Help me decide Nebraska Wesleyan University vs Hastings College

[Dr.Optic]

Nebraska Wesleyan:
Pros:
-High acceptance rate into medical school in my state (9/11 got early acceptance and 86% placement rate)
-The university has great professors according to previous students
-It is a small college and class sizes (Which I am looking for since I come from a small town)
-New city new people I get to meet so it forces me to get out of my comfort zone
-Very nice people there, when I visited everyone was open and welcoming
-The university is very reputable to employers according to them
-239 Alumni are practicing today in my state and 197 practice out of the state (which is an attractive factor to me)
-A couple of PA students that I have met while shadowing and a couple of doctors that I shadowed have graduated from here
-It's ranked as one of the best schools in my state.

Cons:
-I am two hours from home (Not really something that bothers me, but my mom doesn't like it)
-I will be paying $14K per year, med school or bust is what my teacher has been telling me
-No free laundry (Just thought this would be funny)
-Apartments are expensive
The cost seems to be something that I don't like. I don't want to take out too much debt, but then again, the university has a really good reputation for placing its students into amazing medical programs.

Hastings College
Pros:
-Cost (I am paying 4K a year) $10K difference is attractive. I want to minimize as much debt as possible.
-IPAD Pro for school that I get to keep once I graduate
-Closer to home than X
-Small class sizes just like X
-If I need anything (Laundry and don't want to eat school food I can go home)
-A couple of doctors I know and many nurses have graduated from here
-Not many of my hometown friends are coming here so I get to meet new people
-My mom works for the college so if I need anything, I can always get in touch
-They are trying a new block schedule that will have 2 classes meet every day for a specific amount of time (7 weeks then 2 then 7)
-If I attend here, I will have my first year of expenses covered through outside scholarships
-Really nice student apartments and cheap since I am a resident
-I could also get a Mac Book Pro/Air to pair up with the IPad Pro

Cons:
-I am not moving out and exploring (I guess that's a con to some people)
-Medical school placement rate isn't as high as school X
-I heard the academic professors are alright, but I can't judge until I experience it myself. Plus, I believe it solely depends on the student
-The biggest thing that is deterring me is the placement rate into medical school compared to school X, but then again, it doesn't really matter does it?

*So my biggest question is, do I go somewhere that has great placement rates into medical school? Or should I go somewhere that will help me keep my loans super low? I am not too fond of taking out loans, but I know I will have to. But my mindset is the faster I can pay it off, the faster I can start working on other aspects of life.*

Things about me:
1. My work ethic is great (I have been told that by many teachers)
2. I want to return to practice medicine back in my rural town
3. I would like to do general surgery, family medicine, or gastroenterology (Personal experiences are my motivating factor)

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[AllBleedingStops]

Let me address your first school:

9/11 got early acceptance and 86% placement rate

There were only 11 students who went to med school which seems like a low number to be making any assumptions/inferences/etc on. I don't understand what the 86% means.

university has great professors according to previous students

Everywhere has good and bad.

I am two hours from home (Not really something that bothers me, but my mom doesn't like it)

Lots of schools, even in-state are more than 2 hours away. I know pleasing your family feels important but 2 hours is nothing and I would count this out of your analysis.

I will be paying $14K per year, med school or bust is what my teacher has been telling me

I don't get what the 14K has to do with "med school or bust" from a teacher.

Apartments are expensive

Also fairly universal for college.

 

[AllBleedingStops]

Second school:

IPAD Pro for school that I get to keep once I graduate

This should not factor into your analysis at all. That model will be old by the time you graduate and you are paying for it in some way with your tuition or other fees anyway.

If I need anything (Laundry and don't want to eat school food I can go home)

I would not get used to relying on this strategy. In my experience, students who do this seem helpless and isolate themselves from friends and other experiences because they go home every weekend.

My mom works for the college so if I need anything, I can always get in touch

See above. I love my parents dearly but I think constant contact with them during college would have severely stunted my development as an individual.


I think you should not worry about acceptance rates. It sounds as though the first school is the better option.

