<p>I actually know someone who was in a similar situation: UChicago really wanted him and maxed out the scholarships they could give (which, as has been pointed out, is still quite minimal) and he loved the school, while Northeastern offered him a full scholarship. He ended up at Northeastern. Graduating debt-free has given him less stress and more flexibility since he’s graduated, and a connection from his co-op employer helped him land his first job.</p>
<p>Since you also mentioned a full scholarship, I’m guessing you were invited into the University Scholars Program. That’s a fantastic opportunity. To have a shot at an MD/PhD program, you need to have a top-notch GPA and experience, and the University Scholars has a lot of really great experiences to help you stand out, like funding for independent research, connections to research professors, and a lot of individualized support.</p>
<p>Do you have to make your decision soon? If not, and you’re really not certain, the University Scholars welcome weekend (I think it’s in March) is a chance to visit Northeastern for free and see the opportunities that you’d have.</p>
1° Contact UChicago with the Northeastern offer. Don’t say you want money… ask if they could reassess their scholarship offerings, considering that you’re under a lot of pressure to accept the NU offer (which you then detail: money but also other perks). See how they respond - at this point, you don’t have anything to lose.
2° A student who loves UChicago (very intellectual - as the MD/PHD track hoped for would indicate) may not fit in at Northeastern (which is very preprofessional, that is “college-to-get-a-job”). However their offer is more than money and that has to be factored in. It’s really a terrific offer.
3° You’re right that as of now, neither Bing nor Loyola are of equal value.
4° What are your parents saying? Can they pay for UChicago out of pocket?
Most importantly: You do NOT need to make your decision now.
Have you visited both (overnight)? Been in contact with students at both?
Thank you for the feedback! No, they can’t pat UChicago out of pocket. I would have to get loans, perhaps even private loans for the most part
You mean that they have to get loans.
As a pre-med, any amount of loans above the Stafford max would be unwise, for you and your parents.
Northeastern for free.
Prestige dose NOTHING in med school application, my D had gpa 3.5 and Mact 33 from Chicago and she has not got even one II yet, she applied to all lower ranked MD schools.
@artsloversplus and others:
However, research and other ECs mean something for med schools apps, so look for opportunities for that.
Research is actually the most important factor when applying to the MD/PhD track
That is if you want to be an MD/Phd and go the academic route. You do not know that until later on in college. Northeastern has research projects as well as lots of other institutions in the Boston area. A research project will not be more prestige at Chicago, at least not 200K more prestige. If you do well in the college, you ,may get research opportunities at Harvard or MIT as well.
College is what you can make out of it. A 3.8 in Northeaster trumps a 3.5 in Chicago any day of the week, in MD application.
Chicago is only good if you decide NOT to be on the premed track and pursue Investment Banking. In that, Chicago may be better. My friend’s D just did that in the first year, she is now a successful Hedge fund manager.
@artsloverplus: Not just that. I’d say that the UofC offers better opportunities in to consulting as well. Also more renown/stronger faculty in some areas (which may not matter to most but may matter to some).
Are we talking about premed or some thing else? If you are talking about premed Northeastern full ride will have my vote.
@artsloversplus: hard to argue with a full-ride to NEU for pre-med if there are research opportunities.
Just pointing out where UChicago may have an edge.
PT I have already done so for Chicago, but OP is applying as premed.There are lots of good departments Chicago is stronger, but I think no matter what, Chicago is not 200K stronger.
If OP is/will be a strong student, he will succeed in any school. As I told in another thread, I just had dinner with a graduate from Elizabathtown University (who has heard of it?). He had just got employment offer from Google, where a Chicago graduate did not. This student had a HS gpa of 2.4 and total SAT of 1400, with 800 in math.
Elizabethtown is known for its very supportive environment for B students 
I agree that Chicago is not 200K stronger, especially since the Northeastern perks are more than the full ride. However, I question whether a student who longs for UChicago’s intellectual atmosphere would enjoy Northeastern’s (they’re so different - but the program OP got into should mitigate the preprofessionalism/rotating co-op crowd), and am wondering what other schools OP has applied to. It can’t just be Chicago or Northeastern, right? Someone who got into both is likely to have lots of other choices, so perhaps all this may be premature.
Take the Northeastern offer.
I know a guy who got a nice tuition scholarship to Northeastern and still got saddled with some debt when costs went up. Imagine if you went to Chicago with no help at all! Med school is grad school and that’s all loans. I know since I’m going into the pharmacy field. It’s rare to find places that carry your scholarships through your graduate years. You’ll need that money for med school and even though Chicago is your dream school, financially, it’s not worth it. No dream school is worth going into debt.
They both have premed programs so I understand the complication, but trust me, it’ll be better to go for the full tuition offer. Boston is a nice city and there’s a hospital for you to shadow/intern at. Northeastern is well known for its co-op program which will help you grasp a better idea of the field/career and enable you to make career connections. I thought about Northeastern because of its pharmacy program but eventually looked elsewhere. However, if you can go there full ride, grab the reins and hold on!
Good luck!
Well, if your family’s net worth runs to 8 figures, then you may deem UChicago to be $200K stronger, but otherwise, yes, less debt means less risk.
MYOSs
Op also got into Bing and Loyola Chicago but the package is only half of what NEU gives thus the inquiry.
At the end, an MD/PHD is lot harder to get into than a clinical MD, it will require not only research experiences, but also high GPA and MCAT. If OP gets two summers of research and a high stats, you will succeed. Whether you qualify, that is a different matter and it is remain to be seen when you get there.
It is extremely hard to get that kind of stats at Chicago to be in the MD/PHD program as only about 10% of the students got that honor. The weed out classes are plenty. I think it is lot easier to get a high stats at NEU providing that OP is of Chicago quality.
I wouldn’t make financial decisions based on the hope of getting into a fully funded md/phd program 4-5 years down the road. Goals and plans can change a lot in that span of time, not even considering the difficulty of getting into such programs.
The “extra” experiences I had at Northeastern - like 4 years of in-depth research with one professor, a great international co-op, and getting teaching experience - I think have let me really stand out on applications from someone who did just 2 summers of research. I think that given your qualifications, you could really stand out at Northeastern.
I meant, admissions beside Bing, Loyola, UChicago, and NEU.
Overall I agree NEU is the best bet at this point.