<p>I have applied to 10 schools and have been accepted to 5 of them.
My problem is deciding where I want to go. It is between Penn State (University Park) and Texas A&M right now, but the others I have been accepted to are Baylor, Southwestern, and University of Arizona. I am planning on going to medical school with a major in Philosophy. When I graduate high school, I will have attained 73 college credit hours. My decision will be based on how many of my hours transfer, scholarships, and location (the further away from Texas, the better). I am an NHRP Scholar and have been offered nearly $200k in scholarships from TAMU, BU, & UofA.
The schools I have yet to hear from are University of Pennsylvania (I doubt I'll make it in, but you never know), University of Texas, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, University of Pittsburgh, and Carleton.</p>
<p>intparent,
I guess what I was looking for is if a better ranked/prestigious school outweighs my criteria. Penn State is the front runner simply because it is not Texas A&M. I do not mind going into debt for a quality education. When I ask for advice from friends, family, and teachers, I get one of two answers: “YES! GIG 'EM AGS! STAY HERE!” and “Leave, and never look back.”</p>
<p>Basing it on how many hours transfer credit taken is not a good idea. I was looking the other day and AP Chem, for example, is lower level than any credit class given at Brown. They couldn’t let you use that for credit. Their first level course presumes preparation such as AP Chem. Otherwise you have to take a no credit prep class. This may hold true at Penn. You might want to check how using AP credits will affect med school admissions. Browse the med school forums here.</p>
<p>Also you will be making a poor decision to take on much debt before med school. Avoid at almost all costs. And you will be long gone in 4 years. Take the long view, your older self who will be paying that debt will thank you. OTOH, most intended students do not make it to med school.</p>
<p>I have to wonder why you didn’t pic an OOS college with good med school admit rates that would have given you merit aid.</p>
<p>BrownParent,
I attend an Early College High School where I get take classes at a community college for dual credit; unfortunately, my school does not offer AP. But I will take a look at that. Thank you!
I really don’t mind going into debt. I’d rather do so than remain in a smothering environment where I cannot flourish as a human being. But I may just tough it out for a couple of years as an Aggie.
I often ponder that as well. My med school of preference is UWash’s, and I did not want to do undergrad there and then also potentially grad school.</p>
<p>If you want to go to medical school, you want to minimize debt and save money for expensive medical school. Read the following, and note that most pre-meds are lucky to get into one medical school, so they may not have the luxury of choosing a less expensive one (half of those who make it to applying get zero acceptances):</p>
<p>Also, what is your overall and biology/chemistry/physics/math GPA in your college courses taken while in high school? These grades do count when applying to medical school. If you have a 4.0 in your college courses, that can be a nice preloading of your medical school application GPA, but if you have a significantly lower GPA in your college courses, it may make getting a good GPA for medical school purposes very difficult.</p>
<p>Unless you get into the University of Pennsylvania, you don’t even really have a dilemma. If you don’t get into UPENN, then suck it up and go to the school that will yield the least debt (or very similar level of debt).</p>
<p>UPENN is the only school on your list that would be worth going out of state to attend… their financial aid is pretty excellent.</p>
<p>^ Like UPenn (and unlike any of the others), Carleton claims to meet 100% of determined financial need. Unlike Penn (or any of the others), all classes at Carleton have less than 50 students. Premed classes at some large research universities can have hundreds of students.
If net costs were the same at all these schools, Carleton is the school I’d encourage you to attend (with Penn a fairly distant second) … unless you have strong preferences for an urban environment or a large school.</p>
<p>However, I agree with others who encourage you to minimize debt. Med school is frightfully expensive, with little or no available FA (other than loans).</p>
<p>Did you apply to ASU Barrett? That could solve your problem.
The 'best school not in Texas" on your list is Penn State. However, if you didn’t get a scholarship, getting into debt isn’t a good idea ($5,500 freshman year is okay, more than that isn’t). AU offered scholarships and isn’t in Texas so that’s your next possibility as of now.
Carleton would offer great financial aid and is excellent for med school (or any grad school) preparation, Penn is also great with financial aid.
If you’re admitted to both, I’d go with Carleton though.
If you don’t get into one of these two: Pitt may offer you merit so it’d be worth considering if they offer more than Penn State (seeing how it’s outside Texas).
UMich didn’t offer financial aid to OOS applicants but it’s trying to change, I don’t know whether it’s the case for Fall 2014 or for later.
If you don’t mind the cold, there are two other excellent colleges in Minnesota, which are less selective than Carleton: Macalester and St Olaf. St Olaf is especially good for math and science.</p>
<p>I genuinely appreciate all of the advice! Not caring about debt seems naive to me, now. I have been diligently searching and applying for scholarships. UPenn, of course, will always be my first choice, but I am now considering TAMU, UA, and Carleton far more extensively due to low costs, scholarship offers, and financial aid, respectively.</p>
<p>Update: I’ve been accepted to the University of Pittsburgh!
My top choices have changed to 1) UPenn, 2) Pitt, 3) TAMU.
I am really hoping for a substantial amount of aid from Pitt…</p>
<p>If you look at any pre-med site (e.g., studenetdoctor.net) they will tell you that it doesn’t matter where you go undergrad and to minimize your debt.</p>
<p>You don’t want to stifle yourself ,but if you owe tens of thousands of dollars and then you do or don’t get into med school, you will be stifled because you have to pay that off. Any of those wonderful schools will give you an opportunity to flourish.</p>
<p>Check out your opportunities for volunteering, the medical committee, the environment, the cost. Also you will have to takethe med school pre-recs at this school.</p>