Vassar or George Mason?

[Aerodynamics]

I recently got my admission letter to Vassar college, and I'm really happy with it.

Also, a few weeks ago I received a full ride to George Mason.

Vassar's pre-med acceptance rate to med school is hovering around 75%, which is excellent, and I don't know whether GMU even has one.

I don't know if the undergrad I attend will affect the college I get into.

I still want to go to a top 20....any advice ??

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[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Unless you're completely in love with Vassar and get a good financial aid/scholarship plan ( I'm talking 80% of tuition covered) you should go to GMU. Without a doubt it is a better option. You'll have no debt and in the situation you decide to pursue other fields of interest you'll have a wider variety at a state school than a LAC.

 

[Myuu]

I recently got my admission letter to Vassar college, and I'm really happy with it.

Also, a few weeks ago I received a full ride to George Mason.

Vassar's pre-med acceptance rate to med school is hovering around 75%, which is excellent, and I don't know whether GMU even has one.

I don't know if the undergrad I attend will affect the college I get into.

I still want to go to a top 20....any advice ??

MasonPreHealth would have the stats on that, if you asked him (he's the advisor). I got into a top 20 from Mason, but it depends on you more than the school, I think.

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

I recently got my admission letter to Vassar college, and I'm really happy with it.

Also, a few weeks ago I received a full ride to George Mason.

Vassar's pre-med acceptance rate to med school is hovering around 75%, which is excellent, and I don't know whether GMU even has one.

I don't know if the undergrad I attend will affect the college I get into.

I still want to go to a top 20....any advice ??

I don't know much about Vassar but I grew up near GMU in Northern VA (but went to GWU for college), had several friends at GMU and would study in the Johnson center on the weekends. GMU is not a premed powerhouse (lots of IT, communications, etc majors) but you can get a good education for a good cost esp if you're a VA resident. The facilities are nice and has tons of hot chicks (if that's what you're into).

Unless your parents are loaded I'd take the free ride at GMU anyday over an expensive undergrad esp considering your endpoint is your MD/DO degree, not your bachelors and you're likely to take on more debt during med school. I can't emphasize this enough -- KEEP YOUR DEBT AS LOW AS POSSIBLE. You will have to pay every penny back with high interest rates! Plus nobody really cares where you went to undergrad once you're a doctor. The key is to do really well GMU and nail the MCAT.

In summary, take the free ride at GMU unless the other school is a top 5 institution (MIT, Harvard, Hopkins, etc). Take your freshman year very seriously. Ideally shoot for a 4.0 but have some fun too.

All the best young grasshopper!

 

[eli20]

When I graduated from HS I was pretty obsessed with name brand schools/ivys. I ended up getting accepted to two ivies but ended up going to a small liberal arts school on a full ride. Originally I was super diasappointed/embarrassed about it and mad that my parents had talked me into it, but in retrospect it was the absolutely the right decision. First of all, the personal attention and opportunities that have resulted from being at a small school are amazing. I know a lot of these things are available at other larger schools, but often there are more students seeking them and they are harder to find. Second, my professors have been excellent, as well as easily approachable and I got to form long sustained relationships with many of them. Third, cost is even more important if you are the one paying because your debt from undergrad will build while you're in medical school and could potentially make it harder to pursue certain fields.

Wait for your financial aid info from Vassar to decide, but unless you really didn't like George mason I'd heavily consider taking advantage of the full ride.

 

[Ignatius M.D.]

Wait for the financial aid. I got my letter from Vanderbilt, and it looked like they were only going to offer me 25k a year. That sounds like a lot, but it costs about 55k total. My parents were busy trying to talk me out of going, so I said that we should go take a tour, and talk to the financial aid officer. I took the tour, fell in love with the school, and the financial aid officer found a slight mistake on my app which changed my aid from 25k to almost 100%. If it turns out that you will have to shell out 30k a year to Vassar I would probably not go, but that is your choice to make. I was going to attend Vanderbilt no matter what, and I didn't take much stock in what my parents were saying. Vassar is known to be very good for science, and is among that top group of LAC's that have an astonishing acceptance rate to medical schools. That being said, GM would give you a solid education, and you are guaranteed to go into med school debt free. It may not be known for pre-med students, but that could actually work in your favor when competing for GPA, and as long as you get a 3.6+/30+ you're very likely to get accepted no matter what undergrad you come from.