<p>I'm deciding between SMU and GWU (pre-med with a psychology major). SMU gave me $12,000/yr and my parents are totally willing to pay for GWU because they think it will probably help me get into a better med school but I'm not sure if it is worth that much more.</p>
<p>So summed up-here are the big points:</p>
<p>SMU: school spirit, weather, ranking 56-been increasing every year, scholarship, cost of living in texas, more of a campus.</p>
<p>GWU: name recognition, ranking 51-pretty constant every year, DC opportunities, more majors/minors to choose from that aren't available at SMU (I'm looking at Mind-Brain Studies and Human Services), more student organizations, diversity.</p>
<p>they are really completely different schools. gw is NOT worth taking on 6 figures of debt for, but if your parents are (happily) paying then it is a different story. med school admissions are based on your grades, community involvement, mcats. you can get into a good med school if you do very well at nearly any legit 4 year university, but you need a backup plan. One C or B- in a science or math and you’ve gotta already start looking at other options. so go where you’ll be happiest and flourish, pre-med or not. there are tons of people who went into school thinking pre-med and ending up graduating and doing something completely different. not saying this will be you, but you at least want to put yourself in an environment where you have opportunities to explore a bit.</p>
<p>Med school is expensive too, so if you’re planning on doing that it might make more sense to save $ as an undergrad.</p>
<p>Speaking from personal experience - getting into Med School is difficult and to a certain extent is a numbers game. Maximizing/protecting your GPA and doing very well on the MCAT’s.</p>
<p>Try and find out the Med School Acceptance rate at each school. This is not published but is tracked. You’ll probably have to contact someone on the premed committees at each school or premed advisor.</p>
<p>Since there a lot of Pre-Meds at GWU your competition will likely be stiffer - since you have to get a formal letter of recommendation from the Pre=-ed Committee. They usually don’t give everyone the highest recommendation (Which really helps with med school acceptances).</p>
<p>So, I vote for SMU given your scholarship and do very well there. Then apply to GW for Med School if you want - however, this year GW was the 2nd hardest to get into the country.</p>
<p>I did the “State” School deal undergad with lower pre-med competition and was accepted to several med schools. But, there are many other variables which go into this equation.</p>
<p>Best of luck and don’t forget to to think about where “you” will be the happiest for the next 4 years of your life.</p>
<p>CJ</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback! I really appreciate it! :)</p>