<p>I want to get into Med school and am not sure which would be the best bet. I was accepted as a sophomore transfer to both UMD and GWU, Biochemistry at Maryland, and Chem. Major 1 at GWU. GWU is offering about 21K in Scholarships and Grants, which still leaves about 17K. UMD will be about 8K/ year.
Some Pluses and Minuses:
GWU has a Med School attached to the university
GWU will have smaller class sizes
UMD is an excellent research school
UMD has the potential for one to get lost in the mix</p>
<p>Prestige factor: Is there one, they both are within two ranks of one another on US NEWS. </p>
<p>So I guess my question is; Is GWU 9K a year better than UMD?</p>
<p>I think the main difference is the difference between a state school environment and a private school one. At GW you will have smaller classes, and the possibility for more individual attention. You will also be with a more geographically diverse group of people at GW. I don't think prestige is really a factor. It's which environment you think you will perform best in, because ultimately maintaining a high GPA and high MCAT scores are the name of the game for med school.</p>
<p>I think the more important question is WWJD.</p>
<p>Some Interesting Facts I have Found:</p>
<p>94% of Faculty at UMD has their Terminal Degree
while GWU Faculty only 73% does</p>
<p>87% of students at UMD are in top quarter of their class
while only 80% are at GWU</p>
<p>50% of classes at GWU are under 20 students...
while only 36% are under 20 at UMD</p>
<p>GWU really does not spend any money on research while UMD is one of the top research universities in the country. </p>
<p>I am starting to lean a bit...Still not sure though</p>
<p>it all depends on what environment you want. academic-wise, they aren't that much different and class sizes don't really matter.</p>
<p>small, private, intimate or huge, public, party school.</p>
<p>you should also check med school placement from each school.</p>
<p>Cant seem to find their placement rates for either school...All that i did find was Princeton Review and they only list the top schools with a gateway into all grad. and prof. schools</p>
<p>i'm thinking of transferring out of gwu (got into usc yesterday)</p>
<p>my friends and i always say that GWU will be a school held in high regard in 15 years--your diploma will be worth a lot more then than it is now (even though its worth some 50 odd thousand a year now)</p>
<p>i'm thinking of going to usc for the better business program as well as the fact that it is closer to my home (i am from hawaii, so cali is a bit closer and i won
t feel so isolated)</p>
<p>talk of gw "rich kids" is over done--there are rich kids, but no one really flaunts in. everyone is level-headed.</p>
<p>just know that there isn't much "school spirit" at gwu (one of the reasons that i chose usc) and that the lack of a campus does this--the city is cool but it sometimes feels like there is a huge disconnect.</p>
<p>the two schools are polar opposites (gwu and maryland). it comes down to what atmosphere you want.</p>
<p>and i don't know how likely it is that you will get into gwu med school just because you went to gwu. i hear that some schools don't really accept their own students for post undergraduate work often, but i DON'T KNOW about gwu.</p>
<p>i would say go to maryland just to save the money, but it's really up to whether you want a big college feel (with big sports events and the like) or a more urban feel.</p>
<p>and remember--college park is on the metro, so you can easily get into DC proper within an hour.</p>
<p>I live in DC so the City isn't so much what I am concerned about, I am more concerned with where I will stand to get more out of my time, effort, and money.</p>