Every college teaches the same stuff, right?

[Gallix23]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hey everyone,

Right now, I am kind of torn. I'm a senior in high school, and I'm starting to get college admission decisions back. So far, I've only gotten one letter back and it said that I was accepted to a school that I've had in the back of my mind for some time. I'll tell you a little about it:

This school is a small Liberal Arts school. It's in an awesome part of Boston, has a pre-med club, just built a brand-new science center that will have its grand opening when I first start school in the fall, it has the Boston branch of Merck Research Labs literally a stones throw away that I could probably do reasearch at, and they gave me a $10,000/year academic scholarship (without telling me of any financial aid offers yet).

A friend of mine goes to the school and loves it, and they give out more and more money based upon academic achievement. Out of a whopping $45,000, my friend only had to pay $9,000 for his freshman year due to academics. I have to do well anyways to get into medical school, so I figure the money would be that much more of an incentive.

Phew, alright sorry about all that. Now here's the trouble, this school is, I guess, considered "alright." It's pretty much a little bit of a step up from a state school, it's nothing ground breaking. My guidance counselor kind of gave me an "ehh, it's alright" when I asked what she thought of it. I have some other "big name" schools that I applied to that I'll probably get in too, but I doubt I'll get any money from, and I don't want to be in massive amounts of debt by the time I leave undergrad. I could go to Umass Amherst for cheap money, but it's a hike to get out there and I don't really want to go that far.

Pretty much, my question is: do all schools basically give you the same education? Like if I do well in this school, and I do well at like Tufts, it's all the same stuff, right? I'm not really worried about the GPA aspect because I'm going to work my tail off, but I just want to make sure that I'm being adequately prepared for the MCAT. Biology is still biology and chemistry is still chemistry at any other school, right?

Sorry for the long post, but I really needed to let all of this out, it's circling around in my head. Thanks for reading, and if any of you guys have any advice or even just want to let me know what you think it'd be great.

Thank you

 

[El Nino]

Your in a similar situation I am in however, I am a junior. With the current status of the economy, free money is free money you can't really go wrong. As far as being prepared for med school or the MCAT it mostly depends on you. You can always enroll in a prep course. I far as I am told, the prestige of undergrad does not matter your gpa, mcat and volunteering etc is what is going to come down to.

Also, you should ask your friend or students at the school about the science department.

 

[Mosin]

I have attended both a small liberal arts college and a large public university. I would have to say that overall, my education at both was fairly equitable, though there are definitely differences in style and atmosphere. I don't know exactly what the small school is like that you're talking about. However, the one thing to think about is the possibility that there MAY be more opportunities / resources at a larger school. There are more people at a larger school, more alumni, and oftentimes more of a network outside of the school itself. When I tell people where I go to school, they know about it and more than a few times I've gotten "oh, I that's where I got my degree in X" or "my daughter is going to start school there next year" etc... When I told people where I went to school when I was attending the small school, most people had no clue what I was talking about.

A long winded post to let you know that you PROBABLY will be okay either way and yes, you can get into med school regardless, but there are some things to consider when choosing between larger and smaller schools...

Either way, good luck👍

 

[Gallix23]

Thanks guys. To El Nino, my advice for you is to enroll in a summer program at a university or college that you are considering. I did that my junior year, and I got recommendations from professors, a ton of hands-on research experience, and even got paid for it. It's things like that that can differ yourself from everyone else when it comes to getting accepted into undergrad schools (and getting money).

Mosin, I have heard that the atmosphere is extremely different at those two extremes of schools. However, my family doctor suggested that I should go to a small school because of the better professor-student relationship that can help with recommendations and extra help. Hahah I might as well just say it, the college that I'm considering is Emmanuel College in Boston. It's a small school that pretty much everyone knows about/has heard of. The money and everything is tempting, but I'm really anxious to get back my letters from my other schools (especially the "higher caliber" ones.

 

[Maygyver]

So much of schools is dependent on specific schools, not necessarily big vs small, or any other comparisons. For example, I have heard from people on admissions and also someone with a PhD from a top 5 school in her subject, that my specific school is known for it's chemistry program. The admissions people have straight up said that they value the GPA from our chem prereqs higher than a random school they don't know.

You do make a good point though that if you go to a smaller school you have a greater chance of getting to know a professor to write letters. However, this can also be done by working with a research project or just going to office hours at a larger school.

In the end, go to the school you are comfortable with but one that is still known to have good academics.

 

[WatchMeRise]

Thanks guys. To El Nino, my advice for you is to enroll in a summer program at a university or college that you are considering. I did that my junior year, and I got recommendations from professors, a ton of hands-on research experience, and even got paid for it. It's things like that that can differ yourself from everyone else when it comes to getting accepted into undergrad schools (and getting money).

