<p>It's nice to get into good universities. Now, my son's problem is to choose one out of few good ones. He got into:</p>
<p>UC San Diego
Univ Washington Seattle
Univ Washington Bothell
Univ Wisconsin Madison
Univ of South Florida, Tampa
Allegheny college
Univ Maryland Baltimore county
Arizona State</p>
<p>All are good colleges. Some are great. I am breaking my head to help my son to choose the good place for pre-med. We live in west coast. So, we are inclined towards UCSD and UW Seattle. We are worried about class sizes in UCSD. Some say that UCSD doesn't let every pre-med student to apply for medical college (to keep their medical acceptance rate high). Is that true?</p>
<p>Allegheny is small, they offered decent scholarship. Because of the small class size, we are still considering this. </p>
<p>UCSD is great in terms of research opportunities and weather. Washington is equally great. </p>
<p>Univ of South Florida is cheapest in terms of cost. They offered some scholarship as well. </p>
<p>Apart from Allegheny and USF, no other univs offered scholarships. Only loans though. </p>
<p>I believe that it's better for pre-med students to get into universities that have medical colleges as well. In this way, students can interact with medical college faculty even when they are in undergrad. In this criteria, UCSD and UW Seattle stand out.</p>
<p>Please share your thoughts....</p>
<p>Almost any US college will adequately prepare your son academically for medical school. Certainly all of the schools on your list will.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t assume that at either UCSD or UDub (UWashington) your son would be “interacting” with the medical faculty. Both are huge schools with tens of thousands of undergrads, not to mention hoards of grad students. Med school faculty will not be teaching undergrad courses. And only a small minority of undergrads will secure research lab positions in the med school faculty labs. (And then undergrads usually work under grad students and post-docs, and seldom even see the faculty member. That’s just how research labs work.) </p>
<p>I would re-evaluate any college which would require either the parent or the student to take out significant loans (above the Stafford limits). It’s unwise to be carrying too much debt if med school is in the future. There is little to no grant aid for medical school. Your son will be taking out substantial loans to attend. You do not want a lot of lingering debt from undergrad.</p>
<p>One more consideration–and probably one you don’t want to hear-- but 65-75% of all freshmen pre-meds never apply to medical school. Not because they can’t hack it academically (though that is an issue for some), but because interests change as the student matures and is exposed to other career possibilities. </p>
<p>I would say pick the college that is the best fit for your son–the one he would be happiest at IF he weren’t a pre med—and the one that doesn’t incur any significant debt on either the student’s or parents’ part.</p>
<p>Personally, I would be inclined towards either of the schools offering scholarships. Scholarship students often get special attention and privileges. Extra perks can be awfully nice.</p>