I have a tough decision to make and I wanted some input from college confidential. Please feel free to weigh in on anything else that I should know about the universities that will help me make my decision even if it does not directly pertain to my post.
I was accepted to Georgetown under their early action program. I have known Georgetown since I was 8 because my sister also attended Georgetown. I am interested in Pre-Med and I look to study biology at GU because of the amount of core class that are required to graduate. I like the campus and the Washington area (plus it is only 2 hours away from my home)
In addition, I was also accepted to Case Western Reserve University. I was offered an 88,000 dollar scholarship, and I have been contacted several times by the admissions office. A definite pro to Case Western is that my sister actually lives in Cleveland. I am aware that Case Western is highly ranked, but obviously it is not as high as Georgetown. I am interested in doing Pre-Med, but I am also going to do an economics degree because of the minimal core requirements (the only real one is the SAGES program).
So my question is… Which school and why? Which pre-med program will be tougher? Which school has a better campus life? And also some pros and cons to each school would help a lot. Sorry for the length of the post, but I wanted you all to know all of my information so you could help me make a good decision.
How important is the cost? We also liked CWRU due to the flexibilty of its programs and the ease in double majoring or adding a minor. This has been a main factor in our decisions.
Editing - okay - just took a look at stats for Georgetown (was not familiar with it) - CWRU looks significantly better on the academic front. Only other consideration would be where you think you will be successful so your gpa is high enough to qualify you for med school.
As an aside, a friend of ours attended CWRU for pre-med taking biology or biochem (can’t recall) - took an Economics class which she loved and changed majors (but kept minor in her science field)
I would suggest you go for CWRU, since georgetown isn’t really a place for premeds. The Early Assurance program they offered just guarantee you a position in an ordinary med school.
That $88k saved will come in handy for medical school.
Case is a great choice for pre-med. It is very easy to take a wide variety of courses. The campus is well laid out and housing is available for four years. It also has excellent proximity to world class medical facilities.
The cost isn’t really a factor but I do realize that 88K is a lot of money to be offered. Do you guys believe that I can reach a better medical school at Case Western than I can at Georgetown?
Actually, med school admissions have very little to do with the name of the college you attended - in this case, Georgetown or Case would be the same.
What matters is how good your grades are for your premed core (1 year each of calculus, English, biology, chemistry, physics, organic chemistry, + 1 semester each of psychology, sociology, a diversity-focused course; plus if possible biochemistry, neuroscience, and optional is a foreign language up to the intermediate level or higher that is spoken by an immigrant community - Urdu, Chinese, French Creole, Hmong, Somali, etc. This last one is rare for an applicant but useful) + your GPA (3.6+ mandatory) + your MCAT score + research/professional experience + recommendations.