 

[Dr.Optic]

Nebraska Wesleyan:
Pros:
-High acceptance rate into medical school in my state (9/11 got early acceptance and 86% placement rate)
-The university has great professors according to previous students
-It is a small college and class sizes (Which I am looking for since I come from a small town)
-New city new people I get to meet so it forces me to get out of my comfort zone
-Very nice people there, when I visited everyone was open and welcoming
-The university is very reputable to employers according to them
-239 Alumni are practicing today in my state and 197 practice out of the state (which is an attractive factor to me)
-A couple of PA students that I have met while shadowing and a couple of doctors that I shadowed have graduated from here
-It's ranked as one of the best schools in my state.

Cons:
-I am two hours from home (Not really something that bothers me, but my mom doesn't like it)
-I will be paying $14K per year, med school or bust is what my teacher has been telling me
-No free laundry (Just thought this would be funny)
-Apartments are expensive
The cost seems to be something that I don't like. I don't want to take out too much debt, but then again, the university has a really good reputation for placing its students into amazing medical programs.

Hastings College
Pros:
-Cost (I am paying 4K a year) $10K difference is attractive. I want to minimize as much debt as possible.
-IPAD Pro for school that I get to keep once I graduate
-Closer to home than X
-Small class sizes just like X
-If I need anything (Laundry and don't want to eat school food I can go home)
-A couple of doctors I know and many nurses have graduated from here
-Not many of my hometown friends are coming here so I get to meet new people
-My mom works for the college so if I need anything, I can always get in touch
-They are trying a new block schedule that will have 2 classes meet every day for a specific amount of time (7 weeks then 2 then 7)
-If I attend here, I will have my first year of expenses covered through outside scholarships
-Really nice student apartments and cheap since I am a resident
-I could also get a Mac Book Pro/Air to pair up with the IPad Pro

Cons:
-I am not moving out and exploring (I guess that's a con to some people)
-Medical school placement rate isn't as high as school X
-I heard the academic professors are alright, but I can't judge until I experience it myself. Plus, I believe it solely depends on the student
-The biggest thing that is deterring me is the placement rate into medical school compared to school X, but then again, it doesn't really matter does it?

*So my biggest question is, do I go somewhere that has great placement rates into medical school? Or should I go somewhere that will help me keep my loans super low? I am not too fond of taking out loans, but I know I will have to. But my mindset is the faster I can pay it off, the faster I can start working on other aspects of life.*

Things about me:
1. My work ethic is great (I have been told that by many teachers)
2. I want to return to practice medicine back in my rural town
3. I would like to do general surgery, family medicine, or gastroenterology (Personal experiences are my motivating factor)

Thank you for the input. As for med school or bust, he told me either I make it into med school or I won’t be able to do anything with my major and have a massive amount of debt. I’m fairly sure I can swap over to another medical career right?

 

[AllBleedingStops]

I’m fairly sure I can swap over to another medical career right?

Such as?

 

[Dr.Optic]

Such as?

PA, academia, NP etc...

 

[AllBleedingStops]

That was the answer I was expecting. Not really. I mean yes PA and NP are other medical careers you could pursue (not sure what you meant by academia as a medical career) but the pathways into them are a little different. PA is the most reasonable as an alternate to MD/DO because you could feasibly take all the pre-reqs for both. The thing is, they usually require a huge number of healthcare experience hours (again, not insurmountable, but different than med). And NP is nursing and would require you to get a nursing degree or go back to school for an accelerated BSN on top of the bio major in order to get in.

My point is I think you have not thought that out very carefully and have some possible flaws in your thought process.

 

[Dr.Optic]

That was the answer I was expecting. Not really. I mean yes PA and NP are other medical careers you could pursue (not sure what you meant by academia as a medical career) but the pathways into them are a little different. PA is the most reasonable as an alternate to MD/DO because you could feasibly take all the pre-reqs for both. The thing is, they usually require a huge number of healthcare experience hours (again, not insurmountable, but different than med). And NP is nursing and would require you to get a nursing degree or go back to school for an accelerated BSN on top of the bio major in order to get in.

My point is I think you have not thought that out very carefully and have some possible flaws in your thought process.

Can you point out those flaws? I would like to learn more. Academia, I meant teaching/research if that’s possible??

 

[AllBleedingStops]

I think you are thinking of it as though you get to easily divert to those careers if you do not get into medical school. But any of those things requires planning to execute. Teaching at what level? If you intend to do research you should consider a PhD and this is yet another career pathway to consider.