@MYOS1634 Was reading up on Fly in 4 and saw that they offer a $4,000/yr grant and other benefits, seems good but I think you have to make an enrollment deposit 1st and commit before you are considered for the program. I’ll try to get in touch with my rep soon.
Just heard back from University of Delaware and its gonna be $27,185/yr, man these schools are expensive especially OOS!
So far they seem to be following what was predicted here?
Dickinson still out there right?
@OHMomof2 Yep! Should hear back around mid-march, hope I get in as it is one of my top contenders!
Just caught up on this thread and adding in my hopes for Dickinson for you! Otherwise, being another PA resident and working in a public high school, I can add that many students like West Chester and do fine. It is often considered the best of our true state schools.
If you were my student, I’d have quite a bit of hesitation with Cabrini and would tell you to point blank ask them where recent graduates have gotten into med school and see if those options appealed to you. Do NOT just ask for numbers/percentages. Especially in a small school those are totally unreliable (they are in large schools too) and many schools consider Caribbean med schools to be just fine and dandy to include in their stats. Not all pre-med students want to go to Caribbean med schools. (Ditto with DO - they appeal to some, but not all and are often included in stats.) If you like where other students have gone from Cabrini and are certain you have the dedication to equal their caliber, then the school should be fine.
ps If Cabrini stays on your list, see if they will give you the names/contact info of recent successful students and contact them. Most are incredibly willing to share what they did on their path to success. Even if you go to West Chester, it can’t hurt to see if you can contact a recent grad or two who’s now a med school student. Previous successful students are often the best with tips.
@Creekland Thanks for the insight! I have the same reservations about Cabrini as well, I’m not very certain that it can offer the rigor and preparation that I need for Med School. That being said, affordability is a priority. I too have high hopes for Dickinson, based on what others have said they do meet need which is good! West Chester is still in the cards, I’ll update with their financial aid award once I get it…early March.
@Elly710 I apologize for the delay in answering your question about West Chester. Although at times my daughter still wishes she could have gone to Temple (or Pitt), I think West Chester is growing on her. Her first semester wasn’t ideal, as she had several professors/instructors that weren’t very good. She chose her classes/sections carefully for 2nd semester and seems to be happier with her courses. She has joined the climbing club, which she really enjoys, as well as some other clubs. She really likes the town of West Chester, which has a bustling downtown. Not quite the city life she was craving, but very pleasant. She is looking forward to living in an off-campus apartment next year, even though the traditional dorms are actually pretty nice and much less expensive than “affiliated housing”. She wouldn’t even consider smaller schools, so she picked the PASSHE school that was the largest (and arguably the best). I don’t know much about Cabrini so I can’t comment on whether it would be a better choice than West Chester. I live close to Carlisle and took classes at Dickinson as a high school student back in the dark ages. It is an excellent school and I hope you are admitted there. If not, West Chester is a perfectly acceptable option. Good luck with your decision.
@kidzncatz No problem, thank you for the feedback! I really do have high hopes for Dickinson as well. If not West Chester is definitely in the cards, I have visited campus a few times since it’s driving distance and although its a smaller setting, I must say social life still seems very active. I’ll make sure to carefully pick my courses and join a few clubs while I’m there!
@OHMomof2 @Elly710 A 4/4 school refers to the teaching courseload of the professors. The first number refers to how many classes the teachers teach in the fall, and the second in the spring. Elite research universities may offer their professors a 2/2 or 2/1 load - meaning they teach two classes in the fall and one or two in the spring (or vice versa). Because they’re only teaching 3-4 classes a year, they have more time to do research - which makes up the bulk of their job anyway. (Sometimes, if they win a grant, they can even buy themselves out of the few classes they do teach, reducing their courseload even more. I knew some professors at Columbia who only taught 1 or 2 classes a year.)
A 4/4 load, on the other hand, is one of the heaviest courseloads a professor can have. They’re teaching four classes a semester, meaning that they don’t really have any time during the academic year to do research. 4/4 loads are usually seen at heavy teaching schools, regional publics, tuition-driven private colleges, etc.
However, elite liberal arts colleges may have professors who have 3/2 or even 2/2 loads. Dickinson, for example has a 3/2 load - five courses a year - which is somewhere in the middle. This is because top LACs expect professors to also do research that they can involve undergraduates in; it also gives them more time to do individual mentoring and advisement to their students. That’s how a professor can ‘primarily teach’ but still do research all year long. Very feasible for a professor at a top LAC or public honors/top regional college; not as feasible for a professor teaching eight classes a year at a public directional.
As to the dilemma: I am one of those folks that typically advises taking the full ride, but to a point. I think the OP’s worry that Cabrini may not adequately prepare them for the MCAT and other medical school stuff is not completely unwarranted, since as was mentioned, Cabrini is going to be targeting their courses towards the average to below-average students they mostly admit. I think the statement that ‘no school prepares their students for the MCAT’ is technically true but not true in spirit: since the MCAT tests material that you learn in your college science classes, it follows that if you have better quality/better taught science classes that you have a better chance of doing well on the MCAT. While I don’t always think higher-ranked/better-reputed schools teach better, I do think this is a different kind of comparison here.
