If I join Stony Brook pre-med, will I have a chance to join medicine at bigger universities?

[Hesham Aziz]

Hello,

I have 3 undergrad choices now.
The first is Stony Brook: they offered me reasonable financial aid
The second is Wisconsin-Madison: I'll pay double the price there.
The third is SUNY Oswego, though cheapest of all, I believe the other 2 are much better.

I'm told Wisconsin-Madison is better as a pre-med institution, but would joining Stony Brook Biology Major hurt my future medical school applications?

I am aware that the application is strengthened by many factors, such as GPA and MCAT, but I want to know if Stony Brook is good enough.

I'm a slightly above-average academic student.

Thanks

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[gyngyn]

Yes.

 

[yungspleen]

You can get into any med school from Stony Brook. Save the money now, trust me. No schools will care that you went to Wisconsin at all

 

[Robracer89]

Go where u want. Barely matters what ur undergrad is in my opinion

 

[RunawayGrape]

Your chances of getting into a top med school will not be different at any of those schools. Go to Stony since it's cheapest.

 

[Hesham Aziz]

Your chances of getting into a top med school will not be different at any of those schools. Go to Stony since it's cheapest.

In that case, should I go to Oswego? They offered better financial aid

 

[Hesham Aziz]

You can get into any med school from Stony Brook. Save the money now, trust me. No schools will care that you went to Wisconsin at all

So, if Oswego is the cheapest, should I go there?

 

[PreMedStudent55555]

I was in a very similar situation as you, OP during my senior year of high school and my advice to you is to go wherever you want to go. There's a misconception amongst pre-meds that going to one school will be "easier" or have more "advantages" than others but having friends who are premeds in colleges all over the country I can confidently say that the experience is about the same wherever you go. So my message is this: Wherever you go, OP, you're going to have your work cut out for you. The pre-med track is not an easy one and your pre-med experience at Stony Brook will not differ a lot from your pre-med experience as Oswego. Make your decision based on where you think you will be happiest because at the end of the day you're going to need to take the same prereqs wherever you go.

 

[Hesham Aziz]

I was in a very similar situation as you, OP during my senior year of high school and my advice to you is to go wherever you want to go. There's a misconception amongst pre-meds that going to one school will be "easier" or have more "advantages" than others but having friends who are premeds in colleges all over the country I can confidently say that the experience is about the same wherever you go. So my message is this: Wherever you go, OP, you're going to have your work cut out for you. The pre-med track is not an easy one and your pre-med experience at Stony Brook will not differ a lot from your pre-med experience as Oswego. Make your decision based on where you think you will be happiest because at the end of the day you're going to need to take the same prereqs wherever you go.

Thank you for your answer; it surely gave me some relief. I'm actually having a dilemma deciding whether pre-med is for me or not. I really want to become a physician, but I'm not an exemplary student. I study and do a lot of general internet research, but I'm afraid I won't be accepted into a med school, given their extreme selectivity. I've thought about it and decided Bioengineering is perfect for me: it has the pre-reqs for med and will allow me to work in the field I like after I graduate (if I don't get into med school). What do you think?

 

[PreMedStudent55555]

I wouldn't worry about being an exemplary student. College is a time of learning and if you are hard working you will learn your faults as a student and become a great one. It's up to you to decide whether the premed track is for you, OP. But don't think you need to be an absolute genius to get into medical school. If you are hard-working and motivated, you can get in.

 

[CyrusHabs7695]

Go to cheapest school, save the money. I actually know a few people who got accepted this cycle from oswego. All the SUNYs are good


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[yungspleen]

Thank you for your answer; it surely gave me some relief. I'm actually having a dilemma deciding whether pre-med is for me or not. I really want to become a physician, but I'm not an exemplary student. I study and do a lot of general internet research, but I'm afraid I won't be accepted into a med school, given their extreme selectivity. I've thought about it and decided Bioengineering is perfect for me: it has the pre-reqs for med and will allow me to work in the field I like after I graduate (if I don't get into med school). What do you think?

How much cheaper is Oswego? If significantly cheaper than Stony Brook then yes go there, if only like 5k/year cheaper and you like Stony Brook a lot more, then go there. If you like them equally go to Oswego. You'll be able to get into any med school from either school. If you just focus I'm sure you'll have a good shot at getting into medical school. Just get started with research early and try to join some clubs your first semester. Keep your GPA up (3.7+) and do well on the MCAT. You'll be fine.

