University of Pennsylvania vs. Illinois Wesleyan University

[R_J_123]

Ok, so I am currently a high school senior and when I applied to schools, I was between NP or MD. Now, I've decided that I want to do MD, but some of the schools I applied to were nursing programs. I'm mainly between University of Pennsylvania and Illinois Wesleyan University, so here are the pros and cons of each. And I know I should take pre-med acceptance rates with a grain of salt, but I included them anyways.

Illinois Wesleyan University Pros:

I know I can afford it
I would be able to swim there
I'm already in the biology program
Closer to home
Possibly better for my GPA, I'm not sure
Good advising and 80% med school acceptance rate​

Illinois Welseyan University Cons:

Doesn't have a lot of prestige
Less research opportunities
Not as many clinical opportunities
​

University of Pennsylvania Pros:

Elite School with a good pre-med reputation
Lots of research opportunities
Really good clinical opportunities from their hospitals
75% pre med admit rate​

University of Pennsylvania Cons:

I'm in the nursing program, so I would have to switch out to bio or something, which might make pre med more difficult
I don't know the cost yet, but I will probably need to take out some loans
I would need to be in the nursing program for my freshman year
Much farther from home
I'm worried that it might be too competitive to maintain a high GPA
​

What are your thoughts?

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[libertyyne]

This subforum is dedicated to deciding between medical schools, so I am unsure if people would be able to give you good advice here for selecting a premed school. I would personally go to U Penn because even if I didnt end up doing medicine I would have more opportunities. I would not take the premed admit rate on face value because it could mean a lot of things. I would also not personally go into the nursing program because I do not want to be a nurse. You do not have to take a premed track in UG as long as your prereqs are satisfied, but the nursing credits are looked down upon because they usually are watered down science classes.

 

[R_J_123]

This subforum is dedicated to deciding between medical schools, so I am unsure if people would be able to give you good advice here for selecting a premed school. I would personally go to U Penn because even if I didnt end up doing medicine I would have more opportunities. I would not take the premed admit rate on face value because it could mean a lot of things. I would also not personally go into the nursing program because I do not want to be a nurse. You do not have to take a premed track in UG as long as your prereqs are satisfied, but the nursing credits are looked down upon because they usually are watered down science classes.

Yeah if I decided to switch out of nursing at UPenn, I would retake the science classes, so they wouldn't be nursing credits.

 

[sunshine859]

You bring up excellent points; I would recommend Illinois Wesleyan as long as you're absolutely sure you want to pursue med school. (Seconding the poster above that, if you think you'll change your mind, going to an Ivy League opens up the best opportunities.) I would recommend you do more investigating, but I think it's going to be easier to get a high GPA at Wesleyan. Unfortunately, I know of a few too many people who went to Ivy Leagues, got great MCAT scores, but struggled with admissions due to subpar GPAs. You'd also be able to swim at Wesleyan, which would add in a uniqueness factor to your application.

 

[gyngyn]

This thread can be followed in Hsdn.