WHich path is the "smarter" choice?

[Thisjatti]

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So I got into UVA ! Really excited, but now I face a problem.

I also got into GMU (George Mason)...and I don't know where to go!! I was hoping y'all could help me out !

UVA (Pros)
- Obv a better public school
- Impressive name/rank
- Has a hospital attached so more volunteer/research options
- Get to live on my own
- Better Education
- 77% of Pre-meds get into med School on AVG

UVA (Cons)
- Costs more
- Harder classes
- Less impressive Major

GMU (Pros)
- Costs less
- Easy classes
- Easier to get leadership
- Obviously Higher GPA could be attained here

GMU (Cons)
- Bad rank, not impressive institution
- 42% of Pre-meds get into med school on AVG
- Live with my parents -__-
- Go to school with less motivated people

My major at UVA: Double Major in English & Human Biology, minor in Anthropology

My major at GMU: Major in Microbiology, Minor in Political Philosophy and Chemistry


I need FRESH EYES (opinions..?)!!

Thanks guys

 

[KING3]

Go to UVA, I work at WashU and all the program directors don't even look at people's apps from lower tier schools. You got into a great school. Capitalize on that opportunity. You obviously got into UVA so don't short change yourself with easier classes and all that. Good luck and congrats.

 

[Sesom]

So I got into UVA ! Really excited, but now I face a problem.

I also got into GMU (George Mason)...and I don't know where to go!! I was hoping y'all could help me out !

UVA (Pros)
- Obv a better public school
- Impressive name/rank
- Has a hospital attached so more volunteer/research options
- Get to live on my own
- Better Education
- 77% of Pre-meds get into med School on AVG

UVA (Cons)
- Costs more
- Harder classes
- Less impressive Major

GMU (Pros)
- Costs less
- Easy classes
- Easier to get leadership
- Obviously Higher GPA could be attained here

GMU (Cons)
- Bad rank, not impressive institution
- 42% of Pre-meds get into med school on AVG
- Live with my parents -__-
- Go to school with less motivated people

My major at UVA: Double Major in English & Human Biology, minor in Anthropology

My major at GMU: Major in Microbiology, Minor in Political Philosophy and Chemistry


I need FRESH EYES (opinions..?)!!

Thanks guys

You wrote that you were going to live with your parents for one of the schools. Does this mean you will be taking out student loans to live and go to school at UVA? I personally think that you will achieve equally at both schools. For example, if you were going to be one of the 58% that do not get accepted to medicle school at GMU then you would probably be one of the 23% at UVA that doesn't get into med school. It's all you man! Do what is best for your future.

 

[Thisjatti]

Either way, I would be taking on a considerable amount of debt. I'd have to finance both of those school's tuitons fully as my parents are incapable of helping me out financially.

Overall, both are in-state, where UVA is somewhat around 5,000 more per-year. I'm hoping to off-set that 5,000 each year with scholarships.

 

[Sesom]

Either way, I would be taking on a considerable amount of debt. I'd have to finance both of those school's tuitons fully as my parents are incapable of helping me out financially.

Overall, both are in-state, where UVA is somewhat around 5,000 more per-year. I'm hoping to off-set that 5,000 each year with scholarships.

Would your parents not let you live in their house for free? Would they make you buy your own food? I am asking because I know that it would save me a lot of money and time (working for my job 20 - 30 hrs a week) if I had parents to live with. I am not saying that you should pick the cheaper school and live at your parents though. It is also very important that you feel good about the school you attend. If UVA gives you more confidence then that may be the right school for you. If you have the drive it takes to get into medical school then you will get in either way. Good luck!

 

[gravitywave]

Either way, I would be taking on a considerable amount of debt. I'd have to finance both of those school's tuitons fully as my parents are incapable of helping me out financially.

Overall, both are in-state, where UVA is somewhat around 5,000 more per-year. I'm hoping to off-set that 5,000 each year with scholarships.

don't borrow more than $30k total for undergrad. for either school.

whoever posted about WashU, that's all fine and dandy, but PD's don't give a damn where people went to undergrad.

 

[MDwadup]

Go where you think you'll think you enjoy it most, and where you think you'll do best. The only reason why the percentages for medical school acceptance is higher at UVa is because the majority of students are better in general, it really does not have much to do with what the school does. Obviously the UVa name will help you out a bit, but that only should come out to play if two students with the exact same stats are being compared to each other. I've been a student at a commuter college and a residential college. Although I thought I would have more time to study at a commuter college, it is more distracting being at home, and its not a very motivating atmosphere ha. It is nice to go to a residential college to live there, and have easier access to some help in class and stuff like that with maybe a room mate or hall mate of yours in your bio or chem lab, which trust me, does help. In the end it's your decision. If your focused enough and wouldn't mind living at home, GMU isnt a bad option with the opportunities in DC and the INOVA hospital system in the area. If money isn't an option and you'd prefer the residential life, I'd say go for UVa. But just know that choosing GMU over UVa for whatever reason wont hurt you all that much at all. Medical school admissions committees know that students choose to go to a certain college for all sorts of reasons and it would be stupid to attend the best school you get into solely on that reason. Good luck with your decision!

 

[UpQuark]

Go to UVA, I work at WashU and all the program directors don't even look at people's apps from lower tier schools. You got into a great school. Capitalize on that opportunity. You obviously got into UVA so don't short change yourself with easier classes and all that. Good luck and congrats.

