Eep! Help? Mcgill, URoch, NYU, Brandeis

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Like the title says, I have some decisions to be making. Before I get in on all the humdrum of financial aid and such, I just want to hear some feedback about these few universities.
I'm interested in going to Medical School in the future. I'm not exactly sure what I want to major in, but I definitely want a school that's both strong in science and humanities. :) </p>

<p>Thanks for the help!</p>

<p>Again, schools for now are:
Mcgill
University of Rochester
NYU
Brandeis </p>

<p>I'm still waiting to hear back from a few more, and I will probably end up updating the list when I hear back. :D</p>

2

<p>The answer to your question depends on a lot of things:</p>

<p>1) How important is prestige to you? In my opinion, this should never be a major factor in selecting a school, but to many people it is. If this is important to you, McGill is the most pretigious, internationally, of them all.</p>

<p>2) Sense of community: Studentst at NYU and McGill (especially at NYU) often complain that there is no sense of campus community. </p>

<p>3) Campus: Again, McGill and NYU don't really have a nice, green, lush campus.</p>

<p>4) Are you an urban person? If you have to be in a city, definitely go for NYU or McGill. Brandeis isn't really in Boston, but it's close enough.</p>

3

<p>I'd actually lean towards Brandeis.</p>

4

<p>In terms of both prestige and education I would pick Brandeis. Also, FYI, the med school acceptance rates of Brandeis students are exceptionally high. </p>

<p>Brandeis is a truly an amazing school. It's a special combination of small liberal arts college and world-class research university-with the smallest student body I believe (less than 800 in a class) of any top tier national research university matched with high-powered professors who actually teach in small classes. So, the research opportunities are tremendous. Plus it's very close to Boston, which is the world's best college town, but on its own suburban campus.</p>

<p>Its intellectual environment, it is comparable in many ways to its University Athletic Association sister school, U Chicago. Yet its students are down- to -earth, friendly and non-competitive with one another. FYI in a recent Forbes national college rankings survey, Brandeis was ranked 15th among research universities and 30th overall among all private univerities and LAC's--a testament to its focus on undergraduate education. Larger schools, including some Ivies, were ranked much lower. </p>

<p>Despite its small size and relative youth,its alumni are very distinguished--e.g. nobel and pulitzer prize winners, international leaders and those accomplished in business, the sciences, academia and the arts. Also, if you're into social justice or theater/music/art, it has very robust communities.</p>

<p>Good luck with your decision!</p>

5

<p>I spent years at UR, both as a grad student and as an employee at the hospital. There is a lot of good to be said about the place academically. But be aware that it is cloudy for weeks at a time from fall through early spring (I counted 6 weeks of daytime clouds at one point, broken only by this bizarre pattern of the western sky clearing for sunset). I haven't been there since the 80s, but one year they got about 168 inches of snow. So if you're someone who gets down when the sun doesn't show up, it can be a rough. Summer is very nice...</p>

6

<p>Make a choice between McGill and NYU. </p>

<p>The other 2 kinda su ck.</p>

7

<p>naff,</p>

<p>Based on what? I'm about this [ ] close to putting down a deposit for Rochester haha</p>

8

<p>@ Hilary
1) I agree, I don't want to choose a school just because of its name...Unfortunately, a sortof byproduct of having Asian parents means that they want brand-name everything... </p>

<p>2) I go to an extremely large high school, where the environment is caustically cynical, so either way wouldn't be too bad :). No community? I'm used to it. Strong community? Great change :D</p>

<p>3) Lush campus would be nice, but it's not too important :)</p>

<p>4) I loveeee urban environments. For that reason, I'm really sortof plugging for NYU or Mcgill right now. </p>

<p>Thanks for all the thoughtful questions!!! :D</p>

<p>@Grumpster
Any particular reason for why Brandeis? Or has B77 really covered it all? </p>

<p>@B77
Thanks so much for all the information! Brandeis wasn't really one of my first choices because it's such a similar environment to my high school, but I've really found myself looking at it more closely after I got in. Your post is making me more curious haha!
Thanks again!</p>

<p>@emag
I'm a girl who prefers cold to heat haha. </p>

<p>@naff
lol, any particular reason for why? I'm going to have to chime in w/ username23 here haha. </p>

<p>NOW to add some more INFORMATION!!!
I WILL TYPE ALL IN CAPS, SO PEOPLE CAN DIFFERENTIATE BTW. OLD/NEW POST! SOOOOO
I RECENTLY GOT ACCEPTED INTO UMASS AND BC. </p>

<p>UMASS FULL RIDE SCHOLARSHIP AND DEANS SCHOLARSHIP ALONG WITH ADMISSION TO THE HONORS PROGRAM</p>

<p>BC HONORS PROGRAM AS WELL, BUT NO IDEA AS TO HOW MUCH FINANCIAL AID I'M GETTING. </p>

<p>U ROCHESTER OFFERED ME 15000 A YEAR AND A CHANCE TO APPLY FOR A 3000 PORTABLE RESEARCH GRANT</p>

<p>NYU AND BRANDEIS....ARE NOT GIVING ME ALL THAT MUCH MONEY
AND AS YOU KNOW, DECISION TO ATTEND MUST BE MADE BEFORE AID IS GIVEN FOR MCGILL.</p>

9

<p>"3) Campus: Again, McGill and NYU don't really have a nice, green, lush campus."</p>

<p>This is only correct in regards to NYU. McGill does indeed have a campus. While the campus is adjacent to downtown Montr</p>

10

<p>On a complete aside: </p>

<p>Those who are familiar with Mcgill. My main concern about the school is the advisory system for students interested in Premed. From what I hear, it's not exactly the most stellar system in the world... </p>

<p>I'm planning to do the arts and science inter-faculty track. I'm wondering if anyone knows how adequately this will prepare me for med. school. I realize that a lot of the results will depend on how much work I put into my academics, but I just want to hear some feedback about their undergraduate prep. before making any major decisions.</p>

11

<p>I would choose Rochester in a heartbeat.</p>

12

<p>I think Brandeis is good if you don’t really know yet what you want to major in because it will be easy to take classes both in the sciences and arts, humanities, social sciences. It has an actual campus as opposed to NYU for example, but it does have easy access to Boston via the commuter rail and free campus shuttles.</p>

13

<p>Then go to UMASS. UMASS is a decent school and I would opt for debt free graduation.</p>

14

<p>I don’t know-- but I want to congratulate you. Those are wonderful acceptances. I personally think McGill and Rochester may edge the other ones when it comes to science while NYU definitely has the edge for arts but, really, you can’t go wrong.</p>

15

<p>B77’s description of Brandeis aptly fits UR as well.</p>

<p>UR has about 4000 undergrads and is a research university with a LAC feel. Like Brandeis, it is a member of UAA for many sports. Sciences are very strong. UR has a very beautiful campus, more traditional looking than Brandeis.</p>