University of Pittsburgh vs. State School for pre-requisites

[Fidelio17]

I'm a nontraditional premed student (former music teacher) in my late twenties. I've been accepted to the University of Pittsburgh (College of General Studies) for the fall to complete the prerequisite courses I need to apply to medical school. However, I'm currently taking two prerequisites (Gen Chem I & II) over the summer at Slippery Rock University, and I'm starting to wonder if it might not be a better idea financially to do all of my prerequisites there, given that the yearly tuition/fees are about $9,000 more at Pitt ($19,000) than Slippery Rock ($10,000). I will be financing my tuition and living expenses via student loans, although I have no debt currently.

I'm concerned, though, that attending a rural school without as many research & clinical volunteering opportunities will negatively impact my application for medical school, especially as this is a career changing move. (The main reasons I applied to Pitt in the first place were its affiliation with UPMC health network & its emphasis on research.) I'm also concerned about the quality of the education that I will receive at Slippery Rock and the impact of that on my MCAT score. (The instructional quality at SRU so far has been mixed.)

For what it's worth, my GPA is fairly solid (3.9 general, 3.8 science). I plan to attend school full time to take all of my remaining prerequisites (Bio I & II, Organic Chem I & II, Physics I & II, & Biochemistry) over the next year and take the MCAT and apply to allopathic medical schools next summer.

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!

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[Dox4lyfe]

Wouldn't you also need bio, orgo and physics lab. These are some tough classes to fit in a year and to do well in. It will be a huge blow to your med school chances if you take all of this at once and tank your gpa.

In regards to your question about slippery rock vs pitt, I'd say slippery rock since you're only there for a year or two. If you go to pitt, it'll be pretty tough to get started with research right away, especially because of the tons of premeds who go there and who are also looking for research positions. The next best thing you'll get from upmc is volunteering opportunities, but I'm sure you can find something in butler county. I'd say to stay at slippery rock and study really hard for the mcat from the right resources to get a killer score. There's no reason to take student loans for this.

 

[Fidelio17]

Thanks for your input! I appreciate it.

I have considered the supply and demand of research positions. (For all I know, it may be easier to make an impression & find someone willing to have me as a research assistant for a year at Slippery Rock than Pitt.) I think honestly the problem is that I just don't know. I've been told that Pitt has great resources, but I'm not sure that it's been by reliable sources. (I question whether the people employed by Pitt can be considered free from bias.)

Butler actually has a health clinic where I've looked into volunteering. I don't think I'd get a ton of clinical patient experience via that, but I feel I could be useful there. I've done quite a bit of shadowing at one of the local EDs already, so I feel I could easily get more of those types of experience.

It will be a pretty full schedule, but the pre-health advisor at Pitt recommended it (even after I questioned if it was doable).
This is the schedule I have for Pitt as of now.

Fall:
Honors Bio I & lab (this is a repeat due to the fact that I last took it 5 years ago & need a refresher)
Physics I
Organic Chemistry I
Neuroscience (I needed 2 credits to make full time, due to not having labs for Physics I or O Chem I)

Spring:
Bio II & lab
Physics II & lab (lab is for Physics I & II... Pit does it this way)
Organic Chemistry II & lab (same lab set up as Physics)

Summer:
Biochemistry & MCAT

 

[Dox4lyfe]

The pre-health advising is great at pitt and they have a lot of experience, so id trust the advisor. The schedule looks doable after seeing it written out. If you take the algebra based physics (iirc, they have it), it shouldn't be bad. Neuroscience is great at pitt, so have fun with that. I'd recommend doing some light pre-studying for orgo so you have some foundation before you start.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[Fidelio17]

Thank you!

 

[raiderette]

I would not go into debt for this especially because fighting for research at Pitt will be difficult. Also, I am concerned about your timeline for application. Assuming that you take biochemistry in the fall, you will have little time of dedicated MCAT study time and will be applying late that summer. It is possible to study for the MCAT while learning biochem, and you will need everything (from LORs, PS and activity information) ready right away.

 

[Fidelio17]

I would not go into debt for this especially because fighting for research at Pitt will be difficult. Also, I am concerned about your timeline for application. Assuming that you take biochemistry in the fall, you will have little time of dedicated MCAT study time and will be applying late that summer. It is possible to study for the MCAT while learning biochem, and you will need everything (from LORs, PS and activity information) ready right away.

Thanks for your input! Did you mean to say that it was or wasn't possible to study for the MCAT while learning biochem?

