<p>As someone that has grown up with strong connections to Auburn without even living in the same state, I’ve reached a difficult situation. I received my acceptance to auburn back in October, along with the promise of a large scholarship bringing the cost down to around instate tuition(with potentially even more to come). I have a strong interest in engineering, and a plan to pursuit medical school, so I know how important my undergraduate years will be in determining my ability to continue on my intended path. I didn’t apply ED to any schools, because I wasn’t in the right situation to at the time. I have applied to Vanderbilt, Duke, Rice and a few more very selective schools that I believe I have at least some chance of getting into. All of these schools have elite engineering and medical programs, which could influence my ability to get accepted to a strong medical school.</p>
<p>Does anyone have an opinion on going to a school that is not necessarily up to the full academic potential? I am worried about being in a less rigorous and competitive environment, and even the reputation of the school only in comparison to those I previously mentioned. I would love to hear if any one else is currently battling with the same struggles. Auburn will keep me out of debt, and allow me to follow my childhood team, but should that be enough to distract away from superior academics???</p>
<p>Are my concerns even valid? or can auburn offer me as much as anywhere else?</p>
<p>IMO for graduate/med school admissions - high GPA (with rigor) > MCATS/GREs > elite college reputation. If you excel at Auburn and then get good test scores you will be competitive for good med schools. For undergraduate work you will be taking the same core classes everywhere. Visit your schools and figure out out your “fit” first and get your aid and scholarship offers in line. Then do the cost/benefit analysis. </p>
<p>My OOS son (Pre MechE) got significantly more merit money from Auburn such that I project he will get out with negligible loan debt. These days, I would be hesitant to go significantly in debt for undergrad knowing/planning on adding another six figures of debt for med school. </p>
<p>I note also that not a lot of engineering students seem to go on to med school. BME, by reputation, seems to have a high rate of major changes. And engineering majors typically have lower average GPAs than many easier pre-med majors.</p>
<p>Does Auburn have an honors college? Personally, yes I believe your concerns are valid. You probably want to be around like minded peers as part of your college experience. But at a school of 20k there are bound to be some other high achieving students who chose Auburn for a wide variety of reasons. Given the amount of students who change their mind about med school I don’t know if I’d use that as your sole decision. Do you want to be an engineering major? Engineering typically is the same course work at most schools. But, if you want medical school you can major in anything you like as long as you take those few pre-reqs. Given how long you want to go to school I’d hate to hear you taking on undergrad debt before piling on med school debt. </p>