Anyone from a Utah school? Considering transferring.

[Cruzerthebruzer]

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What school are you going to? How's the program?

I'm currently going to Dixie State, but it seems like I should be going somewhere with a better learning experience and better research opportunities. I don't want to suffer greatly on the MCAT due to where I do my undergraduate studies, but I might just be paranoid (planning on doing MCAT prep as well).

I've got 4 semesters left until I take the MCAT and I am considering transferring and I was dumb enough to rush my associates degree upon entering DSC so transferring will be a little easier. However, I currently live with my parents and that cuts down on costs.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[StudyShy]

There are plenty of good Utah schools. It just depends on what you want to put up with in terms of religion.

BYU-good, but you'll be an outcast if not Mormon

 

[searun]

The University of Utah is a good school. It just joined the PAC 10, soon to be the PAC-12. You don't have to be a Mormon to fit in, very good medical school, excellent skiing and snowboarding. Strong football program. Go there.

 

[kami333]

I did a postbacc at U of Utah and worked in research there for 4 years.

Not sure if you are LDS or not, but campus is very liberal but there's also the Institute. Same thing with SLC, downtown is very liberal too, the suburbs not so much.

Classes were good, one thing that annoyed me was for a commuter campus and one that caters more towards students with families there weren't very many science classes offered outside the 9-5 hours. The lower level classes are huge but the upper level bio classes were fairly small, I had a couple of classes that were only around 20-30 (my undergrad capped enrollment at 24 so they were still huge classes to me). The lecture portions were almost all taught by profs but the smaller discussion sections that were mandatory for the pre-req chem/physics/orgo were taught by graduate student TAs.

If you want research experience, it's hard to beat. In addition to the bio department etc that are on main campus you also have Huntsman Cancer Institute, Eccles Human Genetics, etc on the upper campus. Almost all the labs I knew of had undergrads working in them at one point or another.

I don't know too much about Dixie but I knew a bunch of guys who transferred from CEU and they said they were surprised at how much harder the classes were. Just something to keep in mind, don't overload on your first semester.

 

[BF2BC EMT]

U of U, as someone said if your not LDS stay away from provo, you'll pay more if your not a member. But anywhere is better then st george🙂

 

[Cruzerthebruzer]

I did a postbacc at U of Utah and worked in research there for 4 years.

Not sure if you are LDS or not, but campus is very liberal but there's also the Institute. Same thing with SLC, downtown is very liberal too, the suburbs not so much.

Classes were good, one thing that annoyed me was for a commuter campus and one that caters more towards students with families there weren't very many science classes offered outside the 9-5 hours. The lower level classes are huge but the upper level bio classes were fairly small, I had a couple of classes that were only around 20-30 (my undergrad capped enrollment at 24 so they were still huge classes to me). The lecture portions were almost all taught by profs but the smaller discussion sections that were mandatory for the pre-req chem/physics/orgo were taught by graduate student TAs.

If you want research experience, it's hard to beat. In addition to the bio department etc that are on main campus you also have Huntsman Cancer Institute, Eccles Human Genetics, etc on the upper campus. Almost all the labs I knew of had undergrads working in them at one point or another.

I don't know too much about Dixie but I knew a bunch of guys who transferred from CEU and they said they were surprised at how much harder the classes were. Just something to keep in mind, don't overload on your first semester.

Yeah, I've been weighing UoU for awhile now, I even applied once and got in ofc just unsure of how I will fund it properly.

I think that CEU is probably the easiest school in the state (nothing to really base that on) but I'm planning on the UoU undergrad classes being relatively harder than DSC as that would be one of the main reasons for the move. Research @DSC is nearly non-existent, there's some summer projects that lead into the fall semester but besides that there's not much.

U of U, as someone said if your not LDS stay away from provo, you'll pay more if your not a member. But anywhere is better then st george🙂

Pshhh Saint George weather puts the rest of the state to shame. Too bad that's not the only thing that matters 😛

Definitely gonna look into it a bit more, but it seems like the general consensus is get away from DSC.

edit: How exactly do leadership scholarships work? Just submit a resume with your transcript?

 

[st2205]

If your goal is to get into medical school then Dixie should be just fine. The only reason BYU and U of U send more people to medical school is because they produce more applicants. If, on the other hand, you want to do research for the sake of research and would do it even if it wasn't supposed to help your application, and you wanted more of a research-oriented career, then perhaps consider finding better opportunities for involvement (i.e. transferring). Barring those circumstances, however, I'd base your decision more on other things such as where you want to live and where you think you'll be happiest and less on thinking you may get some kind of boost come application time.

I've attended SLCC, UVSC, and BYU for whatever that's worth.

 

[BF2BC EMT]

If your goal is to get into medical school then Dixie should be just fine. The only reason BYU and U of U send more people to medical school is because they produce more applicants. If, on the other hand, you want to do research for the sake of research and would do it even if it wasn't supposed to help your application, and you wanted more of a research-oriented career, then perhaps consider finding better opportunities for involvement (i.e. transferring). Barring those circumstances, however, I'd base your decision more on other things such as where you want to live and where you think you'll be happiest and less on thinking you may get some kind of boost come application time.

I've attended SLCC, UVSC, and BYU for whatever that's worth.

Orem, the happiest place on earth. right outside of provo(for BYU), has an in n out(better than st georges😀) and a nice mall.

