smaller universitys?

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gonepostal

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I'm trying to decide which school to go to. I've been accepted to several but tuition is making me think twice. I'm also not entirely sure how up to par I would be with larger university course work. Cost of living and how I'm going to pay for that is also weighing heavily on my mind.

I want to attend University of Michigan for my undergrad, but I'm thinking it would be easier to attend Northern Michigan University. I'm worried if I do decide to apply to med school later what kind of weight would the smaller university hold on my application.

Thanks
 
I assume by "large" you mean prestigious, because there is no way that size of university has any effect on your application. UMich is not prestigious enough to help your application at all. Now that you know that, I would make a Pro/Con chart of each college you've been accepted to.
I'm also not entirely sure how up to par I would be with larger university course work.
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If you've been accepted, they believe that you have the potential for success. You can do well anywhere if you try hard enough (in 99% of cases). However, the difficult academics will no doubt take away from any time for ECs, research, and social life. The tuition money you save will be used so you aren't in a huge pile of debt after medical school.
Go where you feel most comfortable, I guess. But it is much more preferable to be a big fish in a little pond than a little fish in a big pond, at least to me.
 
It doesn't matter about the school, it matters how well you do in the school.

Yes, there are schools that might have an advantage, but were talking about ivies.
 
torshi said:
It doesn't matter about the school, it matters how well you do in the school.

Yes, there are schools that might have an advantage, but were talking about ivies.
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Meh. Some universities have more to offer than simply name recognition/reputation. Access to research and a well-worn premed support pathway are two factors that I would think of as pros for larger universities over smaller ones. You'll have to decide if these differences are significant enough to offset the tuition issue.
 
Save the cost, and get the better experience.

I did my undergrad between two small schools. 2 years at a regional and 2 years at a city college and had a full ride between both. Walked out of undergrad with no debt. It was a good feeling.

I had offers for the state universities, but they only offered fees waived for a year. I would of had 20k in debt with them.
 
Go where you think you'll be most happy. I would also go where you can manage to escape with a minimal amount of debt.

That said, Michigan is a fantastic place where you'd likely have great opportunities in all regards.
 
In all honesty, not having a single dollar of debt out of undergrad was a great feeling and a blessing. I did my undergrad at TCU when it wasn't one of the most known schools in Texas when the trendy choices were going to UT or A&M. Smaller schools usually have the funds to bring in and keep their good students so though I had a $20,000/year tuition rate, TCU gave me enough (along with other external scholarships) to wipe out the tuition. This was, of course, before TCU became popular and drastically increased their tuition ($30K/year) but I know there are many schools that can do the same thing TCU did for me.

The other thing about going to a smaller program was that I had the luxury of having rather small class sizes (around 120 students in gen chem and between 80-100 during the organic sequence). As I took higher level courses in chemistry (such as p-chem, biochem, and adv. inorganic chem), my class size never went above 25 students. My professors were very helpful and accessible, I got to know the chemistry department, had an opportunity to research, and ended up graduating valedictorian of my class. I was very grateful and I had a ton of awesome people around me as well as the support of my family and friends. I made the most of my smaller university experience and it has gotten me to levels I would have never thought possible. It all truly comes down to how hard you want to work during your undergrad!
 
Go to Michigan. Graduating with zero debt is nice, however if you don't want to do medicine, do poorly in premed course work etc. Michigan will open doors. A lot of people want to be a doctor at 17 or 18 however after 4 years you may find your passion lays elsewhere.
 
OP, before enrolling university, I'd suggest you to improve your spelling. Plural form of university is universities. Other than that, good luck wherever you're deciding to go.
 
Well, some of us just have to "settle" for the University of Michigan. 🙂

To the OP, I would go to the school that lets you get a high GPA and costs less. I believe that Northern Michigan's tuition is actually quite high, almost up to U of M's level.

indya said:
I assume by "large" you mean prestigious, because there is no way that size of university has any effect on your application. UMich is not prestigious enough to help your application at all. Now that you know that, I would make a Pro/Con chart of each college you've been accepted to.

If you've been accepted, they believe that you have the potential for success. You can do well anywhere if you try hard enough (in 99% of cases). However, the difficult academics will no doubt take away from any time for ECs, research, and social life. The tuition money you save will be used so you aren't in a huge pile of debt after medical school.
Go where you feel most comfortable, I guess. But it is much more preferable to be a big fish in a little pond than a little fish in a big pond, at least to me.
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FutureCTDoc said:
Go to Michigan. Graduating with zero debt is nice, however if you don't want to do medicine, do poorly in premed course work etc. Michigan will open doors. A lot of people want to be a doctor at 17 or 18 however after 4 years you may find your passion lays elsewhere.
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This.
 
You'll be fine if you go to Northern, but also consider some of the smaller schools in Michigan too. Check out Kalamazoo if you're serious about going to med school.

