I hate dilemma...what to do now?

[Scarolinasucks]

Having a situation you just can't decide sucks...

here is the thing: I just recently moved to SC with family and transferred here...
I got accepted into a Liberal Art University (top 10 in the South - Winthrop; anybody knows this school?) and University of South Carolina..Well..If I go to Winthrop..I dont have to worry about work and money since I live with parents...But if I go to USC then I am responsible for everything and it takes me about 1.5 hours to go home...(I got full tuition covered on both school..so just personal expenses such as room and food and transportation)..
Winthrop has a pretty good reputation - good S/T ratio and small classes you can get a lot of attention..However it's small and some research opportunities might be slim...But if I go there, I get all the time I want to volunteer (which I have been doing so far) and study..But i havent get any research experience under my belt yet.
USC is a big school so you would just have to fight for attention and stuff...ANd I worry about money..I would have to work - this will reduce the time I have available to volunteer, research, study and everything else

I guess it's a dilemma cuz I dont know which one gives me better chance to get into med school...this sucks...
Just FYI..I have a 4.0 as a Junior..

P.S. South Carolina sucks...

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[ChinaDoll]

bump for you...

Just FYI, I dont likw SC either...

 

[tiedyeddog]

Having a situation you just can't decide sucks...

here is the thing: I just recently moved to SC with family and transferred here...
I got accepted into a Liberal Art University (top 10 in the South - Winthrop; anybody knows this school?) and University of South Carolina..Well..If I go to Winthrop..I dont have to worry about work and money since I live with parents...But if I go to USC then I am responsible for everything and it takes me about 1.5 hours to go home...(I got full tuition covered on both school..so just personal expenses such as room and food and transportation)..
Winthrop has a pretty good reputation - good S/T ratio and small classes you can get a lot of attention..However it's small and some research opportunities might be slim...But if I go there, I get all the time I want to volunteer (which I have been doing so far) and study..But i havent get any research experience under my belt yet.
USC is a big school so you would just have to fight for attention and stuff...ANd I worry about money..I would have to work - this will reduce the time I have available to volunteer, research, study and everything else

I guess it's a dilemma cuz I dont know which one gives me better chance to get into med school...this sucks...
Just FYI..I have a 4.0 as a Junior..

P.S. South Carolina sucks...

Dude/dudette,

I go to the biggest school in the nation. Most of my science classes are 350+ in size. The teacher/student ratio is wayyyy too blown out of proportion. Most biology classes are about pure memorization, anyway, and the skill of the lecturer makes no difference. Besides, all professors have office hours and are available through email or some other method. I wouldn't let class size influence your decision. I have had 30 student class that have been more poorly taught/organized than some of my 400+ classes.

I'd go with USC because you'd be away from your parents but just do what you honestly think we make you the most happy for the next three/four/five years.

 

[Scarolinasucks]

Dude/dudette,

I go to the biggest school in the nation. Most of my science classes are 350+ in size. The teacher/student ratio is wayyyy too blown out of proportion. Most biology classes are about pure memorization, anyway, and the skill of the lecturer makes no difference. Besides, all professors have office hours and are available through email or some other method. I wouldn't let class size influence your decision. I have had 30 student class that have been more poorly taught/organized than some of my 400+ classes.

I'd go with USC because you'd be away from your parents but just do what you honestly think we make you the most happy for the next three/four/five years.

hey thanks for the reply...I think I more concern about money than anything

 

[LizzyM]

SC is a great state for a pre-med because IIRC it highly favors in-state residents for admission to its med school. Not having debt is good. Not having done research - not so good. Too bad you didn't set something up for this summer -- that seems to be when people at schools with not much research get a little exposure to the lab. You can always do something next summer & plan to submit the AMCAS after the research start date. (Or forget research & apply to schools that focus on preparing primary care providers, they'll love all the volunteer effort & shadowing you've done.)

 

[Steeler7588]

SC is a great state for a pre-med because IIRC it highly favors in-state residents for admission to its med school. Not having debt is good.

Agreed. Too much hate on South Carolina.

If you're taking honors courses, your class sizes will be very small. Even if you're in a large class, professors always have flexible hours and recitations help a lot. Research will be much broader and more available than at Wofford, I don't know of anyone who wanted a lab position that didn't get one. Plus, the big school environment just offers so much more than Wofford can.

If all you have left to pay for is food / housing, then get a job. Friends are able to volunteer, do research, etc. all while holding down something part-time. There are opportunities in the area for you to get hired doing pretty valuable clinical work, or you can even apply for student grants to get paid for your research (if your professor doesn't do that already).

