Advice on transferring to Northwestern as a premed

[Victoria U.]

Hi! I recently got in as a transfer to Northwestern and I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to transfer.
I just completed my freshman year at Wake Forest and my GPA is a 4.0. I already finished Orgo I and II, and Bio I and I have a lot of extracurriculars that are going pretty well. I currently work as an EMT, intern at a research lab, volunteer at the cancer center, and intern for the football team's sports medicine program. I'm also on exec board of our club rowing team and I'm in a sorority.
I have a lot of opportunities already at Wake Forest and it's a great school, but they don't have many public health or neuroscience classes, which I want to study. Wake Forest has a medical school, which is around 50th nationally, but Northwestern's has much more research funding. Northwestern would give me a lot more opportunities in neuroscience, but I would have to reestablish myself and find new jobs and internships.
I'm trying to figure out if it's worth it to transfer next year. My goal is to go to the best possible medical school one day, so I'm trying to figure out if transferring to Northwestern will set me up better for getting into a top school. Or, would it be better to stay where I am and keep building on the activities I already have? Any advice would be really helpful! Thanks!

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[AJS59]

Hi! I recently got in as a transfer to Northwestern and I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to transfer.
I just completed my freshman year at Wake Forest and my GPA is a 4.0. I already finished Orgo I and II, and Bio I and I have a lot of extracurriculars that are going pretty well. I currently work as an EMT, intern at a research lab, volunteer at the cancer center, and intern for the football team's sports medicine program. I'm also on exec board of our club rowing team and I'm in a sorority.
I have a lot of opportunities already at Wake Forest and it's a great school, but they don't have many public health or neuroscience classes, which I want to study. Wake Forest has a medical school, which is around 50th nationally, but Northwestern's has much more research funding. Northwestern would give me a lot more opportunities in neuroscience, but I would have to reestablish myself and find new jobs and internships.
I'm trying to figure out if it's worth it to transfer next year. My goal is to go to the best possible medical school one day, so I'm trying to figure out if transferring to Northwestern will set me up better for getting into a top school. Or, would it be better to stay where I am and keep building on the activities I already have? Any advice would be really helpful! Thanks!

For the purposes of med school admissions there's no meaningful difference (generally) between schools for acceptance to med school. In very marginal cases it can help, but the other aspects of your application - GPA, MCAT, your activities, your writing, your LORs, etc. matter much more.

It sounds like you have a pretty good system in place at Wake Forest. If I were in your shoes, unless I was unhappy with living there and/or going to Northwestern would reduce student loan debt (if applicable), I'd stay with what I know.

 

[Rachapkis]

If you are happy at Wake, I would stay there. The difference in the rankings of these schools is not apt to move the needle. Medical schools will judge you based on your GPA, MCAT, LORs, PS, and extracurriculars. It sounds like there are pros and cons to each school in terms of extracurriculars, but I am not sure that what I am hearing merits a transfer (unless you think that you would be a lot happier at Northwestern).

 

[chilly_md]

Closing as OP had received essentially the same question a few months ago:

Should I should transfer to Vanderbilt as a pre-med

Hi! I recently got in as a transfer to Vanderbilt and I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to transfer and start over from scratch. I just completed my freshman year at Wake Forest and my GPA is a 4.0. I already finished Orgo I and II, and Bio I and I have a lot of extracurriculars that are...

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