Hello. I am trying to narrow down my colleges so I can make a final decision on where to accept my college decision. Can someone help me figure out which school would be better for pre-med?
@strawberry123 Since med schools are expensive, pick the undergrad school that cost least. You don’t want to have debt before med school. Stony Brook is the least cost and best value. And it has a medical school on campus and the Stony Brook medical center complex in East Setauket that provides a lot of opportunities for you to shadow, intern and gain research experience. That being said, I’ve heard anecdotally that Stony Brook STEM courses grade tough, just as I’ve heard the same about BU. If you don’t get a high gpa in science courses and a high gpa overall, then your chances for med school are less. Out of these 3 schools it may be easiest to get a higher gpa for at BC. But you need to ask premed students at each these schools to see what they have to say. Even if you don’t wind up as premed, Stony Brook is one of the 4 large SUNY research universities and would have lots of course offerings and other majors that would enable you to major in another field if pre-med doesn’t work out. And you’ll have money saved for grad school if that is in your future.
BU is notorious for being terrible for pre-meds due to grade deflation in the sciences and high cost.
So really that leaves BC and Stony Brook.
What’s your net cost at each and how does that compare to your parents’ budget?
Don’t go to BC for grade inflation in the sciences. All are hard. Only anecdotal yet my Val d with 5 on 13 aps and 35 act struggled mightily for good grades first semester. First b’s of her life and she worked her you know what off for them.
I like all of your options. But don’t pick for the reasons you suggested, i.e. an easier path.
However bc has a new neroscience major for pre health tracks. It’s really popular with her friends. D is sticking to biochem. Lots of opportunities for service and clubs. Plus the sports have been a plus for automatic friend groups. It can be hard to make friends for some and it is a fun outlet.
Good luck.
If you want to go pre-med then think about:
- The cheapest reasonable college so you/your parents can use the money for med school
- The college needs to prepare you for MCATs but still allow you to get a good GPA
- Access to volunteering opportunities (e.g., near a hospital)
- Success in graduates getting into med school
- Options if you don’t go to med school