 

[searun]

Do you really want to live with your mother while you are in college? That sure sounds like fun. It is time to put on your big boy pants.

 

[DoctorDeMan]

Dude/dudette,

I go to the biggest school in the nation. Most of my science classes are 350+ in size. The teacher/student ratio is wayyyy too blown out of proportion. Most biology classes are about pure memorization, anyway, and the skill of the lecturer makes no difference. Besides, all professors have office hours and are available through email or some other method. I wouldn't let class size influence your decision. I have had 30 student class that have been more poorly taught/organized than some of my 400+ classes.

I'd go with USC because you'd be away from your parents but just do what you honestly think we make you the most happy for the next three/four/five years.

I also go to a large university and can tell you the 400+ student classes are almost always better taught and organized than the 30 student classes. My worst class was one with 14 students and the professor couldn't care less about any of us.

Just my experience, though. It is nice in undergrad to have the anonymity to skip the 400+ student classes if you study better on your own or if the class is easy.

 

[dw2158]

SC is a great state for a pre-med because IIRC it highly favors in-state residents for admission to its med school. Not having debt is good. Not having done research - not so good. Too bad you didn't set something up for this summer -- that seems to be when people at schools with not much research get a little exposure to the lab. You can always do something next summer & plan to submit the AMCAS after the research start date. (Or forget research & apply to schools that focus on preparing primary care providers, they'll love all the volunteer effort & shadowing you've done.)

maybe i'm confused, but i thought the OP was in high school?

 

[tiedyeddog]

Just my experience, though. It is nice in undergrad to have the anonymity to skip the 400+ student classes if you study better on your own or if the class is easy.

I agree with this 50000%. I didn't realize it before I went to college, but the majority of your classes should be skippable to some extent (if you are a bio major.) The big class size gives you the power to skip out on needless lecturing when you will better learn by self-studying.

Seriously, I probably went to less then 20 of my organic chem lectures, out of a possible 90. I got A's in all of them. Listening to some old dude who doesn't care about teaching drone on doesn't help you learn ochem reactions.

I faced a similar dilemma when I was choosing which college to go to. I picked to go 150 miles away from my hometown instead of going to the university in my hometown. The research available to undergrads was also a huge factor in my decision. My hometown university has weak biological research going on with little opportunities for undergrad involvement. The school I chose to go to has a ridiculous amount of opportunities for undergrads. Couldn't be more happy with my decision, three years later.

Maybe you like the idea of living with your parents. I HATED the idea. I am a very independent person, however.

 

[tiedyeddog]

maybe i'm confused, but i thought the OP was in high school?

I think Lizzy was trying to say the OP should get some exposure to what research is about while he/she is still in high school. It would be a strong benefit.

 

[witness23]

USC is mad fun yo, ask michael phelps bout it

 

[dw2158]

I think Lizzy was trying to say the OP should get some exposure to what research is about while he/she is still in high school. It would be a strong benefit.

okay. whoa. i was so far from thinking about pre-med stuff when i was in high school that it didn't even occur to me that someone might start research that early.

 

[witness23]

nm

 

[tiedyeddog]

okay. whoa. i was so far from thinking about pre-med stuff when i was in high school that it didn't even occur to me that someone might start research that early.

Me too. I had no idea what research was about and didn't find out until the end of my sophomore year in college. In hindsight I wish I had done some kind of research during high school. I would have found out that I want it to be a component of my career....eh.

 

[Mattabet]

Gah! Please let the kids be kids. My goodness. OP, you're still in high school! You can get into any medical school from any university. Guaranteed. Someone has done it.

Right now, you need to relax and do all the little things that make high school great. Be in the musical, run track, go to prom. You shouldn't feel compelled to start resume building until you're in college. There'll be plenty of time then.

 

[Steeler7588]

USC is mad fun yo, ask michael phelps bout it

Haha, indeed...

Yeah, I don't think LizzyM was suggesting to get research experience while in high school, she definitely thought he was a junior in college (by her recommendation to push submitting AMCAS back by a year). The reference to his GPA as a junior is confusing though - you receive college acceptances as a senior in HS, not a junior. Maybe by transferred, he meant he's switched schools after two years and not just moved?

 

[longhorn09]

I go to a big school ( one of the biggest in the nation indeed) but I enjoy sitting in a large class. I have no problem sitting in a lecture room with 400+ ppl.

