<p>Any reason to choose MU over UA with pre-med track.
UA is offering $5k more then MU, both Honors Program.
Son prefer MU though, small in size and close to home.
Parents have to pay 5k more for MU as compare to UA.</p>
<p>University of Miami is also in the run as a third option. $28K or more in Merit
UPitt Honors program is 4th option since only $10k in Merit.</p>
<p>Have to Decide in next 2 weeks..</p>
<p>What is your net cost for each?</p>
<p>My approx net cost are.</p>
<p>UA = 12k
MU = 17k</p>
<p>UPitt = 31k (not confirm yet)
UM,Florida = 28k (not confirm yet)
Loyola = 35k ( wont go)
UIC = 32k (wont go)</p>
<p>Just my opinion… Miami and Alabama are close enough, especially if you factor in travel costs. If cost is a primary concern I’d let the others go.</p>
<p>5k difference between your top two choices is not too dramatic. If that extra (x 4 years) is affordable, and the closer location and smaller size are important, than Miami is a good choice. If it involves debt, then Alabama is the way to go (you’ll have more than enough debt from med school). UA has a very good track record of admission to med schools. Get the grades and you should be able to get to med school equally from either school. This advice is mainly financial. If there are other “fit” issues that come into play, then recommendation may be different. I don’t see any of those other schools being worth the added cost, as long as you like UA and MU.</p>
<p>I agree with Chardo. $5k is not so significant. I would choose the best fit. However, we found Miami U and UA totally different! </p>
<p>My son is graduating from Miami in 6 weeks and my daughter is finishing up her freshman year at Alabama. I am a big fan of both schools. I agree that $5K is not a big difference, but that may be different for each family. I totally agree that if medical school is in the future, and if you will be borrowing money, it may be more important to go to the less expensive school. </p>
<p>Our family has visited each school numerous times and both kids have commented that Bama seems like a bigger version of Miami. Both campuses are very scenic and beautiful, lots of use of red brick, plenty of new building construction at both schools and active Greek communities. </p>
<p>The biggest difference we have noted is sports - almost everyone at Bama gets excited about football, whereas cheering on your sports teams is not a big deal at Miami. (My son says most kids are watching the Ohio State games on Saturday afternoons!) Don’t get me wrong, there is a strong following for hockey and in most years (unfortunately not this year) it is very successful. However, the atmosphere on a fall Saturday in Tuscaloosa with more than 100,000 fans in town will not be found in Oxford. Even kids who are not football fans when they come to T-town eventually catch the bug. </p>
<p>As far as other factors, I would say that both campuses tend toward the “preppy” look - probably due to the strong Greek influence. Both campuses are highly ranked on other sites for good looking men and women. While you will find some “hippy” and “grunge” types at any school, they will not be a significant presence at either school - but given the size difference, there are probably more at Bama. Tuscaloosa is definitely a bigger town than Oxford, but the school is centralized into a portion of Tuscaloosa and is rather self contained. Being bigger there are more stores in T-town, but Oxford has a reasonable assortment of stores (Wal-Mart, Kroger, CVS, Walgreens, Ace Hardware etc.) so you can get anything you need and Hamilton is only 15 minutes away for even more variety.</p>
<p>The weather in Tuscaloosa will of course be more moderate during the winter, but it gets very hot at the beginning and end of the school year - at least everything is air conditioned. Oxford is definitely 4 season territory, but usually 10-15 degrees warmer than Chicago during the winter. During my son’s time at Miami, every year except this year, the winters were very mild in Oxford. Maybe one or two snows per year and no extremely cold days. The polar vortex changed that this winter. Of course the polar vortex caused problems across the south too!</p>
<p>If you go far from home, and miscellaneous costs are a significant factor for your family, the travel costs do need to be considered when making a decision. Both schools are about an hour from a major airport. </p>
<p>If you are premed, recuiting does not come into play since med schools are looking for GPAs, MCATs, shaddowing etc. However, for anyone who will be looking for a job right after school, recruiting location may be a factor. For example, Miami grads are heavily recruited by the four “C’s” - Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland and Chicago. If you are a business major and want to work at a Big 4 accounting firm in Chicago or Cleveland, Miami would definitely get the nod over Alabama. However, if you want to work in the Atlanta or Birmingham Big 4 offices, you should be going to Bama. </p>
<p>Good luck with your decision, I think both schools are good options.</p>
<p>@ChicagoBear
Thank you for your great write up it really helps. If we set aside the 5k for a moment and like to concentrate on premed only i like to see who has the edge. Now both schools dont have on site Hospitals to go to for shadowing. They have to go out of town for this.
