<p>I was recently accepted to both Penn State University Park and West Chester University's biology programs. I've always wanted to go to Penn State and I was thrilled when I received a yes, but West Chester offered me a FULL scholarship today and I don't know what to do! Help!!</p>
<p>What are you doing with this Biology degree? Grad school, med school? If yes to either go for the scholarship. Save your money for phase 2.</p>
<p>West Chester is the way to go. You won’t find too much difference in the two schools in the first two or three years. There may only be a difference in one or two courses at PSU being better otherwise they are the same. Save the money and go to WC. You can always transfer and if you do well at WC you will get into programs the same as if you’d have gone to PSU. Grad and Med school is expensive you want to save the money if you think you might go that route.</p>
<p>Yes I plan to attend med school, thank you for your input!</p>
<p>Since you plan on attending med school, pick West Chester.</p>
<p>I agree that a full scholarship is hard to turn down, especially if you feel you can be happy and challenged at West Chester. I am not personally familiar with West Chester so I can’t give an opinion. However, I would suggest that you try to contact the pre-med adviser at West Chester and see how their students do in terms of getting into Med School. You can also call the financial aid department at Penn State to see if you qualify for merit aid there as well. Congratulations.</p>
<p>West Chester might be your better bet and not just because you need to avoid debt if you are going to med school. The other reason is that you need a GPA of 3.7, so you want to be at the top of your class academically (and you want As in those courses required by med schools as pre-reqs). You also want a committee letter from the school that raves about you - again, easier to get if you are at the top of your class. As long as West Chester has solid science courses that prepare you for the MCAT, you are better off there than at Penn State.</p>
<p>West Chester.</p>
<p>Penn State would be more expensive, but what are the exact reasons its your dream school? If you think youll regret not going to penn state, follow your heart and go there.Doctors make $ so you shouldnt have a problem repaying the extra for penn state.</p>
<p>What is your family’s situation in terms of finances? If things are very tight, it’s a no brainer. It’ll take a lot of financial stress off of them. If they can afford it and it does not involve a ton of loans for parents and you, and you like Penn State better, go for it. Also, make sure you find out how many students get accepted to med school from West Chester each year and what the average MCAT score is from there. If the numbers are way low, you might want to reconsider. I have no idea how well West Chester prepares their students for MCATs and medical school admissions, and that is something you should know as a possible premed.</p>
<p>I really love penn state because of the school pride and the challenging academics. Getting accepted was a huge accomplishment for me, but I fear I may fall to the bottom in such a competitive school.</p>
<p>My financial situation isn’t the greatest, we aren’t living paycheck to paycheck but we also arent rolling in money. We would need many loans. My parents always say that if I were to become a doctor then the loans would be easy to pay back, but I must consider the fact that the majority of college students change their minds.</p>