By lesser tier programs, what do you exactly mean? My undergrad isn't exactly top 100 material, but it has a top 40 medical school. Is that considered lower tier?

And OP, challenge yourself. Just that 77% of UVA premeds getting in is encouraging. Compare that to my university's 40% or so lol.

 

[th1nk]

Understand OP, that when universities say that "77% of pre-med applicants from our university get into med school"

This statistic may not necessarily include 100% of the pool of applicants at your school.
For example, at my university, in order to be considered a "pre-med" applicant
you must have at least a 3.5 or 3.6 gpa, or better, and you must have a 30+ mcat score. All the people who apply w/ stats lower than that are not even included in the statistic of med school applicants. Also, keep in mind that many people get denied from med school the 1st year they apply, but get accepted the following year so perhaps the percentage is lower than it should be because people who were perfectly qualified got denied, but may get accpted the following year.

So UVA or GMU could be misleading about their stats.

My advice is to do this, 1st of all call or visit the pre-health dept. at each university, tell them to tell you the straight up facts about their statistics.

2nd, go and visit each university... Go on a weekday, spend 1 full day walking around, eating food there, experiencing campus life at each respective place. I would recomend sitting in on a class if you can (preferably a pre-health one, because then you can find students to give you the real deal on what's going on).

One thing I would advice you to steer completely clear of are the university's official tours for visiting students. - I have a friend who gives these tours and he says the university tells him EXACTLY WHAT TO SAY ON HIS TOUR (HIS SPIEL IS MEMORIZED) ALSO WHEN HE ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS, they are not allowed to give you the real deal, they memorize answers to most questions.

SO avoid that propaganda at all costs, instead, just go approach friendly looking students and ask them how their experience is. beware of people who are too happy or too pessimistic in their responses, they have insecurities or they may be having a really good/bad day. Instead look for people who give you pros/cons and are very genuine.


That is all.

Last thing,
you will realize, like every university student has realized, that the name of the university means absolutely nothing.

at every university, there are smart kids, some of them geniuses. And there are dumb people at every university. As someone else mentioned, if you are a student who is prepared to put themselves in a position to go to med-school at one university, then you will be prepared to do so at any other university in the world.

Do a cost/benefit analysis after you take these steps... also make sure you include finances, these are a big deal and could potentially ruin your life.

I am at a very expensive university and I may regret my decision to go here, in the future because of the cost. If I could go back in time, I would probably have taken my acceptance at some state universities over my current school. (despite how well I may be doing academically and how much I love NYC)

 

[gettheleadout]

don't borrow more than $30k total for undergrad. for either school.

whoever posted about WashU, that's all fine and dandy, but PD's don't give a damn where people went to undergrad.

Thank you.

And if the poster meant directors of the graduate/professional schools there, I'm going to call BS. Deans of Admissions are not dumb enough to throw away applications that don't have an immediately recognizable name attached to them.

 

[rhcarolina]

My major at UVA: Double Major in English & Human Biology, minor in Anthropology

My major at GMU: Major in Microbiology, Minor in Political Philosophy and Chemistry

I'm just curious how you've selected majors and minors already. Is there any particular reason why they're so different? 😕

 

[byurazorhog]

I'm also wondering why your picks of majors and minors are so different at the two schools. Does UVA not offer those same disciplines? I'm thinking they'd probably do. You're more ambitious when you go to a perceivably lower ranked school? Personally I'd go to UVA only because it's such a good school where you'll more likely meet outstanding/ambitious classmates and have more access to quality faculty who can even become your research mentors. Nevertheless, if cost is truly a concern, you should know undergrad name is not that important. It's how you perform and how you make of the experience. I go a to no name undergrad and am happy with where i am at this point. In the end I still think my undergrad has done a good job of teaching me the basics.

 

[flatearth22]

Go to the best place where you can get a high GPA (3.8+).

A high GPA from a lower ranked school always beats a lower GPA from a higher ranked school. The lesser workload will also give you more time for EC's and MCAT studying.

 

[Sesom]

I just also want to add class size to the factors to be considered. I would go as far to say that a small class with a mediocre teacher > large class with an excellent teacher. My chemII is larger then 300 students and my TA is Russian. While he seems to be smart, nobody knows what he is saying half the time because of his strong accent. Being able to easily interact with the teacher during or after class is important. I have considered ditching my university for this reason for a more expensive liberal arts college that has an average of 15 students per teacher. Nothing makes you feel like you wasted thousands of dollars like being crammed into an auditorium with 300+ students!

 

[Disinence2]

Do NOT go to UVA for pre-med curriculum.

PM me for details.

 

[Parts Unknown]

So I got into UVA ! Really excited, but now I face a problem.

I also got into GMU (George Mason)...and I don't know where to go!! I was hoping y'all could help me out !

If you are bright and self motivating you will succeed at either school.

If you are bright but need guile to keep your GPA high (by that I mean deliberately taking ostensibly easier classes with less competition from your peers) you are probably better off at GMU.

You really need to sit down and have some honest introspection about your academic performance to date. Has your high school challenged you? Are you at the top of your class? Are you naturally a hard worker? Or have you been able to coast and get good grades (so far) with little studying? Many smart kids fall into the latter category, and college is frequently quite a shock to them.

That's not to say you will have to perform flawlessly in college to get into medical school; few people do. But admissions are in many ways a game, and if you have significant hesitancy regarding your ability to be proactive in your studies, I would play the safer version.