I am planning on going to the University of New Orleans with a B.S. in Biological Sciences and minor in Chemistry. Will this school hurt my chances of getting into medical school? I have a 3.8 unweighted gpa and based on my ACT practice tests I have taken, I should score in the 33 range. I could go to a better school, but I don’t want to die in debt for my undergrad. My parents said it’s a local college or a Christian college I can attend, so can someone recommend some Christian colleges besides the obvious Baylor? Thanks!
St. Olaf is Lutheran and really good for the biological sciences. Lafayette is Presbyterian.
I know you said no to Catholic, but if you can convince your parents: The University of Dayton is well known, and a lot of people love it there. It’s rated on Princeton Review as one of the happiest and best environment colleges.
It doesn’t really matter where you go as long as you get good grades… HOWEVER, You want to make sure you are getting a qualify education for your major.
Probably not directly, in the sense that a medical school won’t deny you because you went to UNO. As long as they have the premed curriculum and you do well on all the dimensions that med schools look for you, you should be fine. However, there are some features of undergrads that can affect med school admissions more indirectly - like for example, some schools choose not to write med school letters of support for all of their interested students, so it becomes almost competitive to get one of those from the school’s pre-health advising office.
But you’re right, you don’t want to die from debt and many a great doctor has gone to their local public or other lower-cost school.
When your parents say “Christian college,” what do they mean? There are lots of colleges that are technically affiliated with Christian denominations or churches, but are pretty secular in all but name. Lafayette and St. Olaf are two examples; getting an education there is not probably going to be very much different from going to a similar small college that isn’t affiliated with a denomination. But if they are open to that definition, you have more options.
When people speak of Christian colleges, they usually mean colleges that weave faith into their environment and/or curriculum in some way. Baylor is a place where religion permeates a bit more, I believe. Other examples like this are Wheaton College (the one in IL), Presbyterian College (SC), College of the Ozarks (which is also a work college, meaning it would be low cost for you), Abilene Christian University, Azusa Pacific University, Biola University, Seattle Pacific University, and Whitworth University. I’m not sure about Pacific Lutheran University and Hope College; they are both affiliated with Christian denominations but I don’t know if that’s more of an ‘in name only’ affiliation.
I second Wheaton College (the one in Illinois, not the one in Massachusetts, which is also very good, but not what you are looking for). It has very strong academics. I’m not sure of the application deadline, but it looks like you can still apply. But getting it done would be important. You seem like a good candidate for aid. Run the Net Price Calculator (NPC) and get an estimate of what you’d expect to pay.
Some of the others in above post might well be good choices as well.
And the above advice about getting into med school is very good. The school is not as important as what you do. It will be your grades, MCAT score, and what you do in college that will matter. Here’s some good advice we got: GO TO CLASS, there is no substitute. Get a tutor the first week of classes for intro science classes. These can be very difficult for incoming students. Even top students often bomb freshman Bio, Chem, Organic Chem tests. It is a sign of academic strength, not weakness, to get a tutor right from the start, who can help you prepare well, instead of waiting until you’ve bombed a midterm and then going in for help. Also med schools now look more for volunteer hours, lots of them, in medical areas, and also in other areas. So get involved early. For example, if the school has an EMT certification program do that and then volunteer with the local fire department. Or shadow/intern at the local hospital, try to find something like that over summers.
Speaking from experience - No, it does not matter. You just have to do very well in your coursework, do the extras (research and/or community service) and do very well on the MCAT. The same will apply to which med school you go to and where you’d like to do residency. Make the very best of where you attend school and you will have excellent opportunities available the next step along the path of medical education and training.
Again, speaking from experience, you will be very happy to start medical school with little or no educational debt.
Over one third of the freshmen at UNO do not return for their sophomore year.
I suggest that you consider Berry College in Rome, Georgia. It has a gorgeous 27,000 acre campus in Northwest Georgia, is Christian, offers financial aid & scholarships, and the most popular major is biology.