<p>Hello all, I am new here. I have a question to ask of you all. Yes, I know the decision is ultimately mine, but I am making this thread so YOU ALL can give your input. Maybe someone who went down a similar road can give useful insight. </p>
<p>I am a graduating HS Senior, going off to college next year. I am down to two choices: Hampton University and UMD College Park. I am a Maryland resident, so I would get in state tuition. As many of you know, UMD rarely gives aid, so I'm stuck paying 24k. Hampton, on the other hand, gave me a full tuition scholarship. The issue here is, I have no idea which school to pick. I would rather go to UMD, no doubt. But I would have to take out loans to attend, as opposed to Hampton where I would graduate debt free. I'm sure most of you all know the difference in calibur of the two schools, and that makes a difference. I am a biology major, on a pre-med track. The ultimate goal is a good med-school. I do not want to attend just any med school, I want to go to the best of the best. Someone has to, why not me? That being said, which would be the more viable option? With interest rates and med school tuition both being high, I struggle with this decision. Hampton doesn't really float my boat, but I know I would do well. Would it give me as much of a leg up when applying to med schools as UMD? There are so many things to consider, but my main concern is finances. Do I take out a loan to go to a school I'd rather attend, or take the debt free education, with med school as the ultimate goal? </p>
<p>I know this may be alot, but any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that you can only take out $5,500 in loans (It increases by about $500 per year). Anything you would need above that would likely require your parents to agree to a PLUS loan so they need to be a part of the conversation for a variety of reasons. The broad consensus on this discussion board has been two fold with regards to Medical School:
Save the debt for Med School
Grades are more important than prestige for Med School admittance.</p>
<p>Based on those, I’d lean towards Hampton and go with passion there to do your best…But keep in mind that you won’t do well if you are miserable…Maybe you should have the money talk with parents first.</p>
<p>In that case, due to the large difference in quality (with the top 25% students at Hampton scoring in the low 500s only -unlikely to provide a stimulating enough classroom environment to prepare you well for med school), I’d choose UMD <em>if</em> your parents can pay the cost out of pocket. This is especially important because there’s a glut of biology majors and it’s one of the least employable majors, so if you’re among the 50% med school applicants who completed all their prerequisites and didn’t get into any med school, the education at UMD would help you find a job.
You should definitely talk with your parents.</p>
<p>ALL med schools in the US are excellent. Your goal should be getting into a med school. </p>
<p>Med schools are not going to care if your school is UMaryland or if it is Hampton. they will be viewed as the same. </p>
<p>It doesnt matter that Hampton’s average students have modest scores. They wont likely be in your premed prereqs…or at least not after the first semester…lol.</p>
<p>What are your stats? Unless you have spectacular stats, I doubt you’d end up with a high enough MCAT for a top ranked med school anyway… Your comment that someone has to get into those schools is silly. admissions isn’t a lottery drawing. </p>
<p>The rankings for med schools is rather meaningless anyway unless you are going into academic medicine …research rather than a practice.</p>
<p>Medical school is expensive, so you want to minimize debt and save money, so that you finish medical school with less overall debt. High debt can force you to seek the highest paying specialties, even if the specialty you want to do is one of the lower paying ones.</p>
<p>I don’t know how competitive OP would be for the MCAT with classes targeted at classmates with scores in the 400’s. You know as I do that the pace, level, and depth of classes just won’t be the same as at a school with more average students (rather than below-average). However, the Science college does seem to provide advanced classes (MS degree offered) and there’s an honors program for students in the biological sciences - the general education component seems thin (you’ll need to take Psychology and sociology in addition to the required classes for the first two years).
OP, did you get into Hampton’s Honors program and what percentage classes would you take in Honors?
Did you take AP classes, in the sciences and English in particular? What are your GPA and test scores?</p>
<p>HBCUs have lower average SAT scores because African Americans, on average, score lower on the SAT. However, there are MANY other factors that contribute to a student’s intelligence and ability to handle work. My undergraduate college also has SAT score averages (middle 50%) in the low 500s and we are second in the nation in getting African American students into medical school. We’re also ranked as a top 100 liberal arts college because there are other indicators of educational quality of colleges besides SAT scores of students. The first in the nation is also an HBCU with SAT score averages in the low 500s.</p>
<p>The other thing is that $24,000 of debt over 4 years is $96,000, which is an unaffordable level of debt especially if you are adding med school debt on top of that. You can also get a job from Hampton - I don’t know why there’s the pervasive myth that unless you go to a very prestigious school you won’t get a job, but the unemployment rate for all bachelor’s degree holders is actually very low.</p>
<p>If your parents can pay out of pocket and you have to incur little debt to yourself (<$40,000), then sure, go to Maryland. But if you have to take on nearly $100K worth of debt yourself, it’s really not worth it.</p>
<p>My bad, I didn’t realize that Hampton is a HBCU - I only checked basic data and the honors bio curriculum. In that case, because historically these colleges present lower SAT scores but have strong students nevertheless, this wouldn’t be a relevant data point.</p>
<p>However OP needs to check with Hampton’s premed advising and whether s/he would qualify for the “honors biological sciences” track, how easy it is to integrate the newly required classes in psychology and sociology into that pathway, what percentage premed students get into med school (50% would be normal.)</p>