But a more important point is one someone brought up on the first or second page that I really think bears repeating: A LARGE chunk of students who are pre-med before entering college are no longer pre-med by the time they graduate. Sometimes they find more interesting careers (both health and non-health); sometimes they can’t get into medical school; sometimes they just don’t like the pre-med curriculum, etc. While it’s true that you should try to keep your debt load low if you do intend on med school, I think no student should choose a school solely on the expectation that they will go. I tell students to ask themselves: if it turns out that you don’t go to med school after college (either not right away or never), and you end up doing something else, where would you like to go? Where would you like to have gone?
West Chester University is a pretty good school. I definitely agree with the advice to hold out for Dickinson - and also for Marist, which is also a great school. If it were me, I think I would pay the money to go to West Chester rather than attending Cabrini. But I agree that you should visit, sit in on some classes, talk to some professors, really soak it in.
I’m not surprised that Temple and the OOS publics are too expensive; public universities rarely give much aid to non-resident students, and someone else has already discussed the issue with PA’s state-related universities. Drexel isn’t known for great financial aid so that one’s a toss-up and the odds are not in our favor.
^ I wish I could like this post more than once. Very comprehensive and hits everything you need to know.
Worth reading more several times.
@juillet Thank you so much for this, very helpful! I have considered the thought of other careers/interests should the idea/want of med school go south. West Chester is certainly an option on the table that I am greatly considering, I’ll update what my financial aid decision is when it arrives (early March). Drexel came out to about $18,148/yr far from affordable for me so I’ve tossed that option. I continue to hope for acceptance with good aid from Dickinson (my top choice) and Marist as well. For now I guess it’s a waiting game.
West Chester University Financial Aid Update :
$1,454.66/yr without loans
$254.55/yr assuming I win $1,200 scholarship from WCU which I qualify for b/c of where I live and need based
$-1671.34/yr essentially $0/yr using all 6 AP credit in language (Italian&Spanish) or $-681.45/yr using 3 AP credit (either language)
-I’m very pleased with the outcome, as this makes West Chester very affordable for me! And still a top contender!
-I feel like I should know this, but I was wondering how AP credit works throughout college, is it good for all 4 years or just freshman year? Or once you use it up taking a course equivalent its gone?
Yay congratulations Elly!! Two super affordable choices now, right?
Here’s WC’s AP credit info: https://www.wcupa.edu/registrar/documents/Advanced%20Placement%20Examination.pdf
It’s good for whatever classes you choose to use it for. Usually that evaluation is done before you enroll, or early in the first year.
@OHMomof2 Thank you!! Yep that makes 2 affordable offers! Good to know that I can put the credit to use where I need it. As of now I just have Dickinson, Marist, and Northeastern to wait for, I’m glad knowing I have a good safety to go to.
Terrific!!! Okay so now it’s West Chester v. The others. 
You take about 15-16 credits each semester. Total, about 120 credits.
Typically, AP credits match first semester or first year classes. So, you may get 4 credits for AP Calculus AB that match calculus 1, and you don’t have to take calculus 1. For AP foreign language you may get 3 credits and placement in 202 level (which would count another gen Ed). So, AP credits allow you to have some gen Ed credits at the beginning so that you can take a lighter load one semester (such as when you take orgo) and still be on time to graduate, or save space Jr/Sr year for more advanced classes since you basically skipped ahead on sequences.
What would you major in and what would you ask credit for?
@MYOS1634 Thanks for the explanation, helpful! My major at WCU would be Biology: Cell & Molecular BS, I’m not sure just yet what I’ll use the credit for, but most likely something that would be beneficial to “take out of the equation” early so to speak.
Beware of biology: it’s the major with the lowest ROI at this point due to an oversupply of biology majors who couldn’t get into med school.
Don’t change anything but think about it before Fall registration. In particular, perhaps look at the 4- year plans for Biochemistry and Forensic Chemistry?
@MYOS1634 Good to know! I had a small inkling about this earlier, when speaking to a rep she said that this major was the best pre-med track, but what if I don’t end up going is the real question. I will definitely take this into consideration when thinking about alternative routes in college should med school fall through. Biochemistry in fact was my 2nd major of choice when applying.
Yes among their different biology major this is the best.
You can major in anything and be premed. Med schools want you to handle the pre-reqs and your major and advanced science classes of your choice with As (or at least grades reflecting top 20%), show leadership and compassion through a variety of contacts with people through shadowing, clinics, volunteering, etc. If you can be a Spanish and Portuguese double major and do all of the above, you’re good.
Btw, if you read AFrenchie36’’ s tumbler you saw he spearheaded RAM in PA, that’s the kind of things you’d need to participate in. I’m sure you can contact him to ask questions.
@MYOS1634 Sounds like Biochemistry is the way to go here, I’ll keep this in mind. I was thinking in minoring in foreign language/a specific language as that’s something i really enjoy. I’ll make sure to take a look at AFrenchie36’s tumblr too!