Help Choosing a school for undergrad

<p>So I am a NC senior trying to decide where to go to undergrad, if i get into UNC i am going there but im not worrying about that right now. As of right now I have gotten into UNC-Charlotte, ECU, and campbell. I have applied to UNC, BC, Tulane, and U of Miami so far and wont hear back from them till spring. I also plan on applying to a few small LAC's before their deadline such as Holy Cross or U of Richmond. What im asking is how should i choose? (note i have read and know there are forums already on this but i want to be able to ask personal questions) Should my main goal just to go to the cheapest school possible and get as little debt as possible , because money is a major concern. Also, does it help to go to a school that has a med school, like ECU and Campbell? Does going to the school for undergrad help in your med school admissions if you apply to the same school? Also would it be a good idea to go to a school where I would be more likely to be in the upper tier like UNC-Charlotte, i would be able to get into their honors college and be in the upper tier of applicants from that school compared to a school like UNC. Wouldn't this give me a better chance to get a committee letter? Because i have heard schools wont give u a committee letter if you arent among the best from that school even if u are competitive. Any help or information would be greatly appreciated Thanks!</p>

<p>If money is a major concern, go with the school with little debt. For me, the choice was simple. Rather than racking up a six figure debt at an ivy for undergrad, I got paid to go to a state school. It doesnt matter if the unddergrad has a med school or not. If might be easier to find doctors to shadow or research with if it does though. Honors college doesnt really matter for med school admissions. Being top of the class will definitely get you a better committee letter (some letters say where you fall among the applicants from that school)</p>

<p>so your saying it would probably be a better idea to go to the big state public like UNC Charlotte than going to a small LAC that cost alot more money. Would that hurt my chances of getting into a med school? or as long as you do good it doesnt really matter where you do good at?</p>

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<p>^this one.</p>

<p>^yes that one</p>

<p>Yes, preferably the cheapest option and best yet, free. Get 4.0, many Med. Schools will be very happy to have you.</p>

<p>If money is an issue then go to the cheapest school that still provides you with adequate resources and opportunities to thrive as a student. Also, couldn’t you apply to NC State as well since it is another in-state option?</p>

<p>anyone else have anything to say?</p>

<p>(For what it’s worth, you’ve gotten advice from a current med student, a current applicant, and a parent of a med student–and that advice has been nearly identical.)</p>

<p>“Should my main goal just to go to the cheapest school possible and get as little debt as possible, because money is a major concern.” Yes, and you already provided the reasoning–because money is a major concern.</p>

<p>“Also, does it help to go to a school that has a med school, like ECU and Campbell?” Maybe, because you’ll have easier access to research labs and docs to shadow. How much of an impact? I don’t know. I’m glad I went to a school with a med school attached because it was easy and convenient to collect a variety of relevant experiences.</p>

<p>“Does going to the school for undergrad help in your med school admissions if you apply to the same school?” I don’t know how much it officially helps, but I imagine it helps some–if for no other reason than the people reading your application will have a good understanding of the context of your work (eg: maybe there’s a notoriously tough prof at your school and you got a fantastic rec from him–the people at your school’s med school may understand how impressive that is, whereas at other schools it’s just another good rec letter).</p>

<p>“Also would it be a good idea to go to a school where I would be more likely to be in the upper tier like UNC-Charlotte, i would be able to get into their honors college and be in the upper tier of applicants from that school compared to a school like UNC. Wouldn’t this give me a better chance to get a committee letter?” Always a good idea to go to a school where you think you’ll excel. There’s no guarantee you’ll be at the top of your class at UNC-CH though, because a lot more goes into determining how great you are at college than you probably realize (ie, just because you’re good at high school doesn’t mean you’ll be great at college (although you probably will), and good premeds at any school will be smart, driven, capable students who are not like your “average” student at schools that lack a pedigree).</p>

<p>"“Also, does it help to go to a school that has a med school, like ECU and Campbell?” Maybe, because you’ll have easier access to research labs and docs to shadow. How much of an impact? "</p>

<p>-Not always. D’s UG did NOT have Med. School. However, D’s UG i s known for it’s focus on UG students. Many resources, including Research opportunities were available to UG students. While D. could not obtain summer opportunities in her home town, she had no problem obtaining Med. Research internship that lasted for several years. The same goes for great job as Gen. Chem. SI. Both produced great LOR’s for Med. School and various awards / honors at graduation.
Researching opportunities / talking to current pre-meds at your perspective UG schools will help. Also, ask about pre-med advising / commitee. The good one will have very positive impact on your Med. School application process.</p>

