<p>I need help deciding on a college for pre-med. Here is the situation:</p>
<p>Miami of Ohio offers me the honors program. Due to the size, I feel that I can get a strong recommendation. Looking at the statistics, I have a good chance of getting into med school because of the honors program.</p>
<p>Ohio State has a better pre-med program than Miami (I heard), but I have to stay at a regional campus for my first year. Also, they did not offer me any honors program whatsoever.</p>
<p>Assuming that both schools are the same cost in terms of paying, which school should I go to?</p>
<p>OSU has a med school which MiamiU doesn’t. The med school allows opportunities for undergrad to volunteer there. I haven’t heard anything about MiamiU in that situation in terms of volunteering. People told me that MiamiU can be comparable to OSU in the business program, but the science program at OSU is better than Miami. Once again, this is what people told me, including my sister who is an OSU alumni.</p>
<p>First off I am a bit confused of why you are making this decision on May 22nd?</p>
<p>Miami of Ohio is in the middle of nowhere. There is one hospital in Oxford that I suppose you could get volunteer opportunities but Columbus has more. Really, pre med could be any major but Miami of Ohio isn’t really known for sciences. </p>
<p>So, did you not get into Columbus campus but got into Miami honors? That is surprising to me.</p>
<p>I just found out that I got accepted to the Mansfield campus after being deferred and waitlisted even though I applied to Ohio State on November of 2012. The fact that they did not offered me the Columbus campus frustrates me.</p>
<p>I just found out that I got accepted to the Mansfield campus after being deferred and waitlisted even though I applied to Ohio State on November of 2012. The fact that they did not offered me the Columbus campus frustrates me.</p>
<p>??
So, you wouldn’t be on the main OSU campus? If that’s the case, then what’s your argument about being where the med school is? Or am I confused?</p>
<p>Miami Ohio is a large enough univ that it must have doctors, etc, in the area. Premeds do NOT have to volunteer at hospitals. My son never volunteered at a hospital ever. He shadowed doctors, did research, etc. Volunteering at hospitals isn’t some kind of premed req’ts.</p>
<p>For an undergraduate experience that will be rich-choose Miami–nice campus-smaller and if you are determined and organized-you will be able to accomplish what you want to satisfy your requirements for medicine. Do not be misled into thinking that OSU is the end all be all. Yes, Columbus has lots more in terms of finding places to satisfy your requirements. Remember-there are no guarantees getting into med school. You need to think long and hard about how you want to shape your journey with medicine because it is a long road with many ups and downs. I know there are many on this forum who know a lot more about the ways to be selected for medical school. However, I still believe that medicine is a special calling for certain types of people who IMO have a special and unique gift of being able to communicate and work on a team with many types of individuals. Excellent communication skills IMO is the key to a successful study of medicine-Miami and its Honors program could be the right fit for you.</p>
<p>Here is some more information about a December, 2012, plan Miami University has embraced to attracted those interested in Honors and a Pre-Med track:</p>
<p>You go to the school where you will SUCCEED! That shadowing and volunteering doesn’t matter whatsoever if you don’t have a high GPA or MCAT! And what about research opportunities? OSU is huge, so more undergrad applicants are going to be trying to get research spots there (Med schools in general value research over shadowing, FYI). You’ll have the best shot at MS if your go to a place where you can stand out, succeed, and make the grades.</p>
I am not sure if there is such strong statistical evidence with regards the honors programs. Most state schools offer honors programs with a few perks to entice top kids. There is no statistical evidence to show that these schools do any better than the top privates, which don’t offer any honors programs, in matriculating kids to med schools.</p>
<p>"Ohio State has a better pre-med program than Miami "
-D. was accepted at both and choose to go to Miami (on full tuition Merit award)
Applied to 8 Med. Schools, got great choice and currently is MS3 at Med. School of her dream way back in HS. Looking back, she said that Miami was absolutely the best match for her. Her experience there were well beyond expectations and the most valuable at the end was of course pre-med support with lots of personal attention. She applied to Med. School well earlier than many here on CC primarily becuase her committee had done a great job preparing everything on time.<br>