 

[erdavis]

Having a situation you just can't decide sucks...

here is the thing: I just recently moved to SC with family and transferred here...
I got accepted into a Liberal Art University (top 10 in the South - Winthrop; anybody knows this school?) and University of South Carolina..Well..If I go to Winthrop..I dont have to worry about work and money since I live with parents...But if I go to USC then I am responsible for everything and it takes me about 1.5 hours to go home...(I got full tuition covered on both school..so just personal expenses such as room and food and transportation)..
Winthrop has a pretty good reputation - good S/T ratio and small classes you can get a lot of attention..However it's small and some research opportunities might be slim...But if I go there, I get all the time I want to volunteer (which I have been doing so far) and study..But i havent get any research experience under my belt yet.
USC is a big school so you would just have to fight for attention and stuff...ANd I worry about money..I would have to work - this will reduce the time I have available to volunteer, research, study and everything else

I guess it's a dilemma cuz I dont know which one gives me better chance to get into med school...this sucks...
Just FYI..I have a 4.0 as a Junior..

P.S. South Carolina sucks...

Class size shouldnt matter. Out of the hundreds of students maybe 5 people stay after class to talk to the professor. The others bolted from the class as soon as she said thats it for today.Hell most student had their stuff pack 15 before the class ended. Professors easily accessible when you made an effort at a big university.

You shouldnt give up USC because you would be responible for living expenses. If your parent income does not allow them to finicialyl help you with college, im damn sure FASFA and USC will give you enough money to take care of your living expenses. Some of it may be pell grants that you dont have to pay back others may be loans

 

[longhorn09]

Haha, indeed...

Yeah, I don't think LizzyM was suggesting to get research experience while in high school, she definitely thought he was a junior in college (by her recommendation to push submitting AMCAS back by a year). The reference to his GPA as a junior is confusing though - you receive college acceptances as a senior in HS, not a junior. Maybe by transferred, he meant he's switched schools after two years and not just moved?

Hey, is OP a COLLEGE junior and is now just doing a COLLEGE transfer?

 

[dragonfly99]

I am very pro liberal arts college, because I think the teaching is a LOT better vs. most of the bigger schools. And yes, it does matter if you go to class there, because in my experience most of the professors @this type school are awesome, so even in science classes it matters if you go to class. there will a level of discussion, Q and A, etc. even in some classes like organic chem and other sciences, believe it or not.

That said, I wouldn't put Winthrop as a top 10 school in the South. I'm from the South and I've barely heard of it. That doesn't mean it's a bad school, but I do think that saying it is top 10 is probably a stretch. The top liberal arts school in the South is probably Davidson in North Carolina (no, I didn't go there...but it generally has had a high reputation for a long time) and then some others like Rhodes College and Sewanee/U of the South in Tennessee, Oglethorpe in Atlanta, possibly Trinity U. in San Antonio. I would check and try to find out how many premeds Winthrop has and what is their acceptance rate into medical school? You want it to be >> the national average. A really good undergrad would have 80% or greater acceptance into med school for a 2 year acceptance rate (i.e. people who have tried 1-2 years in a row).

It's possible that U of South Carolina would make it easier to get into med school b/c their affiliated med school likely takes a lot of people from there. That doesn't mean it would be a better education than the other school, but I'm just thinking...

I'm also confused about whether the OP is a jr. in high school or in college.

I think the OP needs to think about whether he/she is more likely to excel at a large school vs. small college.

 

[bruceleehiiiyaa]

dude withrop is D1 and they have a pretty green atmosphere. go to withrop!

 

[witness23]

Lizzy is right, I think. The OP is a junior that is transferring?

 

[EyezonU]

SC is a great state for a pre-med because IIRC it highly favors in-state residents for admission to its med school.

True for ND too, no?

 

[EyezonU]

Anyone else really think SDN has a disproportionate amount of students attending "top schools"? I mean, I've lurked for awhile and haven't really posted much, but there are 6+ threads everyday it seems like with the following:

"So I got accepted to a top 3 undergrad, will this be good for med school?"

"Oh the horror, I was only accepted at my state school. Can I still be a doctor?"

"Kill me. Since I only went to a lousy state school, I'll never be able to attend Harvard."

Seriously, I think whether you attend a top school as SOME minimal weight. Likely, it carries more weight if you're dreaming of attending a "top" medical school. But honestly, if you achieve the high numbers, do the research (even if you don't get published, seriously), volunteer, do other extracurriculars you like - you'll get in somewhere. It's almost depressing reading these forums, because EVERYONE seems to be attending Harvard/Princeton/top 10 schools, etc. with full rides.

