Hi guys! I am fortunate enough to have been accepted to these three schools (hoping for Ivys, but if not, I’ll be choosing from these 3). Is Georgetown worth the 60k+ price tag per year versus UCLA and UC Berkeley for an in-state California resident? If you were to choose between these 3 schools, which would you chose for Pre-Med? Why? Another important question: How difficult/competitive is it to get the Georgetown Early Assurance Program at the Georgetown School of Medicine?
Thank you so much! 
If you choose a lower cost school, will the saved money be available to fund medical school? Remember, medical school is expensive.
@ucbalumnus Fortunately, money is not a big factor!
Still, the less you and your parents spend on undergrad, the more you’ll have left to spend on other things (or invest…).
It seems the main goal for getting into med school - apart from a high MCAT score - is to graduate with a strong GPA. So figure out which school you’d enjoy most, which has the most classes that hold your interest, etc., and consider the aforementioned cost situation.
All three are fine schools; you can only make a poor choice if you fail to choose the one that best suits you.
Well, if money is not a factor (you said “big factor” but I don’t know what that means) I’d recommend Georgetown because I think it’s good to go broaden your horizons by going to school to a very different area from where you grew up. Plus, it’s a great school, in a gorgeous part of an exciting, happening city. So much to see and explore in/and around DC area! And of course, Philadelphia, NYC, Boston are a bus/train ride away. Georgetown, being a private school, is likely to be more customer service oriented, making things like getting internships/research opportunities (important for med schools) easier to land.
Of course, your other options are amazing as well, says this Cal grad. You can’t really go wrong, so congratulations.
Will your parents pay for your medical school costs regardless of the price of your undergraduate school?
Most parents don’t pay students’ medical school costs. Most students take out med school loans.
From what I’ve heard, Georgetown isn’t the strongest in the sciences. I’m not sure how it compares to others schools, though.
Georgetown is more than fine in the sciences for a pre-med, lol. (Hint: it even has a med school.) For that matter, the vast majority of state schools and state colleges in this nation have sciences “strong” enough to prepare students for medical school.
@katliamom I have been told that Georgetown is a really fantastic school for pre-med, and the opportunities are really great (no cut throat competition, either). I’m starting to really consider going there, and I also heard 95% of Georgetown students who apply to med school get into at least one? That’s a phenomenal acceptance rate compared to UCLA’s 53%!
Do you have any more tips? Thank you very much
Georgetown gives pre-med committee letters:
https://premed.georgetown.edu/pmrc
At schools which use pre-med committee letters, they can be used to screen out medical school applicants who do not have a good chance of admission, raising the admission-to-medical-school rate.
@ucbalumnus I heard about this!! OMG Georgetown, that’s shady. I didn’t know Georgetown does this as well. Thank you for the link, much appreciated
@ucbalumnus Do you know how many medical school applicants they screen out? Do they give maybe 60-70% of applicants the pre-med committee letters? If not, can you make an educated guess about how many are screened out?
For some students, the committee letter practice is not necessarily undesirable (other than perhaps the misleading medical school admission rates). Better to be told early on that you are unlikely to make it into medical school so that you do not waste a lot of time and money applying. However, different schools may have different thresholds – e.g. some schools may write a letter for an applicant who is only moderately likely, while others may not.
@dreambig98 I agree with ucbalumnus that the screening isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s a reality check for students, and a signal that you should think of a different path. To me, it shows that the school is invested in its students both for “numbers” reasons, and for the students’ own sake. (Optimistic, I know.)
@katliamom Thank you for your insight as well! In your honest opinion, do you think going to Georgetown, at double the price of UCLA and Berkeley, would be truly worth the investment for the change of scene attention that professors give you, and overall education?
You had mentioned upthread that money was not a big consideration, so I went with the assumption that you’re lucky to have resources which make money a secondary issue.
Will you get double the education at Georgetown than you would at UCLA or Berkeley? Of course not.
Will you get double the opportunities at Georgetown? Probably not.
Will you double your chances for med school? Of course not.
You will have a different kind of experience. Is that worth double price? Only you and your parents can answer that. Worth is relative.
@katliamom Thank you for all your help!