<p>So I was accepted into Northeastern under a Psychology Major, and this school is my top choice, but I received very little financial aid. So while I'm happy that I was accepted to my dream school, I am trying to be as realistic as possible. I am worried about the amount of debt I am going to walk out with from Northeastern b/c I am paying for college on my own. I am definitely planning on going to Med School directly after college. I am trying to figure out if Northeastern is going to be worth the 250K debt I may have once I attend Med school. See the one thing that attracted me to Northeastern was the Co-op Program, and I've heard that many business and engineer majors receive great Co-ops. But I never hear much about any Medical based Co-ops. I want to know more about the Medical based co-ops and if anyone with experience could tell me how it was and how hard it was to find one? I want to make sure the Co-op Program for prospective medical school students is strong that way I can be sure I am investing my money in the right place. Any feedback about Medical Based Co-ops or taking out large amounts of loans will be helpful thanks!</p>
<p>Well, there are limitations on “medical co-ops”. Mainly that you are an undergraduate and have zero qualifications to really deal with patients, so clinical co-ops are limited. Many premeds spend at least one of their co-ops doing research (which is an important aspect of a med app) either in clinical or basic science. There are semi-clinical opportunities, like the (very competitive) co-op working side-by-side with a genetics counselor and a bunch working in clinics doing more patient management sort of stuff. Co-op is an advantage in the med app process–you get solid ECs, letters of rec, and some really cool experiences to talk about.</p>
<p>Too much undergrad debt is too much undergrad debt, regardless of if you’re thinking of medical school. Massive debt is part of becoming a doctor. Something like 30k from ugrad on top of 200k is pretty negligible. Something like 70k on top of 200k might be another story.</p>
<p>I don’t think (and the pre-med forum on CC will agree with me) that there are good or bad “pre-med schools”. Debt aside, you should pick a college based on where you’ll be happy. GPA and MCAT are the most important for medical school. ECs are next. Probably LOR after that. NU might give you a leg up in extracurricular and experience (doesn’t hurt to live in Boston right now the street from Harvard associated hospitals), but GPA and MCAT are still going to be more important.</p>
<p>So, NU is a normal choice for a prospective med student. NU students do well in med admissions IF they have great grades and a good MCAT, at which point, their ECs really stand out from other applicants thanks to co-op. But I also know of several students with awesome ECs but a low MCAT who didn’t get in anywhere.</p>
<p>Of course, there’s also the fact that only about 1 of 10 (semi-uneducated guess) “pre-meds” in your freshman General Biology class will actually end up applying to med school. Maybe you could be that one person, but there’s also the chance that you’ll wind up wanting to do something else, which is another reason that med school should be a super minor factor in choosing an undergrad.</p>
<p>Wow thanks that was very informative! I was worried about the debt from Northeastern too and I’m considering grad school.</p>
<p>Might want to take a look at this as well: [Tufts</a> Medical School Early Assurance Program (MD)](<a href=“http://www.northeastern.edu/prehealth/applying/tufts_ea_program/]Tufts”>http://www.northeastern.edu/prehealth/applying/tufts_ea_program/)</p>