That sounds like a great idea!
I wish I had done that.

🙁

 

[ButImLETired]

Thanks guys. To El Nino, my advice for you is to enroll in a summer program at a university or college that you are considering. I did that my junior year, and I got recommendations from professors, a ton of hands-on research experience, and even got paid for it. It's things like that that can differ yourself from everyone else when it comes to getting accepted into undergrad schools (and getting money).

Mosin, I have heard that the atmosphere is extremely different at those two extremes of schools. However, my family doctor suggested that I should go to a small school because of the better professor-student relationship that can help with recommendations and extra help. Hahah I might as well just say it, the college that I'm considering is Emmanuel College in Boston. It's a small school that pretty much everyone knows about/has heard of. The money and everything is tempting, but I'm really anxious to get back my letters from my other schools (especially the "higher caliber" ones.

Hmmm no offense, but I was in college in Boston for 4 years and I never heard of it. Don't get me wrong, this probably doesn't mean much, since Boston has a gagillion colleges and if it's small I'd be particularly unaware of it, but I'm just throwing it out there. I'd say if the money difference is HUGE, then go with the cheaper option. But don't underestimate the financial aid opportunities at bigger, more expensive colleges, cause they tend to have pretty good endowment. Anyways, if the difference is relatively small, then I'd go for the better-known, larger school that has better resources. It can definitely come in handy.

PM me if you need advice about other colleges in Boston, I can give you the scoop based on what I've noticed in my four years there 😉

 

[135892]

Hey everyone,

Right now, I am kind of torn. I'm a senior in high school, and I'm starting to get college admission decisions back. So far, I've only gotten one letter back and it said that I was accepted to a school that I've had in the back of my mind for some time. I'll tell you a little about it:

This school is a small Liberal Arts school. It's in an awesome part of Boston, has a pre-med club, just built a brand-new science center that will have its grand opening when I first start school in the fall, it has the Boston branch of Merck Research Labs literally a stones throw away that I could probably do reasearch at, and they gave me a $10,000/year academic scholarship (without telling me of any financial aid offers yet).

A friend of mine goes to the school and loves it, and they give out more and more money based upon academic achievement. Out of a whopping $45,000, my friend only had to pay $9,000 for his freshman year due to academics. I have to do well anyways to get into medical school, so I figure the money would be that much more of an incentive.

Phew, alright sorry about all that. Now here's the trouble, this school is, I guess, considered "alright." It's pretty much a little bit of a step up from a state school, it's nothing ground breaking. My guidance counselor kind of gave me an "ehh, it's alright" when I asked what she thought of it. I have some other "big name" schools that I applied to that I'll probably get in too, but I doubt I'll get any money from, and I don't want to be in massive amounts of debt by the time I leave undergrad. I could go to Umass Amherst for cheap money, but it's a hike to get out there and I don't really want to go that far.

Pretty much, my question is: do all schools basically give you the same education? Like if I do well in this school, and I do well at like Tufts, it's all the same stuff, right? I'm not really worried about the GPA aspect because I'm going to work my tail off, but I just want to make sure that I'm being adequately prepared for the MCAT. Biology is still biology and chemistry is still chemistry at any other school, right?

Sorry for the long post, but I really needed to let all of this out, it's circling around in my head. Thanks for reading, and if any of you guys have any advice or even just want to let me know what you think it'd be great.

Thank you

My criterion when I was choosing a college: money. I choose to go to a cheap school, even though it isn't highly ranked. I mean, for me, paying $9000 a year for college seems like its way too much, although I'm sure for most, this is reasonable. Personally though, I like going to a large school. Just seems like there are plenty of opportunities to do whatever I want, whether it be academically, extra-curricular or research -wise, etc. I don't know anything about smaller schools, so I can't say how/if it would be different. Although, one thing I wouldn't really worry too much about is getting to know your profs. Sure, my intro classes were HUGE, but once you get into the upper-level classes, the class sizes become very reasonable, and there are plenty of opportunities to become close with your professors.

 

[Gallix23]

Hmmm no offense, but I was in college in Boston for 4 years and I never heard of it. Don't get me wrong, this probably doesn't mean much, since Boston has a gagillion colleges and if it's small I'd be particularly unaware of it, but I'm just throwing it out there. I'd say if the money difference is HUGE, then go with the cheaper option. But don't underestimate the financial aid opportunities at bigger, more expensive colleges, cause they tend to have pretty good endowment. Anyways, if the difference is relatively small, then I'd go for the better-known, larger school that has better resources. It can definitely come in handy.

PM me if you need advice about other colleges in Boston, I can give you the scoop based on what I've noticed in my four years there 😉

No offense taken, that's strange though, nearly everyone I've talked to knows about it. I'll actually PM you now and just let you know where I applied, thanks for the help!