...also look at Calvin, Hope, Oberlin, Albion, Kenyon, Ohio Wesleyan, etc... most have great scholarship options that will bring the costs down similar to Michigan if you have good test scores.
 
indya said:
I assume by "large" you mean prestigious, because there is no way that size of university has any effect on your application. UMich is not prestigious enough to help your application at all. Now that you know that, I would make a Pro/Con chart of each college you've been accepted to.
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That isn't true. Everyone knows that Michigan is an excellent university. Easily one of the top public universities in the country. Plus its affiliated hospital system is very well known.

If money is that big of a burden, then I agree you shouldn't hesitate at attending the cheaper university. But just my personal opinion, if you can somehow pull the resources together to attend Michigan (I assume you are in-state), I'm pretty sure you wouldn't regret it. You would have an awesome college experience. Plus, you would have tremendous flexibility and resources available to you should you decide at any point to pursue an alternative career.
 
Terpskins99 said:
That isn't true. Everyone knows that Michigan is an excellent university. Easily one of the top public universities in the country. Plus its affiliated hospital system is very well known.
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Let me qualify that. I mean the VERY marginal advantage of going to Michigan for the perceived prestige when applying to medical schools is outweighed by most other reasons not to go there such as cost, difficulty of coursework, etc. However, if you also think of the increase in ECs available and opportunities available if you decide medicine isn't for you, you could probably make a case for attending UMich. I think the point at which prestige begins to be a measurable benefit to the application is at the HYPS or comparable level. Michigan is a great and well-known school, but has nothing compared to the reputation of the ivies.
 
indya said:
Let me qualify that. I mean the VERY marginal advantage of going to Michigan for the perceived prestige when applying to medical schools is outweighed by most other reasons not to go there such as cost, difficulty of coursework, etc. However, if you also think of the increase in ECs available and opportunities available if you decide medicine isn't for you, you could probably make a case for attending UMich. I think the point at which prestige begins to be a measurable benefit to the application is at the HYPS or comparable level. Michigan is a great and well-known school, but has nothing compared to the reputation of the ivies.
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It's more than a marginal advantage. There is an affiliated hospital to shadow in and great research activities. I'm somewhat saddened that you say that difficulty of the coursework is a disadvantage, I know everyone wants an easy A, but rigor isn't a bad thing. Going to Michigan your career options are very different and if the OP doesn't get in to med school or elects to pursue another career, I think there is a world of difference in the options available.
 
FutureCTDoc said:
It's more than a marginal advantage. There is an affiliated hospital to shadow in and great research activities. I'm somewhat saddened that you say that difficulty of the coursework is a disadvantage, I know everyone wants an easy A, but rigor isn't a bad thing. Going to Michigan your career options are very different and if the OP doesn't get in to med school or elects to pursue another career, I think there is a world of difference in the options available.
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Agreed. 👍 Bottom line: choose to go to a great college BECAUSE it is a great college. And by extension, will provide you with a great college experience! Period.

Just because voice-after-voice on SDN is screaming that your prospects getting into medical school have little to do with the name of the place you receive your bachelors, doesn't mean that these terrific schools won't have tremendous value to any potential student. Work hard, perform well on exams and keep steady tabs on your overall pre-med resume/CV, then medical school will come regardless of where you are at.
 
FutureCTDoc said:
It's more than a marginal advantage. There is an affiliated hospital to shadow in and great research activities. I'm somewhat saddened that you say that difficulty of the coursework is a disadvantage, I know everyone wants an easy A, but rigor isn't a bad thing. Going to Michigan your career options are very different and if the OP doesn't get in to med school or elects to pursue another career, I think there is a world of difference in the options available.
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+1

I have been on the interview trail (for MD/PhD programs) for the past few months, and Michigan students definitely score amazing interviews at top schools. For one, Michigan has a top tier medical school, so their undergraduates get to participate in top-notch research (one girl I met had a nature paper) and volunteer in an amazing medical community. Not all top tier schools will have this (my liberal arts college did not)--and this really does give Michigan pre-med students a distinctive edge in the medical school admissions game (plus, UMich seems to love accepting their own).

Oh, and if you look at world rankings, Michigan actually places in the top-20, in league with the Ivies. Just saying.
 
Go to whichever school can teach you the plural of "university".
 
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I feel like something rather important is being left unsaid. OP, why don't you visit both schools and see which one you feel better at. I had a difficult choice presented to me when I was picking colleges, and I didn't know for sure until I had an overnight visit to each. As my 2nd year comes to a close, I'm happy with my choice. I went with the smaller college-- which, sadly, happened to be the more expensive(~45k a year)--and I'm very happy with my decision. I'm having a perfect college experience. So when selecting, try to keep in mind that you're going to be living there for the next 4 years, and that it does have a huge impact on who you will become.

Good luck
 
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