I only have a few days left to decide, and after visiting GW I feel even more confused. I’m planning on majoring in biology on the pre med track at either George Washington university or George Mason university. I’m aware that academics are better at GW, but I’m not sure if I like the whole open campus in the city idea. I prefer Masons campus feel overall and am not a huge fan of cities although I think I can learn to love it. However, purely from an academic standpoint I’d be better off at GW since it has better professors and more opportunities. It is significantly harder and I do believe that I would be able to get a higher GPA at Mason but I’m not sure if med schools will take the school name and difficulty into consideration. Will going to Mason make me less competitive to med schools even if I can manage a higher GPA than at GW? Also, how do their science programs compare? Would Mason prepare me for MCAT and med school or would I be much better off going to GW? Also, I did receive a fairly large scholarship from GW so the cost of each schools isn’t a deciding factor. Please help!!!
No, Mason CS. GW would not matter to med schools. They don’t care where you went as long as it’s a legit school. Premed pre-reqs are hard everywhere. Being too 10-20% is stressful no matter where you attend.
Did you get honors college at Mason?
If the cost is similar, the only reason I’d pick GW is if you can imagine doing something else than premed. Indeed, most freshmen change their mind.
Ditto. Med schools do their cuts on numbers.
Double ditto if GMU is less $$ for you than GWU (and as it sounds as if you can afford both, put that savings away as if you were paying it to GW- when it comes to med school time you will be very very glad to have it) (actually, you will be glad to have it when you graduate, med school or no).
What do you mean by med schools cut their numbers? Finances aren’t a issue and if my educational opportunities for medical school will be much better at GW it’s worth the cost to me.
I did not apply to the honors college because I heard from those in it that it distracts from the science classes I should be focusing on and I won’t be able to use AP credits
Sorry, but cuts I meant they do their first cuts on applications largely on stats- GPA & MCAT. Name value won’t make the difference. If you are completely fine for finances for both undergrad and med school, then go for the school that you like overall better.
It’s really too bad you didn’t apply to the Honors college. Premeds need good support and advising, and the honors college provides that + honors students tend to get better grades in their honors classes than in regular classes (in part because they’re not curved but also because honors students learn better in environment designed to their learning strengths).
Ask both GMU and GWU what academic support exists for the first year math and science courses, whether there’s a writing center, its hours and rules for meeting with a tutor, whether freshmen premeds have access to premed advising and if they have a personal adviser. Also ask if they do committee letters, and, if they do, whether they do committee letters for all med school applicants or if they do those only for applicants of their choice.
About 3/4 students never make it through the premed pre-reqs, and among those who do, only half get into even one med school.
A computer “cuts” applicants based on GPA, science GPA, and MCAT score. Only those who make the cut are invited to interview.
From what i know, GMU’s pre health adviser is not great. She does not meet with students one on one, only in groups. The advisers at GW from what i’ve heard aren’t the best either but i do think id have more help there. For the honors college at GMU, pre meds i know in the honors program do not recommend it as they claim its much easier to get an A in a regular class, and the regular classes help balance the challenging science reqs. The prehealth adviser is the same at the honors college and regular college too. For me, I know that GW would prepare me to be a better overall applicant more, however I am not a fan of the campus and I don’t want to get burnt out, as anecdotally it seems to be significantly harder than GMU. Since the classes are easier and more manageable at Mason, i think id have more time to dedicate to research and clinical volunteering. But honestly im not sure
What’s done is done, but… Honors classes require more thought but they result in higher grades. In addition, you automatically get a personal adviser and with priority registration you can avoid GPA-killing classes.
Premed will not be “easy” no matter where you go. It’s not a matter of understanding and passing a hard class vs. understanding and passing an easier class. In order to be med-school worthy, you need to be top 10-20% in every class you take and you’ll be taking a lot of hard classes, some of which are designed to fail or deliver “med school unworthy” grades to half the class or more (“weedout” classes, for sure at GMU, not sure at GWU).
I think you should get over your dislike for the GWU campus or lack thereof. Having a personal adviser AND a good pre-health adviser is paramount for premeds, and since GWU has that but GMU doesn’t, then GMU shouldn’t be in the running if you’re serious about being premed.
Is GWU truly affordable?
thanks for the thoughtful response! I did get a presidential scholarship to GW for around 30k so my cost of attendance would be around 38k a year compared to 15k at Mason, so honestly not a huge deciding factor. I agree that i think i can learn to love GWs campus. But I know someone who is pre health at GW but took organic chem at Mason because it was extremely difficult at GW and was much easier to them at Mason. They also did not enjoy the biology department at GW as they thought it was organized but others ive talked to were fine with it. Im not sure about prehealth advising though. My biggest concern for GW is that i don’t want to be miserable and doing mediocre where at mason i could enjoy the college more and be able to maintain a high gpa
You prefer GMU and it’s $100,000 less. Seems like you’re making this more complicated than it needs to be. You might ask your parents if you can apply those undergrad savings toward the cost of medical school.