Seattle University vs Washington State University

[Lil Bear]

Quick question here from a senior in high school looking at possible colleges to go to next year. Right now I'm looking at going to either Seattle University, a private school with very small class sizes (max size is 35 students), or Washington State University (pullman), with much larger class sizes. My dilemma is that Seattle University doesn't have a pre med program or advisors from what I can tell, but those small class sizes are very appealing. Would I be better off going to Seattle University or go to WSU with the class sizes in the hundreds, but with pre med program/advisors or w/e. They both offer all the pre reqs.
Right now I'm thinking Seattle University because those small class sizes would allow me to get a ton of help from teachers w need it. What do you guys think?

Also considering Pacific Lutheran University if anyone has any input on that

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[JeetKuneDo]

I'll say Seattle U. It's probably more expensive, but along with the small classes you'll probably have more fun since it's located in the heart of seattle (sort of).

 

[GoSpursGo]

These kinds of questions are generally asked in hsdn; I'll go ahead and move this there.

 

[Lil Bear]

I'll say Seattle U. It's probably more expensive, but along with the small classes you'll probably have more fun since it's located in the heart of seattle (sort of).

Actually, the cool thing is that if I get the average financial aid package, it's cheaper. And yeah, the surrounding city of Seattle is a big plus

 

[thesauce]

Went to WSU. Premed advisors there are worthless and shouldn't play a part in your decision. I would seriously consider the financial aspect though. Good luck.

 

[yanorglu]

I'm confused...why is UW not an option?

But if it were down to WSU or SU, I'd go with WSU unless SU gave you some sort of insane financial aid. Pullman's cool if you wanna get laid/thrashed easily, plus you'd probably face less stiff competition at there.

 

[JeetKuneDo]

I'm confused...why is UW not an option?

But if it were down to WSU or SU, I'd go with WSU unless SU gave you some sort of insane financial aid. Pullman's cool if you wanna get laid/thrashed easily, plus you'd probably face less stiff competition at there.

I'm guessing the OP's heard about the sheer numbers in the intro chem and intro bio classes.

 

[swingline]

In general, with smaller class sizes, it will be easier to get to know your professors. This is useful when you need to get letters of recommendation for medical school.

I go to a large university where pre-requisite classes for medical school can have 500+ people. I've certainly had a good experience in this setting but I do miss being able to raise my hand to have a quick question answered in class (harder to do in a large lecture). I really enjoyed my MCAT prep class because it was in a much smaller setting (~30 students/class).

Good luck!

 

[JeetKuneDo]

In general, with smaller class sizes, it will be easier to get to know your professors. This is useful when you need to get letters of recommendation for medical school.

I go to a large university where pre-requisite classes for medical school can have 500+ people. I've certainly had a good experience in this setting but I do miss being able to raise my hand to have a quick question answered in class (harder to do in a large lecture). I really enjoyed my MCAT prep class because it was in a much smaller setting (~30 students/class).

Good luck!

Good point to bring up about UW is that due to budget cuts, they're merging the first class of the ntro bio series that's required for pre-med/bio majors with the one that is for non majors. There will be 700+ kids in that class...

 

[rddoms]

I went to UW, and the pre-med advisers there were horrible. I'm not sure that's the case with Wazzu, but it wouldn't surprise me. Going to a big school as a pre-med sucks, mainly because of the class sizes. After the hell I went through at UW, I had to get a master's degree before any medical school would even look at me. I was accepted to the University of Portland (small school like SU), and should've gone there.

SU is the way to go, hands down. They give amazing scholarships from what I hear, and you will be really close to Virginia Mason, Swedish Medical Center, Harborview, UWMC, etc (Shadowing is part of the application, and having that many hospitals around will definitely help).

Good luck!