Help me decide Pre-med: Tulane vs. UGA

I need help choosing between Tulane and UGA. I live in Georgia so UGA would end up costing about $21,000/year while Tulane would cost $47,000/year. I understand that this is a huge price difference (more than double the cost) but if I went to Tulane I would definitely have a campus job and I would hope to be an RA after my 1st year so that would knock about $12,000 off the price. I love Tulane and from what I can tell, they have much better resources for undergrads interested in going to med school because the school is near so many hospitals. Also, UGA does not have their matriculation rate for med school anywhere which makes me a little nervous. What do you guys think? would the resources at Tulane give me enough of an advantage for med school to be worth the added cost?

UGA is about 3x the undergrad enrollment of Tulane, and they have about 3x as many med school applicants according to https://www.aamc.org/system/files/2019-11/2019_FACTS_Table_A-2.pdf So in that coarse sense the percentage trying for med school are similar.

As for admit rates, these are not a good guide. You don’t know if the schools weed out students with tough classes, nor are the preferences in career identical between the two schools, nor are the applicants equally skilled (Tulane, for example, has higher SAT scores at the 75th percentile)

The advice here is typically to avoid debt. If your parents are wealthy and you like Tulane more, go there. If not, then UGA.

Since this is an advice forum, here is some advice. You need to ask yourself why an M.D? When a lot of HS kids think of a career in medicine it becomes “I’m pre-med!” and happily embark on a track that will take 11+ years of school/training plus enormous debt. Doctors are far from the only ones in the health field that help people. Physical therapists, radiology techs, nurses, speech pathologists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, to name but just a few. as you can see on http://explorehealthcareers.org Unless you’ve carefully considered the alternatives and have spent time actually working in a health care setting (which is an unwritten requirement to get into med school and is explicitly required for some other medical fields) its better to think of yourself as interested in exploring a career as a doctor rather than someone who has already made the decision.

these are 2 very different environments. both can get you where you want to go if you work hard. tulane will feel much more like a small school compared to UGA, which will have much more sports rah-rah and more of a frat presence. UGA is the classic southern school- Tulane is more like a Northeast school plopped in Mardi Gras.

is Tulane worth the extra $? only you can answer that. seems like a big chunk of change though- I just would not assume that $ will improve your med school chances.

@mikemac Thank you for the advice. So am I correct to read that you do not think TU provides any advantage for applying to med school? Also you wrote “The advice here is typically to avoid debt. If your parents are wealthy and you like Tulane more, go there. If not, then UGA.” My parents are not super wealthy, but if my dad found a job and I worked hard at a job to help pay my tuition we think we could make it work debt-free. The question is: do you think it is worth all of the extra work to attend TU or would UGA not put me at a disadvantage.

I do not think UGA would put you at a disadvantage. It’s more than solid.

@joecollege44 I am very much not interested in sports rah-rah and greek life. Do you know if there are people at UGA who get a great experience if that’s not what they’re in to?

Yep, no institutional advantage. What will determine your chances will be what you do – gpa, get to know some profs for strong letters, volunteer in health care, etc

That said, if you would not be happy attending UGA then (aside from it being a mistake to apply in the first place instead of finding an in-state school you do like) then one of your other choices would be preferable if you can afford it.

I don’t know about Tulane specifically, but don’t count on a RA position to cover your cost. Many people have that idea and they can be difficult to get.

What are you planning to major in? And if you change your mind (many do) is there a second major that interests you at each school? Are you familiar with the Tulane Premedical scholars program, that has a guaranteed admit to TU? https://advising.tulane.edu/pre-health/creative-scholars

“if I went to Tulane I would definitely have a campus job and I would hope to be an RA after my 1st year” “My parents are not super wealthy, but if my dad found a job and I worked hard at a job to help pay my tuition we think we could make it work debt-free.”

That is a lot of “ifs” that would need to work out before Tulane is truly affordable. UGA is your better option.

@jym626 I have a major and a backup major at both schools. I would love to take part in that program, and I have researched it thoroughly, however, I know it is becoming more and more competitive each year and the qualifying GPA alone is hard to get!

Understood. One of my s’s was pursuing it- did all the prereqs and then took the atanoy and physiology course and lab (with cadavers in the basement of Reily!) and decided against medicine! He switched to engineering! Good thing he was at a school that had the major. That was why I suggested you think about your backup, if you change your major.

Typo above - anatomy and physiology.
And getting involved in TEMS at Tulane will be helpful too (though its competitive). That all said, will it give you a big edge? Med school admission is largely about your GPA and MCAT scores. So no, its not likely to give a big “edge” in admissions.

This really isn’t the best time to go somewhere exotic anyway. Right now the economy is crashing and it’s going to be that way for the foreseeable future. If a parent gets laid off, Tulane is going to become unaffordable VERY quickly. I vote for UGA.