Michigan Colleges-MSU or Grand Valley State for Psych?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Michigan State University
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>My friend got into both MSU and Grand Valley State but can't pick which one. She wants to become a psychiatrist (though she is unsure) and is thinking of a Psychology major and a Biology/Neuroscience minor. </p>

<p>Any thoughts?</p>

2

<p>can she afford both of them with a minimum of debt? has she run the net price calculators? what is her GPA? her CR + M? does she want to be a big fish or a little fish?</p>

3

<p>@jkeil911‌ she’s more worried about academics. Her fin aid situation is good and she loves both campuses.</p>

4

<p>MSU is the better school, but it’s not so much better as to make much difference to someone who wants to major in biology and go pre-med. Med schools won’t care where she goes OR what she majors in. They’ll only care about excellent grades and MCAT scores among other things. She, not the schools, will be responsible for meeting those expectations. There is some thinking that it’s easier to get a higher GPA if you go to a college that isn’t as rigorous and the students less competitive as some other colleges you might attend–hence my question about big fish/little fish.</p>

5

<p>@jkeil911‌ Idk about her fishy-niss but from what I’ve observed she doesn’t take herself seriously, she’s intelligent but doesn’t like too much rigor (she has taken 3 APs out of 8.) Now, that could all change in college. I’m tempted to tell her Grand Valley State though MSU is the better university.</p>

6

<p>perhaps some time on campus with the pre-meds at each school will help. she might not end up pre-med, of course, but maybe GVS might be more to her speed even then. Maybe she’d do better as a big fish in the front of her school than a little fish struggling to make it to the front.</p>

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<p>@jkeil911‌ the fact that she could in all likelihood switch interest makes me lean towards MSU because it is the stronger school.</p>

8

<p>agreed. That’s what I’d suggest to mine if I thought she could handle the competition of the pre-med path. I give a lot of open-ended exercises to my English sophomores, and they’re frustrated by them because all along they’re not asked to think beyond a prescription. Most unfortunate.</p>

9

<p>Have you asked this question on the GV forum? </p>

10

<p>@riverbirch‌ No, biases. Haven’t hit the MSU form either. Regardless, she’s chosen Grand Valley.</p>