But both schools give committe letters for Med schools. I would think UA has a larger premed bound students then MU and they have more then twice NMS/NMF then MU so competition will be tough for higher grades. </p>
<p>MU is ranked #4 in best undergrad education and nationally they are I think # 75. </p>
<p>Son is not into Sports so Football or Hockey will have no bearing in his decision. He is more into studies and competing in the class,
To him their is no such thing as #2.
He loves Cold Weather and this year Vortex to him was kind of Mild. We from Chicago.
I am originally from South and cant wait to move back to Florida or even Arizona. </p>
<p>Now I myself a UA Alumni so I know Tuscaloosa pretty good but I have heard it has changed a lot in last 25 Years.
I guess we have to decide in next 4 weeks and planning a Trip to both towns in near future. </p>
<p>Just an update,
I just get my University of Miami Florida FA pkg and they UP the merit with xtra $$, now UM is $17K too. same as MU, ohio. hmmmm </p>
<p>Hopefully get my MU FA pkg tomorrow.</p>
<p>Applying to both Miami’s makes for confusing discussions.</p>
<p>^^ Yes 2 Miami’s in a same discussion is Confusing plus so different in layout one being so Humid and Tropical surrounded by a big city other one is no where land but still a beautiful town and Campus but Cold weather.</p>
<p>I got my MU Ohio FA pkg today. no surprises. Same Merit $$ as promised. No other Grants except $5500 for Stafford Loans. </p>
<p>I guess we will be having a Great Family Discussion this week to Finalize between 2 Miami’s and UA.</p>
<p>I am for UA, Mom is for Miami’s either one, and Son is kind of Neutral but slightly tilting towards MU Ohio and just want to get out of the House and State.</p>
<p>We are in same boat. Mom and dad like miami OH, son likes butler. Miami will cost us half the cost of butler. Son was also admitted to vandy and washington and lee but with no money except loans so, sadly, those two are completely out. I want my son to choose the school based on what program gets him where he wants to be in four years. I don’t want money to be the deciding factor however it’s hard to justify paying double!</p>
<p>Dadfor2014 - I hope you can visit Bama and Miami OH. Both have been on a building spree. DD’s roommate’s father is a UA alum, but lives in Virginia and hadn’t been to campus in years. Talking with him at parent’s weekend - he barely recognized the place there has been so much construction. There is an entire new science and engineering quad and complex, a new Greek row, several new dorms and most of the older buildings have been remodeled on the inside. Miami has also has an active building program. There is the new Armstrong Center, a new place with various restaurants on Maple St (I can’t remember the name) and some new dorms.</p>
<p>Good luck! </p>
<p>I am hoping my son picks between University of Maryland and Miami this week. I really wanted him to pick last week 
It’s a tough decision for him, and honestly I’m not sure if there is a "better"option.</p>
Hi - My D has acceptance from MU for the Pre-Med Scholar program. Did your son pick MU last year? If so, is he liking the Pre-Med program so far? We are doing the visit tomorrow for my D’s 2015 admission and would be interested in learning about your son’s experience so far in case he did choose MU. Thanks in advance.
@nyadus You need to identify to whom you are replying by using the @ symbol in front of the name, like I did with yours. You can also send a private message to someone by left-clicking on the name.
@beaudreau Thanks much. My bad on skipping that, and thanks for catching that. I will send a note to @dadfor2014 who I meant to address that question. Thanks again. Great forum here, and lots of good information.
@nayadus
My Son choose UM Florida over MU Ohio, PITT and UA. So I cant help much about MU pre-med program.
He do love UM in every respect since he is been their.
They it’s a very regular poster whose d went and is now in med school, @miamidap
@OHMomof2 and @dadfor2014 Thank you for the feedback/update.