I was wondering if any of you could give me any advice in terms of deciding on a college.
I got into both JHU and UPitt’s bioengineering/bme programs. However, I have a full tuition scholarship at UPitt, but no aid whatsoever at JHU. This would make JHU ~70K and UPitt ~20K a year. I just don’t know if the difference in cost (~200K over 4 years) would be worth it. I was wondering if any of you guys had insight into things like research availability, professor access, advisers or anything that might help me make a decision.
Is there any discernible difference between these two schools’ premed programs? If so, does it justify the 200K premium?
Hmm, well, Jhu is significantly better and way more prestigious than upitt without any doubt. However, 200k makes the decision very tough. I’m sorry you have to make such a tough decision!
My thinking is that JHU may be worth it if you really take advantage of the experience, meaning you really work hard to get a great GPA, take advantage of research opportunities on campus, obtain very competitive internships that might not be available if you went to upitt, and then score an awesome job after graduation. If you were able to accomplish these goals, I’d say it’d be worth it, because ultimately you’ll make up for the 200k with a successful and rewarding career.
My other concern is that upitt just isn’t a good school and doesn’t Pittsburgh kind of suck as a city? I mean it’s not even near any cool cities to visit. At the very least, jhu is close to d.c. and Baltimore itself has fun things to do!
Lastly, is it possible that after your first year or first semester, you could get Financial aid if you maintain a certain GPA? Or, maybe there some external scholarships you could apply for? You could also get an on campus job to help shoulder the financial burden.
Ultimately, it’s on you to determine if the 200k is worth it. If you really take advantage of the jhu experience, then I’d say you would have a much better shot at pursuing a very prestigious and rewarding career. Upitt, while cheaper, isn’t in the same ball park as JHU.
@smsasukeuchiha Take the full tuition offer at Pitt. I disagree with @ugcllg --Pittsburgh is an excellent school for the health sciences and the area in and around Pitt is better than Baltimore and the vicinity around JHU. Plus you have the renown Pittsburgh University Medical Center right on campus this providing research opportunities. You will have the same opportunities as a biomed engjneeer if you do well at Pitt and you will save over $200,000. This is an easy decision in my opinion.
@ugcllg --have you even actually BEEN to Pittsburgh? Great hospitals and research facilities right on campus, a huge green park at the base of campus, plenty of things to do in a beautiful city.
@smsasukeuchiha --can your parents pay the $70K per year from your college fund, their savings or with cash flow?
@smsasukeuchiha , either way it is not a gimme that you will get into med school. Competition is stiff and there are very bright and eligible pre-med students at Pitt as well.
I have posted this earlier on another thread as my D1 was a GAP attendee.
Q: How many Pitt undergraduates, with or without the GAP, are admitted to Pitt’s School of Medicine?
A: For the fall of 2015, 5,371 students applied for admission to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and 390 were offered admission. Nine percent (9%) of the applicants accepted completed their undergraduate work at the University of Pittsburgh. In the same year, the first year class consisted of 148 students. Fourteen percent (14%) of the first year class completed their undergraduate work at the University of Pittsburgh.
As far as med school rankings are concerned, JHU is #3 and Pitt SOM is at #15.
@ugcllg said “Hmm, well, Jhu is significantly better and way more prestigious than upitt without any doubt. However, 200k makes the decision very tough. I’m sorry you have to make such a tough decision!”
Disagree on two points: JHU is not significantly better than Pitt (though it is a lot more cutthroat) and the 200K difference actually makes this an easy decision: take the money. And Pittsburgh is a much better city than Baltimore. I’ve been to both, and there really is no comparison.
Another consideration is that if you go into 200k debt for undergrad, that may restrain your ability to go to grad school (if that’s in the cards) which could require even more debt.
Ok, JHU is a top ten ranked school, while it’s bme program is historically number 1 in the U.S., ahead of all the ivys and MIT. UPitt isn’t even in the top 50 and isn’t as well known as the great state schools, like Berkeley, UVA, UNC, UT Austin, etc…
Anyway, if it weren’t for the 200k debt, this decision would be a no brainier.
Good luck with your decision, @smsasukeuchiha , I know it’s a tough one given the circumstances!
@stevensPR - I don’t need to have attended both to know something about the relative cultures at both schools. I know a number of graduates, so take it for what it’s worth.
