consider whether you'd be willing to take a step down in reputation/rigor/premed support for 9k per year.