<p>Someone that i know said i should keep one of the state colleges in my state as a safety, and then aim for all the top notch schools in my applications. he said that simply going to a public school in another state isn't that much different than going to a public school in my state.
is this guy correct?
i live in indiana, and indiana university is one of my safety schools. but i'd like to major in neuroscience, and i heard that places like university of pittsburgh, boston university, case western reserve, and university of rochester have pretty good neuroscience programs (especially pitt, which has a world famous medical center for research on their campus). the guy i know basically said that opportunities for grad school won't really change much if i go to IU than if i went to another public school like university of pittsburgh.<br>
i'm not sure if this is true since the schools i've listed are pretty well known for either good research or good neuroscience programs.
but i also thought twice about my choices, since i would be paying much more for the same opportunities, according to this guy. (money's not an issue at all, and my parents are more than willing to support me but if spending more money for oos colleges won't do me any good for better prospects, then i might as well save the money) </p>
<p>so my question boils down to this:
would i have better prospects for grad school and/or jobs if i did get a 4.0 GPA from a place like upitt, or a 4.0 GPA from a place like IU? (as a neuroscience major, or biology major with an emphasis on neuroscience) assuming that i had the same amount of research, achievements, etc from both colleges.</p>
<p>maybe something like a 3.6 GPA from both colleges would have been a better example so that the college reputation would make an impact on grad school prospects. what i pretty much meant to ask was “does the name of the college really make an impact on the grad school & job opportunities?”
i know that places like harvard & columbia carry special prestige, but i’m referring to the public schools.</p>
<p>You can get a good education in neuroscience at either IU or Pitt. </p>
<p>Pitt might have an edge in terms of research opportunities, due to the presence of their medical center, but this is not to say that IU is significantly worse for an undergrad. Since you’d be in-state at IU, you possibly can compensate for this by using the saved money to participate in summer research programs elsewhere. Both are good schools in the related field of psychology.</p>
<p>If money concerns are not a factor, consider that IU and Pitt have quite different “feels” to them, e.g. Pitt is urban, Indiana is much larger, etc. In that case, choose on the basis of best fit for you. If money is a concern, go to IU and save the money for grad school. Consider also that you may change your mind about your major, so consider opportunities at each school for other fields that may interest you.</p>
<p>If money is a factor, I would stay in-state with Indiana University. IU is an excellent public school and it isn’t like the University Of Alaska.</p>
<p>^^ What’s wrong with University of Alaska. Isn’t it good enough?</p>
<p>haha sorry I didn’t mean to bash Alaska but I’m just saying that Indiana University is one of the best public schools in the country.</p>
<p>Well, if you’re planning to go to grad school, I think your choice of undergrad won’t be as important as if you were going to enter the job market directly after because your latest school is always the most important. So if you go to a school like IU for undergrad and then MIT for grad, you would be a much better job applicant than one who went to MIT for undergrad and IU for grad.</p>
<p>Does your undergrad school become a factor in your grad school applications? Definitely! But the difference between state schools aren’t so large, except if you consider top schools like Cal or University of Virginia. I say save your parents money.</p>
<p>
Perhaps if you want to study geology, PetE, or atmospheric science.</p>
<p>^ Petroleum engineering.</p>
<p>is IU really one of the best public schools in the country? i didn’t realize that. </p>
<p>money’s not a factor but like i said before, if a more expensive school won’t enhance my prospects then i’m not really interested in paying more.
where would you say the differences between places like IU and state schools “even out”? like what position on the US news rankings would the differences be very minimal?
i’m starting to think that unless i go to a school oos in the top 30’s or so in overall rankings, i might just go to IU. </p>
<p>but i also heard some things about university of pitt having some connections with upenn, so if that would help at all with grad school or med school (which is what i’m hoping for after my undergrad in neuroscience) then i’d be interested in going to pitt.</p>
<p>Since you mentioned Pitt. It is one of the schools that offers generous merit scholarships to top students. There are a handful of full-ride scholarships, but many more full tuition scholaships. It is definitely worth a look. It could be less expensive than your in-state school with merit aid.</p>
<p>Pitt also offers a very few students a med school guarantee going into undergrad school.</p>
<p>@MD Mom do you know of any colleges that have a similar program for undergrads already in college? i know that the BS/MD program is for high school students, but with my stats (3.5 UW GPA, weighted: 3.8. sat composite: 1940) i’m pretty sure i won’t be one of the most competitive applicants. i was wondering if i could get a second shot at a similar type of program once i’m already in college.</p>
<p>My daughter is not pre-med, so we were not looking at those programs, sorry. I just know about the Pitt program because she is a student there.</p>
<p>I looked at the BS/MD requirements for Pitt this morning and you’re nowhere near getting into that program (they only take 8-13 ppl each year)</p>
<p>yeah i know my stats aren’t that competitive but i was wondering if there were any colleges that have a similar type of program that guarantees med school admission while i’m already an undergrad…just so i might be able to have a second shot at it.</p>
<p>The good news is that wherever you go, your grade point starts over. If your grades weren’t where you wanted them in HS, you can change your habits a bit in college and do better. I would add that your grades are not bad now; it’s just that pre-med is very competitive. You know that already.</p>
<p>thanks for the replies but the question i had a few posts ago still remains:
where would you say the differences between places like IU and state schools ‘even out’? like on what position on the US news rankings would the differences between the school at the certain position & IU be very minimal?
i’m starting to think that unless i go to a school oos in the top 30’s or so in overall rankings (that carry a decent name), i might just go to IU.</p>
<p>The schools even out. What you get out of your education will be in direct relation to what you put in. Many, many, many young people get into medical school from all kinds of state schools every year. And plenty of really bright kids choose their in-state public over more highly ranked schools every year. </p>
<p>You live in the Midwest, if you want to go somewhere else and you get a nice scholarship, go. Otherwise, staying at your state public is a great option.</p>
<p>Oh, and on CC, in general people are a bit biased toward name schools.</p>