Maybe I'm just senile.

 

[erdavis]

But if you feel USC is better for you in accomplishing your goal loans shouldnt matter especially when you consider the near $200,000 in loans you will have before you finish your medicial career. I have friends who lives good off the refund money(money left from you Finicial award after tuition and fees have been taking out) and didnt work at all. I only work cause I had workstudy which keep you from taking out loans.

If would dont like that option and want to stay with your parents and go to Winthrop would could do summer research programs USC or other places. They usually provide room and board and a good stipend at the end! Some even reimburse for your traveling cost. These programs are a good way to get alot of research hour in in a short period of time. Usually 8-5 for about 8-10 weeks which is a bout 360-450 hr of research a summer which will be over 1000hr of research if you do it for 3 summers YAY!

 

[EyezonU]

ANd I worry about money..I would have to work - this will reduce the time I have available to volunteer, research, study and everything else

...and working part-time will look terrible on your application? I've had to work part-time all through college, sometimes working two jobs. My mommy and daddy weren't doctors and I wasn't fortunate enough to get a full ride. I think juggling part-time work is a strength to a medical school application. It's definitely not a detriment, especially if you can find a job that's medically related.

There's no (X hrs of volunteering) + (Y # of research hrs/publications) * (# hrs shadowing) + (school strength) / (decrease in free time) = med school acceptance. At least not that I know of.

I guess it's a dilemma cuz I dont know which one gives me better chance to get into med school...this sucks...
Just FYI..I have a 4.0 as a Junior..

P.S. South Carolina sucks...

Highly highly highly doubt these schools truly differ by that much. Honestly, I think in most cases rankings are a crock. Education is what you put into it, not what school you attend. An idiot at Harvard is still an idiot at Harvard - just look at Al Gore (Lol, no offense to Gore fans). Maybe there would be consideration if EVERY applicate was exactly the same (GPA, MCAT, ECs). This is never the case.

 

[bruceleehiiiyaa]

...and working part-time will look terrible on your application? I've had to work part-time all through college, sometimes working two jobs. My mommy and daddy weren't doctors and I wasn't fortunate enough to get a full ride. I think juggling part-time work is a strength to a medical school application. It's definitely not a detriment, especially if you can find a job that's medically related.

There's no (X hrs of volunteering) + (Y # of research hrs/publications) * (# hrs shadowing) + (school strength) / (decrease in free time) = med school acceptance. At least not that I know of.



Highly highly highly doubt these schools truly differ by that much. Honestly, I think in most cases rankings are a crock. Education is what you put into it, not what school you attend. An idiot at Harvard is still an idiot at Harvard - just look at Al Gore (Lol, no offense to Gore fans). Maybe there would be consideration if EVERY applicate was exactly the same (GPA, MCAT, ECs). This is never the case.

lol, i dont personally like al gore, but he is hardly an idiot. he won the nobel peace price didnt he?

 

[EyezonU]

lol, i dont personally like al gore, but he is hardly an idiot. he won the nobel peace price didnt he?

Yes, I believe Al Gore won a Nobel Peace prize for an efficiently assembled powerpoint presention, likely to the consternation of numerous scientists that actually, you know, did the research that was the basis for said powerpoint presentation.

Al Gore is a smart guy. He performed substandardly in college however, but since he went to Hhhaaavaaadd he obviously gets a free pass by the public.

 

[TexanGirl]

One MAJOR advantage of small class sizes that hasn't been discussed yet is that small class sizes can often translate to great LOR's. In a classroom of 5-20, it becomes very easy for an instructor to know every student on a personal level. While I'm sure people have obtained good, solid LOR's from large classes in the past, it becomes a lot harder to achieve the same level of familiarity with a professor without significant contact outside of the classroom (through research perhaps?) Even office hour contact is minimally effective: What can the professor say other than "Student X was a diligent, hard-working student?"

 

[tiedyeddog]

One MAJOR advantage of small class sizes that hasn't been discussed yet is that small class sizes can often translate to great LOR's. In a classroom of 5-20, it becomes very easy for an instructor to know every student on a personal level. While I'm sure people have obtained good, solid LOR's from large classes in the past, it becomes a lot harder to achieve the same level of familiarity with a professor without significant contact outside of the classroom (through research perhaps?) Even office hour contact is minimally effective: What can the professor say other than "Student X was a diligent, hard-working student?"

Either way you need to see the professor in office hours. The key is NOT going to office hours just for homework advice. Seek "life guidance" and talk about how the professor came to be where they are...