<p>I want to stay around this area and I looked into SMU and UTD. Austin College and Baylor seemed nice but not close enough to home (at least for my mom:)) If I went to UTD for premed do you think that would be frowned upon because they are not known to be amazing and as a last resort and a lot of the students seemed have have come from overseas and most of them were commuters. Do you think SMU would be better? But then again I'm not super rich. *I called both and both their programs seem to be mediocre. Should I wait to see which will be cheaper and decide based on that? *Will they tell me how much scholarship money I'm going to get on the acceptance letter? Or do you think that truly Baylor and Austin college would be better options? I heard that the name of the undergrad university doesn't really matter. *Do you think that is true? *Sorry its so long.</p>
<p>Overall, Baylor really is the best of the choices you listed. They also have pretty good aid. Their med school is really hard to get into, but since you are a TX resident, you have many possible med school choices in your future. (For med school admit., keep in mind that in-state residents get 1st priority at the state schools) </p>
<p>My daughter recently talked to a med school admissions associate at Wash U, and she offered some simple, but good advice when it comes down to picking a college for your undergraduate pre-medical studies:</p>
<p>1) Keep in mind your undergraduate GPA is extremely important – don’t get in over your head, and choose a school that will challenge, but not overwhelm you.</p>
<p>2) Check with the relevant departments to make sure that your course work and selection will adequately prepare you for the MCAT. Also check if there is a support system of some sort for test tutoring. You must have a strong MCAT score for Med school admission.</p>
<p>3) Your med school interview is critical – research which programs are going to offer you comprehensive preparation for the interview itself. </p>
<p>4) A good pre-med advisor is going to help craft your schedule ‘right out of the gate’ so to speak, based on an understanding of where you envision yourself applying for med school. Though I know you are just trying to figure out undergrad, you should at least keep in the back of your mind a general sense of where this end game will lead you. (public, private, international, specific type of practice, research, etc.)</p>
<p>Hope that helps a little – I am sure others with chime in with their own experiences, interpretations. Good luck!</p>