I think he did research UAH but thought it was another Alabama campus, not a separate school. It can get confusing. I’ll give it one more pitch for what it’s worth! Everything you mentioned about it sounds very appealing.
He is a National Hispanic Merit Scholar (as per PSAT) but did not qualify as NMSF. Fordham offers full tuition for NHMS but it’s competitive and would usually be mentioned in the acceptance letter (it was not in his) so it’s nice when schools like Bama spell it out as auto merit just for applying and you can count on it.
He applied to Pitt kind of late (Nov. 30) because he thought he needed to apply to honors at the same time and was working hard on his honors essay. Turns out he could have sent the general app in first, then honors by Dec. 1st. So not holding out hope for much merit @ Pitt. They do have a few minority scholarships @ Pitt he might qualify for, but we’ll see.
I should clarify that my son is not anti-party but just doesn’t want party life to be super dominant on campus or feel pressured to join a fraternity, just looking for a balance where academics and clubs are also part of the equation. I told him that Alabama (or any party school) has lots of serious academic kids in the mix (especially if you are in honors) and he’d find his people, so hopefully he realizes that.
I lived near Pitt for 4 years in my 20’s. Looked at it for my older daughter when she was applying (she is a junior somewhere else now), and now looking at it again for my younger daughter. nothing in my experience or research suggests it is any more of a party school then any other state public- actually less than most. Greek life is not that big and being in a city means there are mnany other things to do then juist drink and party. I am sure there are kids who want a very tame and party-free college experience. that might not be Pitt, but it’s not a party school and is not ranked on the list of top party schools.
My daughter has had a great experience at Purdue’s Honors College, though only 1.5 semesters in. In addition to the specific dorms, her Honors-specific required course was her favorite, and the engagement with Honors-specific advisors has really benefited her.
Her older sister graduated 2 years ago, non-Honors, and the difference is meaningful. And her older sister was quite happy with her experience.
Can someone throw insight about UAB Birmingham honors college vs Rutgers Newark HLLC Vs NJIT honors college for a pre med student. Student has acceptance in all above 3. But is confused about making decision.
Pros
UAB: Good brand name, heard their premed program is good, so is their support system
Con:
Far from NJ which is our home state. COA comes up to 30k, which is outside our range. When the student decide to apply for med school , they will be still considered as non resident of Alabama. Heersink med school favors in state students
Rutgers Newark:
Pros:
Close to home, affordable. Close to NJMS
Con:
HLLC requires minor in social justice. Not sure if it’s worth the time
NJIT
Pro:
Full ride, close to home
Con:
Not meant to be a pre med school. Worried about the support system.
UAB is solid medically but it’s far from home (sounds like it matters), most importantly it’s out of your price range…don’t forget you have med school too. The price thing alone is reason to punt.
If NJIT, which type of advising. I don’t see they offer. Of the two which kind of shadowing opportunities are available ?
Visit both. Meet pre med at both. You note NJIT is not meant for this but what kind of stats do they have. What % of kids applying get into med school etc. Which feels right ?
If you live in the LLC at Rutgers, how will those courses impact gen Ed. Some probably cover it.
Given med students should understand all levels of society and many serve in poor, under represented areas…it seems a positive experience to me. I wouldn’t see it as ‘extra’ given the med school goals. I would embrace the minor. Being a dr isn’t just healing wounds.
On paper, RU-N seems a better fit but you need to visit both, learn about advising, shadowing opprtunities, etc.
Will the price difference impact you or your ability to fund med school ? All this matters.
For any premed student, my understanding is that they will be assigned with a premed advisor to help them through a journey into med school. I do see that they have an advisor assigned based on the information from their website. But wanted to know how effective those advisors are. With respect to shadowing, I believe that is something the student have to find outside the college, but they do have some research opportunities with NJMS. One thing that was concerning in NJIT was that, they do not give medical committee letters to all the students.
Thanks for your perspective about Rutgers. The students are expected to take few additional courses as a part of the honors college. But I see what you are saying, so it might beneficial to get a minor in social justice when applying to med school.
Thank You!
Yes, they have combined 7 year BSMD as well. But I don’t have high hopes due to its low acceptance rate. So wanted to know how NJIT will workout just for a premed
UAB: sounds too expensive and too far. Being premed is hard work; you don’t want to simultaneously feel stressed about counting pennies or traveling back for breaks. You want to be able to sort of melt and relax, not lose a day on each end of your break frantically schlepping yourself to an airport for a packed holiday flight during bad weather.
Rutgers Newark: Close to home is nice. Affordable is nice! I think the minor in social justice is a terrific thing. Med schools are all about social justice lately, which is as it should be because social determinants of health are so important. Med school AOs get sick of seeing the same old medical research, medical volunteering and medical shadowing. Way more interesting would be some sociology or public health type research. A consistent volunteer job at a homeless shelter would be way more interesting than some boring thing at the hospital.
NJIT: Close to home is nice. Free is extra nice!!! Not sure what “not meant to be a pre med school” means. I am a doctor as is one of my siblings. Neither of us went to a school that is known for churning out premeds (such as Washington University of St. Louis, Johns Hopkins etc.) but despite that we had no trouble getting into med school. You need good grades and you need to be a good standardized test taker (if your kid is good at SAT will probably be good at MCAT.)
I am not completely sure, because my kid is not in the honors program (he is at LC and did get the full NMS scholarship, but wasn’t invited to honors) but here is what I have gleaned from my kid’s second-hand impressions plus parents group comments:
LC honors is small, only ~18 students/yr. It is more flexible and less formal than the honors program at Rose Hill. For senior honors capstone, students can choose a wide variety of projects; I get the sense that almost anything goes. Some of the students submit something creative, as LC is the campus with more of the arts majors. If students have a scheduling conflict, they can opt out of some of the honors classes and substitute something else. I get the sense that LC honors is filled with really smart kids, but doesn’t take itself overly seriously, which befits the general vibe at LC (for example, LC doesn’t have senior portraits, or formals, or “school spirit” in the traditional sense.)
Honors at RH has maybe ~36 students/yr, comes with access to an honors-only study house, and seems more structured. The capstones seem to adhere to stricter guidelines. I get the sense that RH honors programs students are closer knit, and that being in the honors program is part of their identity on campus.
At both LC and RH, the honors program admission is holistic. They don’t choose just the highest stats kids, they want a cross-section of high achieving students with different backgrounds. At Fordham, being in honors doesn’t give you priority for things like housing or registration as far as I know. It also doesn’t serve to give you smaller classes or more discussion-based classes, because small discussion-based classes is how Fordham functions at baseline.
I don’t have anything to share but my kid also was admitted to both (to a different major) and ended up with a similar price differential so is focusing on Rutgers for now. (Still waiting for decisions from our instate options.)
