Guaranteed transfer to Cornell vs. stay at UMD

Transfer Students
1

I’m a premed/bio major freshman enrolled at the University of Maryland, College Park. When I applied to Cornell last year I was given the guaranteed transfer option meaning I can transfer either next semester or for sophomore year (although if I do transfer it will likely be sophomore year). I pay in state tuition at UMD with a 5k/year scholarship and if I go to Cornell I would likely be paying full tuition. What are the costs/benefits of transferring? Is it worth it?
I’m mostly worried about how hard it will be to form new connections at Cornell considering I already have a clinical research position available for me next semester here.

2

Stay put if you intend to remain premed. Keep costs low & build relationships with professors & benefit from your research position. Your goal is to get into medical school–not to graduate from an Ivy with substantial student loan debt.

3

Understood. I just feel that my social situation at UMD isn’t great (haven’t found a steady group of friends), and the school is so large. This is one of the reasons I was considering transferring.

4

I agree with @publisher. UMDCP is an excellent university, and premed classes there will be very challenging. You need to save your dollars for medical school, and try to maximize your GPA. A clinical research position is a good thing to have also. Grade deflation at Cornell is not likely to improve your chances of admission to medical school.

I think that you are in a great place already.

5

Agree with the above generally speaking - the key to med admissions is a high gpa + test score. If your goal is to become a doctor you’ll be fine at UMD. If you want to go to Harvard Med then doing well at Cornell + a high mcat boosts your odds.

6

My advice, if you want to be a doctor, get used to not having a social life. You have to study all the time to get top grades, then study ten times harder to get through your first 2 years of medical school, then do hospital rounds in your 3rd and 4th year. After that, you work 100 hour weeks in residency for 2-6 years, depending on what specialty you go into.