Cornell w/some loans, Case Western Reserve w/no loans, or Wheaton College w/full scholarship?

The best value seems to be Case. :slight_smile:

My D1 was a UMich grad and doing her MD at JHU now. Based on our experience, med school admissions care about GPA/MCAT A LOT and the level of commitment - # of hrs in shadowing, volunteering and research. IMO, beyond a certain threshold, the academic quality of the UG institution makes very little difference. My D1’s friends at JH came from state schools (UM, UVA, UNC,UWisconsin, UIUC), and private institutions like UPitt, CW, GWU, BU… Ivy or not doesn’t seem to make a difference.

IMO, the most important criteria is - get into an institution where you can get the highest GPA, get you the prep for the highest MCAT, provides you the most abundant ECs AND the best recommendation letter for the med-school application. Obviously, cost is a major factor. Med-school is not cheap and if you can get your UG degree debt free, that’s probably the best course.

OP have some good choices, maybe OP should visit the schools and ask - will the committee dissuade students from applying or they write letters to all students… and talk to current pre-med students there - how much weeding pressure etc. My D1 experience at UM was brutal in many ways - a very large cohort, very high pressure to stay at the top, need immense drive to grab the research and other shadowing/volunteering opportunities from day 1. A lot of her “pre-med” classmates dropout during the weeding process with Orgo chem.

IMO, Case Western probably is the best combo based on finances, smaller cohort, accessible to Cleveland Clinic and the University Hospital and CW med-school is highly ranked as well.