I am deciding between Boston College , Villanova, UVA (all no merit) , Clemson Honors (35k) and Providence Honors (35k). I would be a bio major at all the schools except I would be neuroscience at Villanova and Health Science at Clemson. I am hoping to be a PA. I can afford the full tuition at BC, Nova, and UVA but merit scholarships are certainly helpful. They are all such great schools and I am torn! Any suggestions?
Can you afford the graduate school tuition for the PA master’s degree if you are full pay undergraduate?
@TomSrOfBoston depends which PA school I make…if I make one I can commute to then yes if not I may have some loans
I am interested to hear what you decide. My daughter has very similar choices. She’s ultimately interested in becoming a pharmacist and is deciding between doing a direct entry 6 year program at Pitt (with $10,000 merit first 4 years) or first getting her bachelors in Biology and then doing PharmD program. She has been accepted at UVA, Boston College, Michigan, Penn State, Fordham ($33,500/year Merit) and Clemson Honors (with $15,000/year Merit) Pitt would overwhelmingly be the least expensive route but I can also understand why she would not want to rush through her undergraduate experience. Would love to hear what you decide!
If you get your PA, where you went to undergrad won’t matter. If you don’t go to PA school, you will want to make sure that your degree in Bio is as cheap as possible. So, the only question left is will one school increase your chances to get into a PA program? I would say the answer is no. If you have one pot of money that you can use for both a BS and PA, I think the choice is clear.
Save the money now then and give future you the gift of freedom to choose.
Here is the calculator you need to compare the offers: http://www.finaid.org/calculators/awardletter.phtml
Otterma is right. Save money now so that you have more options in the future.