"Name brand" expensive school vs less ranked schools

[Jessalinea]

hi guys,
I am trying to decide between UVA, VCU, or Howard university. VCU and Howard are both offering me full ride merit scholarships, UVA is not. However I did get into uvas Honors program which allows me to go through undergrad with absolutely zero required classes.

I was just wondering, what school do you think would be a better choice? I know UVA is more prestigious but is it worth the money (about 110k for 4 years)when VCU/Howard are free? I want to get into medical school so maybe the prestige of UVA would help...??

VCU and Howard are also both similarly ranked I believe. I do like Howard's area a bit more(DC).
Is there any of these two schools that is particularly better for premed..?

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[WedgeDawg]

UVA is a hard school to do well at. I know many people, many of them Echols scholars, who either didn't make it to med school or barely got off waitlists or had to take a gap year due to grades (and they were/are all very very smart and hardworking people). That being said, if you excel at UVA, the door is wide open for you, and a 3.8+ at UVA combined with a solid MCAT score is a good jumping point to top 20s.

VCU is a good school, has its own medical school, and, provided you do well (3.7+), will get you into a medical school. It's still not an "easy" school, though it will be easier than UVA due to the overall lower level of competition (both overtly in terms of how hard people try and covertly in terms of the natural aptitude of the students). Howard, I think, will be similar in these respects to VCU.

It sucks UVA isn't offering you any money. Were I in your situation, I would probably want to go to UVA, but both VCU and Howard can absolutely get you to medical school, and because of the amount of debt you would be taking on for medical school, it's probably more prudent to go with the full ride here. Howard vs. VCU is a toss-up. I would probably go to VCU because I like Richmond better than DC, but both are great cities.

In short, as long as you do well, none of these schools will hold you back.