@Muad_dib It’s not worth a lot. We have many JHU alums on this forum that have dispelled the rumors time and time again. You’re referring to antiquated notions from the 90s.
@carachel2 my parents wouldn’t be able to afford all of hopkins and I would walk away with 100K or so of debt from undergrad, but perhaps JHU would help me get into a more prestigious medical school (which will help in the future?)
@i012575 since your D1 is at Pitt, what types of research and other opportunities has she been able to find? Also how does she like the school?
Also, in general, does any body know how easy it is to get scholarships once at Hopkins? And what size they normally are?
@smsasukeuchiha It’s really difficult to get scholarships once at Hopkins… if you didn’t get aid you fall either within the group that’s too rich for financial aid but too for to pay out ~70k a year (Who TF isn’t???) and you should go to your cheapest option or you’re part of group that is loaded and can go wherever… You’re young at the moment and don’t understand the implications of debt and interest payments so choosing the cheaper option is the best if you’re truly dead set on grad school.
Almost $300,000 is not worth the possibility of getting into a “more prestigious” medical school. I know scholarships exist for Baltimore residents, but other than that, it’s very difficult. Plus, where you go for medical school should be based on fit and your professional goals, not prestige. The more many people learn about how difficult it is to get into any medical school, the more they appreciate that getting into medical school is an accomplishment by itself.
No point in aiming for “prestigious” medical schools as the only prestige these institutions have is in their fellowshio programs, not in their medical school or even their residency programs. A better goal is to get into a community based medical school - it doesn’t matter if you’ve never heard of it - because there you will have much more hands-on experience with patients and procedures. Going to a “prestigious” school means nothing if your clinical experience is comprised of pushing around stretchers and drawing blood. In a hands on community school you actually work in doctors’ offices, take care of patients directly, even follow patients from a primary care office to surgery consults and scrub in on their surgeries. When I went to medical school at a large community hospital I left adept not only at H and P’s but also at bone marrow biopsies, obstetrical deliveries, diagnosis and treatment of common disorders, and had performed a number of procedures like sigmoidoscopies, d&c’s, mole excisions, suturing, spinal taps, thoracentesis, and surgical assisting. In a fancy university program the residents and fellows climb all over each other to get even basic procedures. You won’t get to do anything. Leaving medical school with a nice long list of diagnoses that you’ve cared for, surgeries you’ve scrubbed on, and procedures done will impress a residency far more than the name of the school you attend.
As far as pre-med, you need only take the recommended courses. Your major doesn’t matter. Any decent college will do, even community college if you transfer to a university after 2 years. I was an English major and learned far more about people, communication, psychology, and what motivates people from the literature I read and from class discussions than I did from any science class. Don’t neglect the human element in your education. It will make you less competitive and far less effective a physician, no matter what specialty. There are already too many scientists with no social skills in medical training (I’m not saying that is you, I’m just suggesting that is what schools will think you are if you focus exclusively on computer science and pre med science requirements). Our health care system is desperately short of primary care physicians. More scientists/surgeons/superspecialists are not needed. If you are interested in primary care, there are lots of programs that will pay your way through medical school to go to an under served location when you finish a primary care residency. To prepare for that, becoming fluent in a second language, especially Spanish; understanding other cultures, and learning outstanding communications skills will be important, as will some sort of clinical exposure. If you are not interested in primary care then your medical school education will leave you at least $200,000 in debt. Save your money now, as it could help you a lot to have it later.
those are all procedures that medical students/residents learn, regardless of intended specialty, as all students/residents on given rotations are expected to learn the common procedures for that rotation. Yes, it can be helpful for a primary care physician to be able to do many of those procedures, especially if working in a remote area. Family docs in rural areas might also do c sections and hip pinning, as well as normal deliveries, d&c’s etc as there may be so few specialists or so little access that they are the only option for these procedures locally. Primary care docs in remote areas might also help staff ER’s so would also find those procedures, as well as pacemaker insertion and central line placement, useful. I learned those as a family medicine resident in a rural residency program.
I am not sure what is important for medical research. If you want to do clinically based research, maybe, but biochemistry, neuroscience, drug development, basic science type research - I don’t see why that kind of researcher needs to go to medical school at all. Seems a shame to give up a medical school spot to someone who has little interest in practicing medicine.
@MYOS1634 --is right. That’s the same debt as a nice starter house in a lot of areas of the country. It should be noted that most people take 15-30 years to pay that off!