<p>Going to an undergrad with a med school doesn’t seem to provide any real advantage for admissions. I would guess that would especially be true for state SOMs, since the state typically decides which state campuses are going to have the SOMs. </p>

<p>I think people think that if you go to an undergrad with a SOM that you’re going to be spending your undergrad years rubbing shoulders with SOM Adcoms who will decide their fate.</p>

<p>^Actually D. is at private SOM after graduating from State UG that did not have Med. School. There are 3 others from her UG in her Med. School class.</p>

<p>Campbell does not have a med school yet. Is trying to open one 2013, but a DO school not MD, osteo vs. allo. ECU, UNC Chapel Hill, Duke and Wake Forest have med schools. ECU/UNC are state schools, Duke/WF are private.</p>

<p>ECU only accepts in-state residents. UNC can only have 18% OOS. WF recieves the most apps from all over since it shows no in-state preference or in-state tuition discount. Duke also sees student apps from all over and has a pretty big app that can be daunting.</p>

<p>ECU has a scholars program that one can apply to as a freshman that allows entrance at the same time to med school but for just a few. ECU and UNC are increasing their class sizes due to the shortage of docs here in NC. </p>

<p>ECU and UNC offer some of the most reasonable med school tuition in the country. And they see a large amount of repeat applications. Some applying 3-4 times to get in.</p>

<p>From article:“In-state tuition for medical schools at state-funded UNC-CH and ECU runs about $13,000 a year, but private schools like Campbell charge more. Duke’s medical school tuition is $44,000 and Wake Forest’s, $41,000.”</p>

<p>As far as which undergrad, sounds like you need to wait until April to see where else you get accepted and what their financial aid packages look like. Re-visit this again with the new info and maybe we will be able to give you more info and opinions.</p>

<p>Kat
NC resident with an MS1 son</p>

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<p>This tells me that:

  1. You can get into a nearby top medical school from any UG college.
  2. How competitive you need to be in your graduating class before you could be admitted to such a medical school (or any medical school.)</p>

<p>Roughly speaking (my educated guess only), the students from DS’s college likely did slightly less than twice better (for getting into a nearby top school.) Likely about 6-9 per class got into each of the nearby top medical schools - for some specific medical schools, this number is even a matriculated one. (Talking about “incest” among top UG/graduate schools: There are 10 matriculated students graduated from H alone!) Farther the medical school away, they did worse (except for the in-state.)</p>

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<p>Preface: I’m just one data point.</p>

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<p>Worth mentioning that a huge part of my state’s medical school is to train physicians who will stay in the state and provide health care for my state. They’re not shy to say that going to undergrad in my state shows a certain commitment to providing care here, and that’s something they value. </p>

<p>No idea if this is common. Perhaps it has something to do with the facts that my school is not really ranked in research (top 75, maybe), not really ranked overall, yet pretty highly ranked in primary care and family medicine (top 30?). Sure it’s a great and challenging school (in my opinion), but it’s not like a state school that draws tons of OOS attention because it’s totally fabulous or something.</p>

<p>(Yes, I know people tend to go other places for residency and often practice closer to their residency than their med school. Nonetheless, I’ve noticed a bias toward students from my undergrad when it comes to admissions to my school.)</p>

<p>mom2collegekids,</p>

<p>I find it hard to believe that med schools don’t favor their undergrads given the overrepresentation of them in the class. Maybe they really do see a huge number of apps from their undergrad so it’s not actually overrepresentation, but I doubt it. You are right that it’s not because kids are schmoozing with med school administrators, but as others pointed out, the med school’s know their undergrad better than any other and thus kids from there are often “safer” admits since they know exactly what they’re getting.</p>

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When DS was at the second look event at the state flagship med school, he also noticed there are huge representations of students from the two flagship state universities in our state. (Heck…he even saw many of his high school friends there, who stayed in-state for their college education.) But one of these two flagship state universities probably produces tons of applicants (I believe it may be among the top 2 or 3 medical school applicant producers in this country, in term of abosolute numbers.) Also, most students in this state tend to stay in-state for their professional school education, no matter how stellar their academic or other achievement is.</p>