<p>I just wanted to get the opinions of parents since my post is mostly regarding my financial situation. I also posted it in the college search section.</p>
<p>I want to go into biology (pre-med) and I was wondering which school I should choose. Finances are playing a significant role in my decision right now!</p>
<p>JHU offered me 16 k per year.(would have to pay around 34 k per year)
Emory offered me 32 k per year (would have to pay around 18 k per year)
Duke offered me 18 k per year. (would have to pay around 32 k per year)</p>
<p>We are a middle class family and my parents are willing to pay about 10-15 k per year. I would have to take the rest out in loans. JHU and Duke will cost me about the same and will put me in the same amount of debt. For Emory, my debt would be smaller because they offered me more money.</p>
<p>I am also looking for research opportunities and I have been told all three will offer that. I am just trying to weigh each school's benefits while still factoring in the costs. Can anyone please suggest which school would be the best choice for me? Thanks!</p>
<p>Assuming you like all schools equally, Emory is a no-brainer. Hopkins is known for premed, and a huge portion of its matriculating Frosh are all fighting for the same grades and research opportunities. Yes, Emory is also known for premed, but it tends to shower more money on undergrads – smaller class sizes, and more research opportunities, IMO. Emory’s campus is suburban.</p>
<p>But, Duke’s spirit is hard to pass-up for those with an interest in sports.</p>
<p>All three schools are outstanding for biology, pre-med and science research. Presuming that you would be planning on graduate education/med school, you should go with where you’d incur the least debt as an undergrad. You will likely be taking on very large loans as a grad student.</p>
<p>Emory is an excellent school with the Centers for Disease Control in its backyard. The difference in cost to your family to attend JHU or Duke over Emory is significant but these three school are similar in academic prowess. Unless you have other really strong arguments for attending JHU/Duke (ie closer to home, much better feeling of fit, etc), my advice would be go to Emory. </p>
<p>Congrats to you for being accepted to this trio of powerhouse science institutions–and with excellent financial support!</p>
<p>ok, I am not a parent… but I think that all three schools are great and your are quite lucky to be choosing between the three… considering your parent’s contributions and possible med school aspirations, I would suggest Emory.</p>
<p>We have, like a poster pointed out, the CDC in our backyard… we have world-class professors/ lecturers (Dalai Lama, Jimmy Carter, Salman Rushdie) and an incredible endowment. The choice, to me, would be easy. Another vote for Emory.</p>
<p>Read some of the other pre-med threads. The most important things if you really want to go to med school is to get excellent grades in the pre-med classes, get a high MCAT score, have strong references, and have a substantial record of work or volunteer work in medically-related settings. None of that has a lot to do with the name of the school.</p>
<p>People have noted before that Hopkins is very, very competitive, with a huge percentage of the students being premed. I went to a college where I was the ONLY one in my orientation group of 12 students who was not pre-med. The pre-med classes there were brutal. </p>
<p>Given the expense of medical school – $50K-75K a year with living expenses – minimizing or eliminating undergraduate debt is key. Emory is an excellent school, and if your parents are willing to pay $15K a year you should be able to earn the balance with a summer job, or even somewhat more than that with a ten hour a week lab job on campus.</p>
<p>Go to Emory for the price of a state school. Do not look back. Forget about Duke and JHU…yes it is nice they Let you In…but Emory has STELLAR facilities, really accessible professors, their intro classrooms are smaller than Duke’s–they only have one classroom that seats a ton of students so their survey courses like Intro to Econ or Chem are more reasonable in sizes than you will find at peer schools (son is a Duke 09 grad), the CDC is next door for heavens sakes, and the graduate schools are very open to sharing research opps with undergrads.<br>
Be the “Duke or Hopkins” caliber student you already are at Emory, give Emory professors 100% of your love and devotion, and then choose a fine graduate school of medicine or science. If you use Emory correctly, you may end up with a good deal on the next step as well.<br>
I have lived in Atlanta four times and worked on the Emory campus in a health care setting. Atlanta is an exciting place for the young at heart and the fact that there are big federal agencies and state agencies all over the place…is a plus. Also Emory enjoys a fine town/gown relationship with its host city. It has a weak sports scene but a really fine arts scene, and you have basically won the lottery. Take your money and run for Atlanta.</p>
<p>Med school is VERY expensive and most FA is in the form of loans. Don’t rack up the huge undergraduate debt you would take on at either JHU or Duke. Emory will prepare you well and you have the Emory hospitals as well as the CDC for shadowing and/or research nearby which are two very important factors in med school admissions.</p>
<p>Another strong vote for Emory. Difference in debt is huge, other differences are entirely debatable and probably trivial to your goals. Difference in cost is especially important if you have to cough up future money for med school! This seems like a no-brainer to me.</p>