<p>Hey all, </p>
<p>I'm faced with a "good" dilemma. </p>
<p>I was recently named as one of Clemson's 13 National Scholars. The scholarship includes full tuition, room and board, books, personal expenses, and a 6 week Europe trip the summer after freshman year (including classes at Oxford). It's also much more than a scholarship- it's an elite program where the scholars really become a "community" (there's even a retreat before school starts) and have many special opportunities available. The scholars are guided all through college to reach their post-graduation goals. </p>
<p>I was also accepted to SLU's Med Scholars program. It includes guaranteed acceptance to the SLU Med School if you complete the pre-med requirements and meet the gpa requirements. After that, you're in- no MCAT or anything. Since I'm about 90% sure about becoming a physician, it seems like a great opportunity. In addition, I received the presidential scholarship, which is full tuition. However, I would still have to pay room and board (which is surprisingly expensive....10,000/yr) plus books and other supplies. </p>
<p>I'm so confused! I'm leaning towards Clemson, but simply because I wanted to be down south. But is it stupid to give up automatic admission to med school? I just can't seem to look at this objectively.</p>
<p>WOW! Good for you! Not a bad position to be in for sure. 
My overall thoughts… since you are clearly intelligent and motivated based on your accomplishments, gaining acceptance to medical school down the road should not be a major concern. While you get the med school guarantee at SLU (not insignificant), that may not be the med school you want to attend at that point or you just may want to move on to a new environment.<br>
Removing the med school guarantee from the equation, it comes down to cost and location. Have you spent time on each campus? In which environment do you feel most comfortable? More students transfer because of a bad ‘fit’ versus the academic program so you don’t want to diminish that component. If coming up with the annual $10K shortfall for SLU is going to be a challenge, that headache can be eliminated at Clemson.
You can’t lose either way; however I would suggest giving some weight to the undergrad experience you would prefer. Your intended career path is going to be a long one, so you want to enjoy the journey to the extent you can!
Good luck!!!</p>
<p>wow this is a tough decision. Congrats on having these amazing choices!</p>
<p>I personally would go with Clemson. A lot can change in 4 years and that includes a future career choice. Clemson is also the much better undergraduate choice and it helps that you are a National Scholar and have additional opportunities as an undergraduate. If you work as hard as you have up to this point (I mean you’re a national scholar…), there is no reason why you can’t go to medical school after 4 years at Clemson. I have faith in you (and you should yourself!)</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision!</p>
<p>I looked at the NS web page and Facebook page, and it looks like their alumni have gone on to a lot of top med schools (Yale, Columbia, Vandy, UNC, Wake, Emory) and some of them have gone on to top residencies in the country (Hopkins, Chicago, Penn, UNC, Wake). Obviously it’s not a guarantee that you’ll get into a top school (and yes, you’ll have to take the MCAT and apply), but it seems like you’d be part of a program that nurtrues this kind of excellence. Does SLU offer that kind of nurturing, or is it all just money with the scholarships you’ve been offered? That can make a difference inthe overall college experience – knowing people at Clemson, I am certain you’d have a good experience. Not saying you won’t at SLU (don’t know a thing about the school), but I’d hate for someone as clearly talented as you end up at a place for a reason that COULD change (people’s plans and majors change), and regret it along the way.</p>
<p>Might be worth calling the NS office and ask to talk to some of their students in med school about their applications – surely if they got into top schools like above, they got into that many more that aren’t listed online.</p>