Tulane vs UT Austin Premed?

[breakster]

Hello,

I got into both Tulane and UT Austin for premed. At Tulane I got into the honors college along with a merit scholarship. Financially, with the merit scholarship, the cost of attending UT Austin (where I am in-state) and Tulane are almost the same. At UT Austin, I've applied for honor's college, but haven't heard back on that yet.

Any advice on which might be a better school for premed?

I am sort of leaning towards Tulane because of the presumption that all else being equal, smaller class sizes are better than larger class sizes. Also one reads that in these larger schools there are more premeds to compete with. But one would think (especially for GPA) that it is the percentage of premeds rather than the absolute number that is relevant. Is it just the non-GPA "opportunities" (such as recommendation letters, shadowing, volunteering etc.) that people are referring to when they say smaller class sizes (and smaller schools) are better than larger?

Does anyone know the general GPA (inflation/deflation etc.) situation at these two schools?

On the other hand UT Austin is closer to home so it might be easier to visit and Austin is a city I'm somewhat familiar with (and like). Additionally, not sure whether Texas Med Schools might give preference to students from Texas schools. (I would still be in-state in Texas on graduation from Tulane).

Also, UT Austin publishes a list with admit-rates by Major. There seems to be some major (no pun intended) variation in admission rates to med school by major. Is this just a coincidence or are there structural reasons why one major may be "better" than another in this regard. I can understand when there are just one or two applicants that there would be a lot of statistical noise. But there are also majors like Biology (50% admit rate) and (Econ 69% admit rate) which have a relatively large cohort.

https://cns.utexas.edu/images/CNS/Health_Professions/HPO_Stats/2015_Final_Med_Stats.pdf

Another pro regarding Tulane is their creative scholars premedical program. One of the majors I'm considering is Economics, which seems to be an acceptable major for that program. Does anyone have any thoughts on this program? How difficult is it to get into assuming one meets the numerical requirements such as 3.6 GPA and credits taken etc?

thanks in advance for any advice on this.

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[Campanella]

I don't know much about the Tulane honors college, but UT-Austin's honors college is very strong and sends many students to medical school. I am acutally surprised that you got a merit scholarship to Tulane but not to UT-Austin; that might be something you want to look into further. Either way, both are excellent universities in amazing cities (It sounds like you're more familiar with Austin, but I think New Orleans is also amazing and has done a better job than Austin with remaining so unique). If you don't get into UT Austin's honors college, however, my vote would be to go with Tulane. UT Austin is a great institution, but it's easy to get lost in the shuffle without the personalized attention from the honors college there. With regards to in-state vs out-of-state, I can tell you from personal experience that the Texas schools just care about your residency status, and not whether you remained in the state for undergrad. I hope this helps!

P.S. it's the holidays, enjoy them before you start the premed grind!

 

[KnightDoc]

Hello,

I got into both Tulane and UT Austin for premed. At Tulane I got into the honors college along with a merit scholarship. Financially, with the merit scholarship, the cost of attending UT Austin (where I am in-state) and Tulane are almost the same. At UT Austin, I've applied for honor's college, but haven't heard back on that yet.

Any advice on which might be a better school for premed?

I am sort of leaning towards Tulane because of the presumption that all else being equal, smaller class sizes are better than larger class sizes. Also one reads that in these larger schools there are more premeds to compete with. But one would think (especially for GPA) that it is the percentage of premeds rather than the absolute number that is relevant. Is it just the non-GPA "opportunities" (such as recommendation letters, shadowing, volunteering etc.) that people are referring to when they say smaller class sizes (and smaller schools) are better than larger?

Does anyone know the general GPA (inflation/deflation etc.) situation at these two schools?

On the other hand UT Austin is closer to home so it might be easier to visit and Austin is a city I'm somewhat familiar with (and like). Additionally, not sure whether Texas Med Schools might give preference to students from Texas schools. (I would still be in-state in Texas on graduation from Tulane).