But the U of U will offer better research opportunities.

 

[st2205]

I think that depends, though. The U definitely has more research going on and more variety, but on the undergraduate level things change a bit, in my opinion. With BYU being primarily an undergraduate institution, there are really good research opportunities available relative to other undergrads. Of course I didn't go to the U, but from what I gathered, at least as an undergrad at BYU in neuro, there were more readily available opportunities at BYU (the U didn't offer an undergrad degree in neuro nor did they really have as many of the courses that BYU made available at the undergraduate level). I wouldn't expect this to be true with every department, however.

 

[Cruzerthebruzer]

Honestly, I think I need a change in scenery, but don't really want to go into much debt before medical school.

I'd be doing research to become more well-rounded, enhance my resume, and for extra learning. Plus there are not a plethora of majors to choose from at DSC, so I'm just doing biology.

You guys don't think that attending a higher-caliber school would enhance my learning/potential MCAT score enough to be worth it or do you feel the difference is rather minor? (Worth is definitely relative just wondering your opinion)

 

[StudyShy]

I think that depends, though. The U definitely has more research going on and more variety, but on the undergraduate level things change a bit, in my opinion. With BYU being primarily an undergraduate institution, there are really good research opportunities available relative to other undergrads. Of course I didn't go to the U, but from what I gathered, at least as an undergrad at BYU in neuro, there were more readily available opportunities at BYU (the U didn't offer an undergrad degree in neuro nor did they really have as many of the courses that BYU made available at the undergraduate level). I wouldn't expect this to be true with every department, however.

You'll have to take a bunch of religion courses. Brush up on your BOM.

 

[BF2BC EMT]

Honestly, I think I need a change in scenery, but don't really want to go into much debt before medical school.

I'd be doing research to become more well-rounded, enhance my resume, and for extra learning. Plus there are not a plethora of majors to choose from at DSC, so I'm just doing biology.

You guys don't think that attending a higher-caliber school would enhance my learning/potential MCAT score enough to be worth it or do you feel the difference is rather minor? (Worth is definitely relative just wondering your opinion)

It all depends on the you. I know people who went to great schools and the MCAT wrecked them. You get out of the MCAT what you're willing to put in. I also dont know much about your school so I cant comment on the education you're receiving there

what have you done shadowing wise/volly? st george is intermountain so if you're doing something there already it shouldn't be to hard to transfer that to another hospital. BYU and U of U will give you a lot more opportunity IMO. Plus looking at those red rocks all day has to get old🙂

 

[Cruzerthebruzer]

Really don't want to take a BOM class so BYU is pretty out.

Yeah I understand that. I'm normally an incredibly good test taker (or so DSC has led me to believe) and I was planning on doing an MCAT prep course when it gets closer to time. I haven't done any shadowing yet, but I'm currently volunteering in the ER at IHC.

I'll need to call and talk to someone for a consult on scholarships and stuff for UoU, the website says 3.8+ gpa for a full scholarship up to 18 credits, but I'm only at 3.7~ due to ******ed mistakes in classes that don't matter (humanities (teacher literally didn't like me), and other crap like cooking..yeah, cooking.)

I was thinking the same thing about more opportunity. And I could manage living with all that white crap on the ground for a couple years. 😉

 

[st2205]

Honestly, I think I need a change in scenery, but don't really want to go into much debt before medical school.

Always good to consider. If you can get by without having as much debt it's a nice plus. Also look at the big picture, however, in that you'll be in much more debt than you could accumulate in a couple years of undergrad by being in medical school. This isn't really a justification for piling on the debt unnecessarily, but important to consider. Also bad if you end up not going to medical school.

I'd be doing research to become more well-rounded, enhance my resume, and for extra learning. Plus there are not a plethora of majors to choose from at DSC, so I'm just doing biology.

As long as you enjoy doing it or feel that you, personally, will benefit from it then it's a good thing to be involved in. If you know you want to go to a school that is more research oriented and want to give your application that added boost, that's also great. If you're simply wanting to go to medical school (with flexibility in where you go) and ultimately be a clinical physician, then there are many, many more efficient ways to spend your time where you will get much more bang-for-your-buck with regards to application enhancement.

You guys don't think that attending a higher-caliber school would enhance my learning/potential MCAT score enough to be worth it or do you feel the difference is rather minor? (Worth is definitely relative just wondering your opinion)

All things being equal (and by all things I mean non-academic things like debt, where you want to live, etc.) the difference should be pretty small. Perhaps a bigger university would hold their students responsible for knowing the material more than a smaller school would, but that is just only according to popular opinion perpetuated by those at bigger, "more prestigious" schools. You're more likely to be taught by TAs at bigger universities rather than professors. At least in the standard prerequisites, that is. It may be advantageous if you were wanting to pursue a major that took a bit more coursework than would be available, which I see you've alluded to. For instance, if you were interested in neuroscience and went to UVU, there'd be a survey course taught by a vetrinarian, and then maybe a psychobiology class taught by the psych department, but you wouldn't get anything too specialized. If you were at BYU, however, there would be not just faculty, but actual researchers in each subspecialty of neuroscience in addition to wider array of courses.

You'll have to take a bunch of religion courses. Brush up on your BOM.

Since he/she has an associates, he/she will only have to take six credits of religion. A couple of the classes can be completed over the weekend through independent study. Daunting, I know.