So these are the two schools I am conflicted about attending. I want to follow a pre-med track at both schools (although I am only 65% sure I want to follow through with medical school). I have listed information for both schools below:
boston university:
-would be paying around 65k/yr
-accepted into college of general studies 2019 boston-london program
(which means I’ll be taking a gap semester and then start in january 2019 and catch up to the rest of the class during a semester in london in order to graduate on time – I get to pick my school of choice after being in cgs for two years)
-very well regarded school
drexel university:
-would be paying around 45k/yr
-accepted as a biomedical engineering major
-co-op program
-honors college
Also if anybody knows which school they can find a shy, reserved person like myself would fit in, that would be really helpful as well. Please comment your opinions, thank you
Med Schools really look at gpa mcats lors and experiences. I am told it is a lot less focused on the brand of the school. So I would really look at the medical school advising and if they have a med school committee to help guide and evaluate you in the process.
BU is excellent but a real urban environment. Their medical school connections for internships etc is going to be second to none.
BU is a top school. But I would be concerned for my daughter would be relative to all the moving parts. Missing fall and then going overseas to catch up and then back. In an urban setting would make it a bit more difficult to find her groove. But I know her and it could be perfect for you
I am no expert on this and no experience relative to Drexel at all.
I’d be careful with CGS. The two years of CGS limit your choice of major directly and some feel as if they are “Second class citizens” at BU during that time. Some schools at BU do not take students from CGS after the two years.
Boston is a great city (better than Philly by a decent deal IMO) but Drexel is cheaper, still in a city environment with plenty of social variety, cheaper, and you’ll have co-ops and medical opportunities through those. You get more flexibility to change your major to anything you want, co-op’s to help figure out your career after (medical school or not). Sounds like the choice to me.
@PengsPhils Do you attend BU? I’m confused as to how you can speak about the culture of a school if you haven’t attended. In no way are CGS students treated as second hand students - neither socially nor institutionally. Additionally, not a single school is closed off to CGS students after they complete the two-year program.
@undergrad2018 I’m speaking as a student in the Boston area with friends who are at or have graduated from BU. At the very least that subset looked down upon CGS and told me that majors/colleges were effectively closed off for certain schools since it was essentially impossible to complete the prerequisites for the majors through CGS.
I can’t speak to Boston, but the location of Drexel provides opportunities at the nearby hospitals (CHOP, Penn) for a student to explore various medial careers.
In response to the comments about schools at BU not taking CGS students, that is not the case. Students can continue to any school or college. CFA requires an application and transfer but is the case for all BU students.
The people I am referencing graduated in 2016 or close to then. That’s not many years ago, that’s at most two if there was a change.
You can find these quotes on other threads on CC:
Directly from the BU website:
They also note that you get one less “elective” coming from London, which are typically used to go towards your eventual major. Not to mention that if one doesn’t know what they want to major in, they can also fall behind. That also should be noted because it means you have almost no course selection.
You also need to hit grade requirements to transfer into other colleges and can be denied that way as well.
When there’s a good and cheaper option and an interest in engineering, I don’t see how this makes any sense. An engineering degree through CGS will even cost likely 65K more than the already expected cost.
