Hi!
I’m interested in being pre-med as a Neuro major. I’m still pretty undecided between Furman University and Baylor University and only have a few days left to decide!.
I have scholarships on both of them and Furman ends up being the cheaper option.
So here’s the thing:
BAYLOR PROS:
Beautiful Campus and so exciting!
Great College/University Spirit
Good reputation
Not too small or too big
Good housing and dining
Known for pre-med
BAYLOR CONS:
Located in Waco (not very safe or interesting at all)
A lot of competition for pre-med.
Very slow financial aid office.
Not clear how my summer college credits will be awarded.
Is it really THAT religious?
FURMAN PROS:
The location in Greenville seems nice. Better weather.
Not that much competition for pre-med.
Great research opportunities.
Partnership with Greenville Health System.
My summer college credits have been fully evaluated and awarded.
FURMAN CONS:
It has a reputation for being “too much like high school”
Maybe too small.
Housing and dining seem to be mediocre.
I’ve heard the social environment is not that great.
How well known is it?
If you know more in-depth about these schools, please let me know. It has been really hard to decide. They complement each other.
helppp
Premed will be competitive anywhere.
Furman’s cons are superficial (the food isn’t so bad BTW) and the pros are strong: cost, vibe, internships. Reading your pros/cons it seems clear you’re ready to pick Furman. 
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Furman is not always liked by those who go there, so see if you can talk with current students - find some yourself online, not just those admissions might refer you to. If you feel you fit in it should be fine. If not, choose elsewhere.
I would think Baylor is big enough to have all types within it, but don’t know as much about it as I do Eastern schools due to our location.
ps I can say the same about other small schools too, not just Furman.
pps I don’t want to say exactly what vibe likes the school. Others might find it offensive (which is true about pretty much any particular vibe).
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Baylor is conservative and religious, with a solid core in biblical studies. For your foreign language requirement, you can study ancient Hebrew or Greek if you want to read the Bible as it was written. It’s very competitive and preprofessional. If you enjoy spectator sports, you won’t be bored.
Furman has a reputation for “old boys club”, DAR but also UDC, privileged and Southern but not as preppy as it used to; the current vibe is ambitious, sorta trying to shed its racist heritage. It’s also friendly and preprofessional.
My guess is that you want a conservative college so the main difference would be whether you want it to be religious or not. Academics will be excellent and demanding at both.
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Take pre-med out of your equation and ask yourself which of those school you’re prefer to attend.
And yes, Baylor is really that religious. Baylor is a Southern Baptist affiliated school and that affiliation is reflected in school policies. All students are required to take (for credit) at least 2 semesters of religious/bible studies. All freshmen have mandatory weekly chapel attendance regardless of their personal religious beliefs or preferences. There are religion inspired behavioral restrictions baked into the student code of conduct and campus culture. (like a dress code, no co-ed dorm, early dorm curfews, a prohibition against using alcohol and other substances, including hemp and CBD, on or off campus, and more ) If you are LGBTQ or are interested in working with that community, Baylor will be a poor fit for you.
I don’t know anything about Furman, but I have a friend who attended Baylor. She didn’t find the lifestyle restrictions troublesome, but she’s a practicing evangelical Baptist.
One disadvantage for both Baylor and Furman–neither have hospitals/health clinics that are close by the campus for volunteering. You’ll need a car or need to be comfortable using public transportation to access those facilities.
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Hi!
Thank you so much!
What do you mean by the vibe in the P.P.S? Are talking about Furman’s vibe? I’d really like to know more about your opinion about.
Thank you!
Yes, I’ve been considering it strongly.
But something that scares me a bit is how well-known it might be. I’ve heard academics are fantastic but it’s hard to get good grades.
I think it’s great to be prepared for strong challenges!
However, sometimes I wonder about how well-known Furman’s academic rigorously is when applying to med or grad schools?!
I’m worried this reputation/prestige will affect my chances somehow in the future.
Reputation of an undergrad is only very, very rarely used when making med school admission decisions–and only after everything else about an application has been weighed. There is so much local variance in grading (not just from school to school, but professor to professor) that adcomms kind of ignore a school’s reputation.
Grad schools do much the same. Grad schools look at your grades in your core major classes, research experience & publications, recommendations from professors in your major and GRE scores. Now if you have rec from nationally or internationally known professor–that may make a difference. But the fact you attended X undergrad or Y undergrad doesn’t make a whole lot of difference.
It’s going to be hard to get good grades as pre-med at just about any college you choose. The first 2 years of intro science classes are going to be full of pre-meds and serious science majors–students who tend to be both the most academically able and the most ambitious/driven students at any college.
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It’s well-known enough 
Anyway, it’s not the name of your university that makes your resume, it’s what YOU DO with the opportunities your college affords you.
Med schools start with an algorithm that will makes cuts based on GPAxScience GPA x MCAT score. Your college’s name doesn’t even factor in. Once they have the top students (think top 5-10% at any college) the applications go to “human eyes” who try to look at everything else you’ve done: clinical hours (volunteering or employment such as CNA or EMT), time with underprivileged people, etc., etc. Again your college’s name doesn’t matter. If you’re among the lucky few who get an interview, your college may be brought up but only in the context of what you did there.
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