 

[jcorpsmanMD]

Thank you for your answer; it surely gave me some relief. I'm actually having a dilemma deciding whether pre-med is for me or not. I really want to become a physician, but I'm not an exemplary student. I study and do a lot of general internet research, but I'm afraid I won't be accepted into a med school, given their extreme selectivity. I've thought about it and decided Bioengineering is perfect for me: it has the pre-reqs for med and will allow me to work in the field I like after I graduate (if I don't get into med school). What do you think?

As one of the above posters mentioned, I wouldn't worry so much about necessarily being an exemplary student. I don't think intelligence is necessarily a requirement in being a successful pre-med as much as it is diligence. I've met many pre-meds smarter than myself that did not have the work ethic to become a physician. Don't worry yourself about being the smartest person in the room, be the hardest working person in the room. If you work hard, make a plan, you will succeed. Just know hiccups will occur and you just react to them the best you can. You can do this if it's what you want to do. In reference to the bioengineering, it's a great idea if it's something you're interested in. Go for it!

 

[trickydick]

I would argue that outside of sports Stony has a similar reputation to Wisconsin so it won't matter. However, Oswego will be much easier than Stony but you wouldn't have the same opportunities, especially for research as you would for Stony. I would go to Stony but be prepared to work.

 

[RunawayGrape]

Thank you for your answer; it surely gave me some relief. I'm actually having a dilemma deciding whether pre-med is for me or not. I really want to become a physician, but I'm not an exemplary student. I study and do a lot of general internet research, but I'm afraid I won't be accepted into a med school, given their extreme selectivity. I've thought about it and decided Bioengineering is perfect for me: it has the pre-reqs for med and will allow me to work in the field I like after I graduate (if I don't get into med school). What do you think?

You'll have your work cut out for you more than the average premed as an engineering student. Engineering coursework is generally more difficult, and med schools won't compensate or "curve" your GPA for a harder major. If you can still pull a 3.7+, it might look more impressive to adcoms than a 3.7 non-engineering major, but a <3.5 GPA will really kick your chances of med school into the gutter. Still, plenty of students manage to pull very high GPAs even with heavy math and engineering coursework, but at least at my undergrad, the average engineering GPA was <3.3. You should take this into account as you weigh your options moving forward! Anecdotally, I know a few successful engineer premeds, but many, many more who ultimately dropped premed because of their GPA.

As for not being an exemplary student, getting into med school is arguably more about hard work than it is innate ability. Of course, you need to have both (and I think at some point, innate ability trumps any amount of hard work), but the premed thing is a grind. Plenty of students at top-20 med schools were average in high school. I wouldn't let this sway your decision.

 

[Lucca]

Don't go to the cheapest school just for the sake of saving money. The fact that you like Stony Brook the best and it is half the cost of Wisconsin tells me that you should go there.

Go to the undergrad that the right ratio of being your favorite and costing the least.

 

[jcorpsmanMD]

Don't go to the cheapest school just for the sake of saving money. The fact that you like Stony Brook the best and it is half the cost of Wisconsin tells me that you should go there.

Go to the undergrad that the right ratio of being your favorite and costing the least.

I believe he's ranking his choices based off of tuition / financial aid though. OP needs to also decide where he felt like he would enjoy living better, etc.

 

[shisong]

I went to stony as undergrad and i loved it due to hospital nearby idk about Oswego... but having hospital in walking distance was super ideal... found doctor to shadow+research = profit

 

[LizzyM]

I went to stony as undergrad and i loved it due to hospital nearby idk about Oswego... but having hospital in walking distance was super ideal... found doctor to shadow+research = profit

Very good point. I don't know the area but a little Google and it appears that there is a hospital about a mile from campus, another in Fulton which is 12 miles away and then Rochester is more than an hour from campus. It looks like Oswego Hospital has volunteer opportunities if you can put in 50 hours/yr.
Volunteer Opportunities | Oswego Health | Oswego, New York
That is something to keep in mind when considering schools. Some people get stuck in the boonies without transportation and they just can't do any volunteerism either clinical or non-clinical, or get any shadowing during the school year and that's a shame.