Hi all. I’m an international undergraduate student looking to study pre-med in the US. I have been accepted to these three schools, but still have trouble deciding which to choose for pre-med.
I like a vibrant city but still student-friendly for I like to travel and sightsee, but also a laid-back and engaging environment within the student body.
UCSD’s city is nice, but I heard grades are cutthroat and the student body atmosphere is very competitive. Is this true?
As for UIUC I heard the student body is very diverse and engaging, but there is not much to do in the surrounding city (Urbana-Champaign). Can anyone confirm on this too?
Also, is Emory really prestigious throughout the US? Because internationally (in my country at least) no one seems to know about it… Are the three unis’ prestige comparable? How is Emory’s surrounding area?
Looking forward to your replies!
Thank you so much!
Pre-med is generally a cutthroat weed-out process at any university in the US, since only a few pre-meds get admitted to a US MD medical school. Being an international student makes it even harder.
Why not medical school in your country of citizenship or residence?
I think Emory’s is more prestigious than either of the other schools but it’s true that it’s name recognition is strongest in the south. That said, most top US prep schools send some kids to Emory every year. The campus is in a lovely suburb of Atlanta with a metro stop right there to take you downtown - a very diverse, fun city. There are some restaurants right on the edge of campus by the subway too. Emory kids are definitely committed to their academics but they have a lot of fun - not a soul crushing uber competitive vibe. My daughter (not pre-med) is a rising sophomore.
I don’t think there’s a difference in prestige for these three schools. You will get a good education at any of them, and how you do on med school admissions (for US med schools anyway) will depend on what you do during your college years: success in classes, research, internships, recommendations. You should really visit these schools. You’re talking about three very different parts of the country, three different climates, three different cultures.
If you search in the premed section on this board you will find that US med schools admit very few international students and most of them do not accept any. In fact, most of the public med schools don’t accept a lot of oos students.
For those few us med schools that do accept internationals you need to deposit two to four years of tuition into an escrow before attendance. And there is no loan or scholarships for international med school applicants.
Out of nearly 40,000 yearly new med students only about 100 international enrollments.
We highly discourage international students seeking us med school admissions.
^I have to agree with the above, first off, about the difficulty of international students getting into U.S. medical schools.
Nonetheless, San Diego and Atlanta are both vibrant cities. Atlanta is a very student-friendly city - the cost of living is low, there are lots of colleges (and thus thousands of college students) and the economy is booming for internships and jobs for recent grads. Moreover, there are lots of hospitals and the Emory system is sprawling, so lots of opportunities for medical shadowing and research (especially with the CDC right next door). I grew up and went to college there. I know less about San Diego, but it’s a diverse city and a hub from which you could travel around the West Coast and potentially the Southwest.
Urbana-Champaign is a small town in a rural area. The university and the economies that grow up around it are the only things there. You’re 2-3 hours from the closest major cities (Chicago, Indianapolis, and St. Louis). It’s still an excellent university and can set you up well for medical school, but if you want traveling and sightseeing and an urban experience, UIUC is not going to give you that.