The pre-health advisor at Pitt suggested that I take Biochem over the summer after taking the MCAT in June (& self learning Biochem while taking Bio II, Physics II & O Chem in the spring in order to prep for the MCAT). Is that at all realistic?

 

[Dox4lyfe]

I would not recommend self studying biochem at all as it is extremely important for the mcat. Does pitt allow taking biochem without orgo 2? I'd ask the advisor if you could swap those.

Also, are you sure you'll have a good enough overall application to be competitive after next year? You can probably get through with the courses in a year, but you'll also need a considerable amount of other activities (shadowing, volunteering, etc.) under your belt. Unless you're already doing some right now, I'm starting to doubt again that this is a bit too rushed.

Why not complete your coursework at pitt next year and take a second year to do full time research or volunteering, take the mcat when you're actually ready that year and then apply that June?

You should only apply when you're most competitive. Don't try to rush the process.

 

[Fidelio17]

I would not recommend self studying biochem at all as it is extremely important for the mcat. Does pitt allow taking biochem without orgo 2? I'd ask the advisor if you could swap those.

Also, are you sure you'll have a good enough overall application to be competitive after next year? You can probably get through with the courses in a year, but you'll also need a considerable amount of other activities (shadowing, volunteering, etc.) under your belt. Unless you're already doing some right now, I'm starting to doubt again that this is a bit too rushed.

Why not complete your coursework at pitt next year and take a second year to do full time research or volunteering, take the mcat when you're actually ready that year and then apply that June?

You should only apply when you're most competitive. Don't try to rush the process.

I thought about that, but Pitt has Orgo 2 listed as a pre-requisite for Biochem. :-/

I'm not sure I'll be competitive after next year. I've done about 60 hours worth of shadowing in a local emergency department, but my volunteering experiences are scarce over the last 5 years (since finishing my first undergrad). However, I do have a lot of extra curricular type activities from my time in education.

I'd prefer not to take any longer to get on with the rest of my life than absolutely necessary, to be honest. I know that in the grand scheme of things, starting med school at 30 vs starting at 29 isn't really a big deal, but right now it seems like it's waiting twice as long to actually get to the point where I have a clear path forward.

 

[Dox4lyfe]

I understand where you're coming from, but you need to look at the risk vs reward, and in this case, the risk is pretty big imo.

@Goro what do you think?

 

[Goro]

I understand where you're coming from, but you need to look at the risk vs reward, and in this case, the risk is pretty big imo.

@Goro what do you think?

Go with Slippery Rock. Forget research. Non-trads get cut slack on this. Concentrate on volunteering. Ever there, you can find something, I'll bet.

 

[raiderette]

Thanks for your input! Did you mean to say that it was or wasn't possible to study for the MCAT while learning biochem?

The pre-health advisor at Pitt suggested that I take Biochem over the summer after taking the MCAT in June (& self learning Biochem while taking Bio II, Physics II & O Chem in the spring in order to prep for the MCAT). Is that at all realistic?

You can study for the MCAT while learning Biochem, but it doesn't leave you much time for dedicated prep, such as taking practice tests and identifying weaknesses. There are still too few practice tests out there and until you feel comfortable with biochem, you won't have a good idea of your readiness. I did take the test a month after finishing Biochem, but I had been studying all that semester and spent the month before the test taking sample tests and cramming.
I think it is a horrible idea to take the MCAT after only self-studying. Biochem is a very large part of the new MCAT and in two sections. That test matters, and you shoot yourself in the foot by not putting yourself in the very best advantage by being completely prepared. Check if Slippery Rock requires O-Chem II for Biochem if you must take it in June.

 

[Fidelio17]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their advice & time. I've decided to attend Slippery Rock in the fall. I've been offered a student research position there, & I'm much more comfortable with the cost of tuition.

Thanks again!

(@raiderette @Goro @Dox4lyfe @liquidcrawler)

 

[Doctor or bust]

Taking biochemistry the same summer you take the MCAT sounds like a bad idea. If I were you, I'd spread out those classes a little bit so that your application can come together without risking bringing down a GPA while also being able to give yourself more time to study for the MCAT. While it is instinctive to try and rush through so that you can get in as soon as possible, it isn't necessarily the best choice much of the time and can be made more expensive and difficult if you go through the steps too quickly (i.e. a lower GPA, lower MCAT, less ECs due to going quickly not to mention the stress of doing so)