Disclaimer: this’ll be a long post. Well, maybe not. I have no idea what the average length of posts are here.
A lot of people looked at me like I was crazy when I asked this question. “The hell are you doing still debating? It’s obviously Carnegie Mellon - think of the prestige!” Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m fairly certain that the brand of clothing one wears says nothing about their character. However, I will concede that Carnegie Mellon probably earned that level of renown through the quality of their education.
First, some basic info: At Carnegie, I’m currently enrolled in Dietrich as an Econ major, which I’m planning to transfer out of after first semester (if I go). At Northeastern, I’m listed as a Biochem major, which I don’t plan to change.
The main thing I’m juggling right now is the quality of said education vs. the availability of out-of-school options. From what I’ve gathered from various pre-health information sessions, medical schools are placing an enormous emphasis on internships, shadowing, etc. as opposed to the traditional GPA and MCAT score package. At Carnegie Mellon, I was told by the Director of Pre-Health that the best solution to this would be to search for internships, largely on my own, and eventually take a gap year and apply for Teach for America or Peace Corps. Meanwhile, in Northeastern, I was told that the Co-Op program would supplant the traditional gap year (if desired) and that they would assist me in finding an ideal spot at a company or hospital. Furthermore, I believe that the various affiliated companies and hospitals are more likely to take in students from Northeastern, thanks to their reputation as a solid sender of students (for lack of a better phrase). So, in the end I’m not really competing with other schools but instead just within Northeastern.
Another smaller issue (but still very important nonetheless) is tuition. I have received no financial aid from Carnegie Mellon. I have received the Dean’s Scholarship for Northeastern. While my parents insist that they can pay full tuition for Carnegie Mellon, I know for a fact they’ll be suffering for it and I don’t want to have that bearing on my conscience (love, and all that jazz). Adding to the fact that they won’t have to pay for the Co-Op semesters (and I’ll likely be making some decent money during those 6 months) and it’s a really hard sell for me. My parents really want me to take the higher-ranked college, but I see equal (in a different form) opportunity and a cheaper cost at Northeastern. What do you guys recommend I do?
I am pretty much going through the same thing as you, only im deciding between Carnegie Mellon and Syracuse University. I dont think you should go to a school for the name – and the way Northeastern works with the coop programs in the curriculum, that is much more effective probably (I honestly think u answered u own question writing this post lmao) ----
If your going for pre- med then im assuming ur going to med school too… which is going to be so so so expensive- its not even worth going to Carnegie Mellon for undergrad if you should be saving up for med school while preparing the best application to get into prestigious med school programs (which Northeastern would do for you).
Also, Carnegie Mellon has ugly shirts and sweatshirts lol
undergrad prestige does not matter that much for when you’re applying to med school. plus it’s the money where it’s at. i know a bunch of people who are rejecting hi calibur schools like duke and nyu to go to state schools because of money. also, i heard that cmu is harder so your gpa may suffer if you choose to go there and gpa is an important factor in med school. so overall, go to northeastern!!!
My son is a sophomore at northeastern. He turned down upenn to go to northeastern. He got free tuition from northeastern, we would have paid all at penn. He is really happy at northeastern, gets great grades and has time to enjoy himself. There are plenty of smart students at northeastern. Coop is really useful for a premed. You will be able to work in hospitals for your first coop. You can be on coop as soon as the spring of your sophomore year. Boston is a great town. You will need the money from undergrad to go to medical school. Don’t overthink it. Carnegie Mellon is also a pressure cooker. As far as I can tell northeastern is not a pressure cooker and the kids are really friendly. Did you get into the honors college? If yes, that is another perk. But if not, I am sure you will still love northeasterrn. Did you make it to accepted students day at northeastern? Try to go if it is not too late. Also, if you have any ap classes, northeasterrn might actually accept them and then you won’t need to take those classes at northeastern if you don’t want to. CRnegie Mellon is not going to give you the same kind of credit I assume.
Also take into consideration just how expensive medical school is. If you spend a lot of money on undergrad, that can make paying for medical school much more difficult. If you look on the pre-med forums here, it’s one of the oft-repeated mantras: follow the money for undergrad. The name of your undergrad institution won’t end up being significant in the long run, but you’ll have a problem if you can’t pay for medical school.
As another poster said, you seem to have answered your own question. You’ve got a good handle on the situation, go for it. NEU and co-op is truly everything it’s advertised as and more.
Malm59, was your son required to take language courses as part of his gen eds or are they not included in the core? Wondering because I’m not sure if I should continue with French and possibly do well on the ap test to get out of college language in order to make room for sciences/premed stuff
There is no language requirement as part of the Gen Ed curriculum, but it may be required for some majors (BA degrees, generally). But it caution against dropping French anyway, since colleges do like to see that on transcript all the way through, if possible. If there any particular reason you’re considering not continuing with it?
My son did his minimum 3 years of Latin. You should do your three years of a language because schools expect it, beyond that it doesn’t seem to matter.