Most kids in our city (in-state) do not have this type of question at all. they are clearly divided to 2 groups, one loves Miami and another loves OSU. The schools are so different. The fact that you have this question tells me that you did not research / visit enough. I strongly advise to visit more, stay overnight, talk to current students, get feel of campus and them decide for yourself. Good match between student and UG should determine most of your success in college. For my D. it was Miami, for you it might be OSU, you got to figure it out.<br>
Statistics means absolutely nothing. BTW, D. has used the same approach choosing her Med. School. She was looking for a good match for her personally. So far she is extremely happy with her choice and she did not choose the most prestigious or the cheapest, she choose the one that matched her personality the best and had the program that would match her goals the best. EVERYBODY IS DIFFERENT!</p>
<p>btw, did not see this comment. The fact that Miami does not have a Med. School means absolutely nothing. Again, it shows insufficient research. Research a bit deeper, do not go with the surface scratch. Miami focus is on UG, not Grad. School. This is what makes Miami a great place specifically in UG. Research opportunities for UG are tremendous at Miami. D. was interning for 3 years, resulting in great LOR and nomination for Phi Betta Kappa (her and her pre-med friends).<br>
One more point, D. had no single class taught by TA, every class was taught by prof., and that famous BMZ was taught by 3 profs at the same time at every lecture.<br>
Another point, OSU gave my D. very little $$, while Miami covered her full tuition. You are looking at wrong sides. Again, forget about Med. School for now and ask yourself where you belong, let your heart to decide.</p>
<p>I just found out that I got accepted to the Mansfield campus after being deferred and waitlisted even though I applied to Ohio State on November of 2012. The fact that they did not offered me the Columbus campus frustrates me.</p>
<p>I don’t understand the point of this thread. Your point was that you should go to OSU since it has a med school on campus. BUT…you’re not accepted to that campus. You’re accepted to the Mansfield campus. If there isn’t a med school on that campus, then why would that be better than MiamiU? Sound like Miami U is better than this regional campus.</p>
<p>That said, if you were only recently accepted off the waitlist, that suggests troubled stats. Why is that? Will you likely have the undergrad stats to qualify for med school in a few years?</p>
<p>With close reading one can see that that OP posted “I have to stay at a regional campus for my first year” meaning after freshman year he/she can transfer to the main campus, where there is in fact a med school. Not sure this is the best choice but this is clearly what the OP meant.</p>
<p>I would hate to have to transfer after only one year to another school. You miss out on so much of the “freshman bonding” that goes on during Year One. </p>
<p>I think the student should go all four years at Miami. Go to Orientation, do the Welcome Freshman icebreakers, make friends, settle in, and have a great four years.</p>
<p>I think attending a school that has many research and volunteering opportunities is easier. It requires less work on the part of the student. At every school/location, you can find great opportunities if you are pro-active enough. I went to a rural liberal arts college where the focus was on undergrads over grad students. This had its pros and cons. On one hand, I worked one-on-one with my professors in the lab. I never did any grunt work and I knew the professors well and they were the ones who inspired me and taught me to love research and science. Ultimately, it was easy for me to get great recommendations for medical school. On the other hand, my classmates who attended universities attached to good medical schools (e.g. Yale, Harvard, Michigan, Northwestern) worked in famous laboratories on some amazing, cutting edge projects. They had access to many resources I didn’t and their pre-med advisors were incredibly informative and helpful. It was easier for them to volunteer and shadow physicians. You should decide what matters to you and try to find a school that will help you be a success.</p>
<p>The choice of undergraduate school is a very personal one, and there are successful stories from the many different paths people choose. </p>
<p>PS I don’t think Princeton is a very fair example. Its an extreme, and has a tremendous amount of cutting-edge research there that enriches the students experiences.</p>
<p>Miami is great for pre-med opprotunities, better than many other schools. there is no reason whatsoever to think that Miami UG is worse place for pre-med than top colleges, including Harvard. When graduates of these schools are placed in the same class at Med. School, they do the same, they are NOT inferior in any way and seem to be better off in personal growth area, having well rounded experiences in UG. The same is probably is very true for OSU.<br>
My comment is based on D’s experience. I would not make any hypothetical comments.</p>