<p>So its come down to that time when I have to make i decision about where im going to spend the next 4 years of my life. Right now im really excited because i got in to my top two schools but now i have to decide between them. I am going to be a bio major interested in pre-med. Do you think i should go to Fordham University or St. Mary's College of Maryland? I'm a really bad decision-maker so i could really use some outside opinions! :)</p>
<p>financials?</p>
<p>What does each financial aid office use for the Cost of Attendance (COA)?
Are there any expenses that you would have to include in your personal COA in order to actually attend?</p>
<p>How much financial aid is in scholarships/grants?
How much financial aid is in work study? How do they guarantee the work study jobs - are you assigned one or do you have to go find it yourself?</p>
<p>How much financial aid is in loans?</p>
<p>Is your financial aid package guaranteed for all four years?</p>
<p>You can take the pre-med course series at just about any college or university or community college in the nation, so that is the least of your worries. Both of these schools have decent biology departments. For you it just comes down to money and the school environment/feel. If your personal cost of attendance after accounting for scholarships/grants will be the same, go visit both of these schools and see what you think about them. If one is significantly less expensive for all four years, tell them “Yes! Thanks! I’ll be there!”, and tell the more expensive school “No, thanks.”</p>
<p>Fordham has a very strong science and premed program with a stellar record of getting kids into top flight med schools. Its an amazing school on several grounds. Its an academic school in NYC, so come prepared to work hard. And if you perform well, there are more scholarships for science majors for upperclassmen. I strongly recommend Fordham. But don’t come to party, trust me.</p>
<p>Right now Fordham, with loans and scholarships, would be $41,407 and SMCM would be $28,979. But, my parents told me not to worry about the cost, and that if I decide to go to fordham they would talk to fordham’s financial aid and see if they could get more money</p>
<p>I know that both schools have great pre med programs, which is why I applied to them. I’m looking at both schools right now and trying to find ways that they stand out. Ways that would make one school better or worse than the other.</p>
<p>We know a young man who is a senior pre-med at SMCM and has been VERY happy with his experience and the mentoring he has received.</p>
<p>S2 and I have visited SMCM and it is a gorgeous campus with plenty of ways to get the academic program you want. The campus is VERY different from a place like Fordham; you should check out both if at all possible. We felt that S would need a car at SMCM because there’s not much immediately nearby (but as in-state residents, if he chose that option and got some merit $$, it is something we could consider helping him with).</p>
<p>I have visited both schools so right now im also trying to decide whether i want the city or not. While the city offers millions of opportunities, not only for nightlife but also for internships, im not sure that i actually want to live in the city. When i was at SMCM they had this great sense of community that im not sure i would get at fordham</p>
<p>also, does anyone know how easy it is to get help from a professor or a tutor at fordham? It seems very easy to do it at SMCM so i would like to compare the 2 schools this way.</p>
<p>“Right now Fordham, with loans and scholarships, would be $41,407 and SMCM would be $28,979.”</p>
<p>What is the cost WITHOUT THE LOANS? Take the loans out and re-figure the cost. That is how much you and your parents have to come up with. If Fordham is including Stafford loans as part of your aid, you need to remember that you could use that same kind of loan at SMCM.</p>
<p>Even if the exact same amount of loan money is factored into these two costs above, you are still talking about a difference of $12,428 for the first year alone. That is $48,000 more (at least) over the course of the next four years. Where is that coming from? Your parents’ potential chat with Fordham’s financial aid office? Chances are that Fordham will just point them to PLUS loans (parents’ college loans). What else could you and your family do with $48,000? Buy two cars? Fix the roof? Pay for a really nifty junior year abroad, or the first year of med school?</p>
<p>Unless your parents are made of money, I don’t see why Fordham is even still under consideration.</p>
<p>Although money is a factor right now, i am trying to pick the better of the two schools. My parents and I have saved a lot of money so that i can go wherever I want so although it would be a lot easier to go to the cheapest school, I want to go to the school that will help me to succeed in life. </p>
<p>Fordham and SMCM are offering me about the same in loans and scholarships, the only difference is that $3,500 of my loan to Fordham in subsidized</p>
<p>I’m not sure that going to a small school is a good idea for going to med school. Will med schools look at my application and have no idea where I am coming from? I know that St. Mary’s is a great school and will do a wonderful job preparing me, but will the rest of the world know that?</p>
<p>Med schools know St. Mary’s. So do graduate schools. The place has a really good reputation. If you are specifically concerned about med school placement, you could contact the pre-med advisors at both schools and ask for their placement statistics. How many senior pre-meds get into med school the first time they apply? Where do they go? What kind of scores did they have on the MCAT? Give each school a chance to give you a real sales job on their pre-med program. This might help you decide.</p>
<p>You also should find out what the class size is for the pre-med course sequence. Is the lecture section of Organic Chemistry 100 students or 300 students? Is the lab section run by a grad student or by a professor? Try to talk to some students in the pre-med program at each school so you can learn just how easy it is to speak with your professors when you need help. For tough classes, these things really count.</p>
<h2>“I’m not sure that going to a small school is a good idea for going to med school. Will med schools look at my application and have no idea where I am coming from? I know that St. Mary’s is a great school and will do a wonderful job preparing me, but will the rest of the world know that?”</h2>
<p>Actually statistics show you are in a much better position going off to graduate and professional school with a small college background. If you search around these forums you can find statistics about how many PhDs undergraduate programs produce. Typically top 100 small colleges produce far more PhDs per capita when compared against top 100 larger universities. </p>
<p>At small colleges without grad students the undergrads are able to step up and take an active role helping with professor’s research as well as creating their own research.</p>
<p>Medical schools will look at your gpa and your MCAT scores. If you have the stats, it won’t matter as much where you achieved those grades and scores.</p>
<p>You are looking at two very different schools in locale as well. A larger school in a major city and a small, liberal arts type college in a much more rural setting. I’d think I’d consider how well you fit into either of those environments.</p>
<p>These schools are incredibly different. I actually graduated from SMCM, and this is what I wrote on another thread:</p>
<p>To tell you the truth, I loved St. Mary’s when I got there, but the campus changed as I progressed through. The brochure seems to show a number of dwindling activities, like impromptu bonfires lit up by the hippies. All in all, this seems to be due to a reduction in the amount of liberals, or at least progressive liberals at the school. Most that have been applying to St. Mary’s include a number of people that went to private schools, and are more than a little affluent.</p>
<p>The water is beautiful, the school is beautiful, and the teachers are great, but the campus was smaller than my high school. I was incredibly happy until maybe my junior year, when I realized how much SMCM was really like high school. But, overall, the good outweighed the good. Great education, great teachers, great price, and beautiful campus. If I could go back, I’m not sure if I would have ended up at SMCM, I had great offers from similar as well as higher-ranking institutions, but I have to say, you make the experience what you want it to you. At SMCM, you have that power. If you want to get involved, you can. If you don’t, you don’t have to. The sports teams are like frats and sororities, so that’s the Greek life parallel.</p>
<p>This seems like a random, and rambling post, but it covers everything I think. I liked it, loved it for a bit, but was relieved to escape to fresh air. Good luck.</p>
<hr>
<p>I went to Fordham for a conference one, and the city literally took my breath away. So much hustle bustle versus St. Mary’s nothing to do. Each campus has their good qualities. Take your pick.</p>