BU vs. UMass Amherst

<p>I was recently admitted into both Umass amherst and BU, Now I have the daunting decision to make as to which university to attend. Im an international student who is originally from the Boston area, I’ve loved BU since I was in 7th grade I always dreamed of going there. Unfortunately though the cost of attending BU is extremely high and I would probably end up graduating with some debt. On the other hand I also applied to Umass amherst and got accepted I;ve never been to visit the school or amherst and have no idea how it is like.
The only reason I applied to Umass was because of its low cost which would allow me to graduate with 0 debt<br>
I want to study Biology/ Pre-med and hopefully go onto a good medical school after graduating. Which of the two schools would you recommend in terms of teaching, research opportunities, prestige and chances of going into Med school.</p>

<p>I would say go with the 0 debt. I’m from the Massachusetts area, so I visited UMass Am and it’s a beautiful campus. Very different from BU in terms of the city…but Amherst is a cute little town with many colleges nearby, so all in all, going to UMass Amherst is a win-win. Personally, I would’ve gone to UMass Am but I got a large scholarship from BU that made it cheaper to go to BU…</p>

<p>Now about the pre-med stuff - you say you’re an international student. Were you born in Massachusetts? If you’re not a US citizen/greencard holder, then you might want to research more about international medical school applicants. It’s a problem because it’s <em>extremely</em> difficult for an international student to get into US med schools. From BU, I know the stats are something like 15 international applicants and 1 accepted, while 15 non-international applicants and 7-8 accepted. These aren’t actual numbers but it would be beneficial to research more about this. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>Thank you for your advice colleges3. Yes I think I may now enroll in Umass it makes a lot more sense to go debt free because of how expensive medical school is.
I am a US citizen and Mass Resident so I would end up being an Non-international applicant when the time comes. Do by any chance know the percentage of BU Pre-med students accepted into Med school is vs that of UMass?? If the difference is not that significant Umass would be the sure bet.</p>

<p>contrary to what some people think, UMASS amherst has a really good reputation. of course, it’s not like ivy-level but it’s very much possible to achieve success.</p>

<p>I really think you’ll learn the same things at both schools, one is just ranked higher than the other one…but don’t trust rankings! </p>

<p>go to UMASS amherst!</p>