Hey guys! So it’s basically mid-April and I still don’t know where I’m going for college. Of the ones I got into, I am now deciding between the following 3:
NYU: This has always been my dream college, not only because its at the center of the greatest city in the world, but also because it’s the perfect place to house my passions: I can major in Biology and minor in Creative Writing and receive an excellent education in both. I can also get great internships from professors who do research in molecular biology and genetics-- there’s basically unlimited opportunities at that school. There are great aboard programs (nyu has some of the best in the country) and I love travelling and learning new perspectives. I’m also part of the facebook page and the people there are amazingly sociable, and it’s probably the most energetic page I’m in.
But of course, the main reason I am still thinking about it rather than downright commiting the second I saw my decision is because it will cost me $120k over four years, and if I am in that much debt, I don’t know if I’ll get any more loans for med school.
UMBC: This is my safety school and gave me a full ride. It is a mediocre school overall but has an okay biochemistry program. UMBC is known for giving many opportunities in science, and some even get internships at Johns Hopkins or NIH (but its rare). I got into the honors program, which is nice, but I don’t think the school would challenge and motivate me enough. It also lacks a social life and is a small “commuter” school with barely any parties.
Muhlenberg College: I got a lot of aid for this school and got into the Dana Scholars Program, and I heard it has a pretty strong biochem program and gets a lot of kids into med school. It’s a small liberal arts college in Allentown, PA, and is growing in terms of internships and other opportunities. I visited the school and it has a nice, quiet campus and the people are really nice. The food is great and so are the ECs. However, it isn’t very diverse and I feel that the ranking difference between UMBC and Muhlenberg isn’t enough to have a cost difference of $50k over 4 years.
My overall goal is to get into med school, and am looking for the school where I would have the greatest chance of doing so. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
It is not worth it. Premed you want to be cheap so you can save money for med school.
As a broad generalization of the academic profile they are very equal.
SAT 25th / 75th Percentile
UMBC
SAT Critical Reading: 540 / 640
SAT Math: 570 / 670
SAT Writing: 530 / 640
Muhlenberg:
The Middle 50% of students enrolled in the freshman class had SAT scores approximately between 560 and 660 on the Critical Reading and Writing sections of the SAT, and between 560 and 670 on the Mathematics section of the SAT. Mean
For med school, you may get a chance to be a superstar at UMBC…that will lead to good recommendations.
I have a friend who goes to UMBC and she really doesn’t like the social scene. she claims that the only people who go out and do things are the athletes and if you’re a non-athlete there is nothing to do on weekends because it is a huge commuter school. just one person’s perspective though.
Can you afford the $50,000 difference between Muhlenberg and UMBC? How would you pay for the difference? If you would have to take out loans and your parents would have to co-sign additional loans, then it’s not worth it. If you would only require taking out the student loans that are available to you, then it might be a different story.
I happen to think Muhlenberg is a great school. The reason its standardized test scores are lower than other comparable schools is because Muhlenberg is a test optional school, yet it uses the test scores of students who didn’t submit them for admission purposes in the calculation of scores it sends to US News - this is different from the policies at most other test optional schools. Like many smaller schools, it struggles with attracting a diverse population, but I think that the administration is very committed to becoming more diverse.
UMBC is known for the strength of its science programs and attracting a strong diverse population, particularly those interested in the sciences. It has a relatively older population, as colleges go - 15% of the students are over 25 - and certainly in the past, it was known as a commuter school (but it’s possible the school is putting new initiatives in place - I don’t know). You can certainly get a great education there, but to be honest, it’s not necessarily clear to me that you’d be a superstar at UMBC - as I said, it attracts some strong local students.
If I were you, I would ask some very specific questions about medical school acceptance rates at both schools etc. Muhlenberg says that about 100 kids or so enter as pre-meds and there is a 50% attrition rate (which is not unusual), but doesn’t give stats that I can find about how many of the 50 or so get into medical school and what their average GPA is. That is information that the OP might find quite helpful in connection with both schools. In addition, if your scholarship at Muhlenberg is dependent on maintaining a certain GPA (I think Dana Scholars requires a 3.3), you might want to ask questions about how easy/difficult it is to maintain that average.