Cornell, Rice, or state school for pre-med

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>So I am in a bit of a unique situation and would appreciate outside opinions. </p>

<p>Here I go..</p>

<p>As a senior in high school, I just recently got accepted into Cornell University, Rice University, and a UT school in my area. I am going to major in chemistry, at whichever school I decide to attend. I then plan on heading off to medical school.
Now, I am in a bit of a special situation. I attend a high school that is basically a concurrent enrollment program with my local UT school. Our high school is on the university campus, and we are almost completely integrated college students at the same time that we are high school students. We enroll in this program our junior year of high school. By the end of this semester, I would have a total of 76 credit hours, making me more than halfway done with my Bachelor's degree. If I were to remain at this UT school, I would have a guaranteed full ride for the last two years. I would have no debt as I would receive my bachelor's degree for $0.
Another aspect that's a bit tricky about my situation is my early medical school acceptance into UTMB Galveston that I received my junior year in high school. If I obtain only a 24 on the MCAT and maintain certain GPA (which has not been difficult so far), I will head to this med school as soon as I finish my Bachelor's degree, as I already have conditional acceptance. </p>

<p>So, this all sounds perfect, and it almost is, but I have just recently become a bit confused by my admissions into Cornell and Rice. I am weighing the benefits of attending an Ivy League (and starting all over, as Cornell would accept none of my credits) with the benefits of staying at my UT school, where my whole course is already mapped out. Although I do believe that attending Cornell or Rice University would provide me with more opportunities, I am not sure if it is worth it to start all over, and have to pay a large sum on top of that if I would eventually end up in the same place after med school. </p>

<p>The numbers, after financial aid, played out like this:
Cornell University-$20k a year
Rice- $17k a year
UT school- free</p>

<p>I've discussed this with my pre-med adviser, and he thinks I should stay here. He said that I would basically be "giving away a golden ticket into med-school." On the other hand, some of my professors tell me that it is totally worth it to attend an Ivy League school. I'm just looking for some additional opinions on this, as I have been receiving mixed comments..</p>

<p>Personally, I am leaning more towards staying here and completing my Bachelor's for free, then attending UTMB Galveston. Let me know what you think.
Thanks for reading!</p>

2

<p>Dude, you’re guaranteed admissions into medical school with a 24 MCAT and a certain GPA, and you will get to enter early. You will have 0 debt from undergrad, and you will become a doctor sooner.</p>

<p>If you know medicine is for you (you’ve shadowed and gotten enough experience), then this is a clear choice.</p>

<p>Prestige of schools hardly matters for medical school admissions, and if you aren’t able to pull off a good GPA at Cornell or Rice, you may not get into any medical schools at all.</p>

<p>I can understand the temptation to go to an Ivy league, but if your main goal is to become a doctor, you’ve already paved your path very well. </p>

<p>Also you do not want to take loans in undergrad, as you will take a huge amount for medical school.</p>

3

<p>take UTMB and run.</p>

4

<p>You save two years and up to $80k. If you’re sure you want to be a doctor, UTMB would probably be the better choice. If you’re not sure, then go somewhere else.</p>

5

<p>Wow, they’ll take none of your credits?? That’s crazy.</p>

<p>If I were in your shoes, I’d stay put. But I can understand the allure of Cornell and Rice. On the same token, I don’t believe those schools are worth throwing away two years worth of college credits, a full ride and a guaranteed med school acceptance. Your life is going to hopefully be very long, but debt is going to follow you for awhile.</p>

<p>I’d say if you’re strongly considering either school, you have to visit the campus and take an extensive tour. Talk to professors. Talk to students. To be honest, if you’re an extremely driven type of student, you might just be a bit stir crazy from staying in one place for so long. </p>

<p>If that’s the case, I’d say complete the last two years at UT and take a gap year (or two) and travel. Maybe work on a farm in China for a year. By going to UT, you’ll be graduating two years ahead of your fellow med school peers and you’ll be saving a lot of money. This allows you to explore a little. I think in the end, this will give you an opportunity that many of your peers will never know as well as make you stand out in the sea of boring pre meds in admissions to top med schools (if you have a high GPA and MCAT of course).</p>

<p>Good luck in making your decision!</p>

6

<p>I guess it depends on two main things (from my point of view): 1) How important is the ‘college’ experience to you? Do you want to live in a new area; experience a new social scene and spend 4 years (at minimum) amongst people going through a similar process. Along with this comes debt but also the experience many of us extremely enjoy and lament in later years. </p>

<p>2) How sure are you at this point that you will want to be a medical doctor? For my whole life (and while entering college) I was sure I was going to be an ornithologist but after a semester of new classes and experience I completely changed and now am being challenged in the social sciences everyday by choice. </p>

<p>I’m not saying you could be making any wrong decisions but those are the two things that immediately come to mind. What I would do is visit the other schools if possible and try to make a decision based on where you want to spend the coming years and what you’d like to do more broadly into the future. Good luck!</p>