Advice on picking undergrad school

[Bella.Goth]

I’m not very big on name brand schools - I’m only planning on applying to schools that offer (automatic) full rides based on my current stats. Most of the schools in my list are lower tier HBCUs. From what I understand, your undergrad doesn’t matter as long as you can get plenty of research, volunteering, and clinical experience in. I worry that if I go to one of the more rural schools on my list or one that doesn’t have a lot of research opportunities, I won’t be very competitive.

I’m going in as a bio major. At most of the schools, I’ll come in with about 30 credits through AP classes (but I’m iffy on using all of them). I also understand that, in some cases, going to undergrad in a different state may give you a slight boost for OOS med school applications. Is this true?

School A (Alabama)
Pros

• Can maintain (auto) full ride with a 3.0
• Research opportunities seem plentiful
• Honors college (not sure if this is that big of a pro, but I'll list it here)
• In a city

Cons

• Small, somewhat unsafe city
• No established pre med assistance organization

School B (Alabama)
Pros

• Can maintain (auto) full ride with a 3.2
• Pre med assistance group (with MCAT tutoring and exclusive(?) volunteering opportunities
• Research opportunities seem plentiful
• Small (about 2,000ish students)

Cons

• About 45 minutes away from the nearest city (and I can't have a car until sophomore year)
• According to a mock semester by semester schedule, I would have to take 17 credit hours every semester until senior year????

School C (Texas)
Pros

• Can maintain (auto) full ride with a 3.2
• Very nice facilities
• Pre med assistance group (MCAT tutoring and slight boost for IS med schools... not sure what else it entails)
• Honors program
• Research opportunities plentiful (has more in depth info about undergrad volunteering than other schools)

Cons

• 45 minutes away from the nearest city on a good day (and I can't have a car until sophomore year)
• Closest hospital is 30 minutes away

School D (West Virginia)
Pros

• Nice facilities
• In a city
• Honors college
• Pre med assistance group (MCAT tutoring and networking)

Cons

• Little mention of undergrad research
• No mention of what GPA is necessary to maintain full ride (isn't automatic)

School E (Mississippi)
Pros

• Nice facilities
• Pre med assistance group
• Research opportunities available
• In a city

Cons

• No mention of what it takes to maintain scholarship (isn't automatic)

School F (Virginia - In State)
Pros

• Close to home
• Plenty of research opportunities
• Attached to a med school
• In a large city
• Pre med assistance available

Cons

• Most expensive - will probably end up costing somewhere between $7k - $11k per year
• Not competitive for its BS/MD program, which is where it gets a lot of its students

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