Also, UT Austin publishes a list with admit-rates by Major. There seems to be some major (no pun intended) variation in admission rates to med school by major. Is this just a coincidence or are there structural reasons why one major may be "better" than another in this regard. I can understand when there are just one or two applicants that there would be a lot of statistical noise. But there are also majors like Biology (50% admit rate) and (Econ 69% admit rate) which have a relatively large cohort.

https://cns.utexas.edu/images/CNS/Health_Professions/HPO_Stats/2015_Final_Med_Stats.pdf

Another pro regarding Tulane is their creative scholars premedical program. One of the majors I'm considering is Economics, which seems to be an acceptable major for that program. Does anyone have any thoughts on this program? How difficult is it to get into assuming one meets the numerical requirements such as 3.6 GPA and credits taken etc?

thanks in advance for any advice on this.

With all due respect, this question is probably more appropriate for the College Confidential website. You'll probably get a better response and better information there, because there is a whole population of people there dealing with the exact same questions as you right now. This forum is really more for college premeds (and beyond!) asking about med schools than high schoolers asking about colleges! Good luck!!

 

[breakster]

thanks @Campanella, that was very helpful. I was actually thinking the same thing, that getting into UT Austin honors college might tip the balance in favor of UT. I'll look into the merit scholarship situation at UT. Maybe like the honor's college it comes at a later time.

Yes, regarding the premed grind, having just gotten off the high school pre-premed grind, I'm looking forward to a few months of downtime. . But I think it's my personality to be perpetually not living in the moment.. note to self.. learn mindfulness.

 

[breakster]

With all due respect, this question is probably more appropriate for the College Confidential website. You'll probably get a better response and better information there. This forum is really more for premeds asking about med schools than high schoolers asking about colleges! Good luck!!

oh, I see

I was operating under the theory that once one is pretty much on the premed track, that it would be appropriate to post here. I'll try to limit myself to this thread until my day of matriculation .

 

[KnightDoc]

oh, I see

I was operating under the theory that once one is pretty much on the premed track, that it would be appropriate to post here. I'll try to limit myself to this thread until my day of matriculation .

Don't misunderstand -- it's perfectly appropriate to post! (And even if it weren't, I'm certainly not the SDN police!!) But if you take a quick look at the threads, you'll see the focus here is on applying to med school, and the other forums here are all directed at med students and doctors. I'm just suggesting you might not see a lot of interest in your situation, since nobody's head here is in undergraduate admissions, while College Confidential is all about that.

Why not also create an account there and post in their premed forum. I'll bet you get more action there!!

Since the focus here is on med school admission, I'll share a little secret that might also explain a potential lack of interest in your dilemma -- by and large, med schools are far more interested in your grades, MCAT score and extracurricular activities than where you go to undergrad, so what is now the biggest decision in your life is going to turn out to be irrelevant in 4 years when you are thinking about med school (assuming you are still on track then, since many incoming premeds fall by the wayside on this journey).

tl;dr -- your UG decision should be based on a multitude of factors that are personal to you, but which school is "best" for applying to med school in the future really shouldn't be one of them!!

 

[breakster]

thanks for the advice @KnightDoc . I'll go and create an account on College Confidential. I didn't realize they had a dedicated premed forum there.

Something about posting on a forum with the name "doctor" in it before the reality of "true premed" sets in is exciting. Right now I'm this premed tabula rasa where everything is possible. In two years, I'll probably be posting about "GPA repair" or some such more appropriate topic... lol.

 

[KnightDoc]

thanks for the advice @KnightDoc . I'll go and create an account on College Confidential. I didn't realize they had a dedicated premed forum there.

Something about posting on a forum with the name "doctor" in it before the reality of "true premed" sets in is exciting. Right now I'm this premed tabula rasa where everything is possible. In two years, I'll probably be posting about "GPA repair" or some such more appropriate topic... lol.

Glad to help -- I edited my last response with more exciting pearls of wisdom. Please feel free to post here as much as you like!!

Based on how on top of things you seem to be, I seriously doubt this!