I was accepted to both schools and don’t know which one to pick. I want to double major in economics and neuroscience at both schools and price wise they are similar. So which school would be better for a pre-med, easier to obtain a higher GPA, and have a higher med school acceptance rate.
Thanks!!
For a premed it is best to go to the less expensive of the two.
You would be transferring to Atlanta for the last two years at Emory.
@TomSrOfBoston which school would you choose if they both are the same price?
Northeastern, but I’m biased.
@TomSrOfBoston Any reasons? Because I live in Atlanta so I’m familiar with Oxford and Emory but with Northeastern I know very little especially regarding pre-med.
To me this is a no-brainer: Emory. Not only is it MUCH more prestigious than Northeastern, but it will probably give you a leg-up when applying to Emory’s medical school. Emory is a top 20 USNWR undergraduate research institution, whereas Northeastern doesn’t even break the top 40, and denies people randomly for fake prestige…which they will never achieve. Not even at a 20-something acceptance rate.
Price should NOT make a difference in your decision, unless the difference between the price you’re paying for the two schools is a ridiculous amount (I’m talking like tens of thousands). Contrary to what most say here, you can make up the deficit in the price you pay/your debt by making good money once you graduate from a respectable medical school…and that only happens through a great undergraduate education that not only prepares you well for theMCAT, but has a good enough name to make you presentable to competitive grad schools. RANK OF UNDERGRAD INSTITUTION MATTERS. For anyone who says otherwise, please see page 10 of the document below from the AAMC.
https://www.aamc.org/download/462316/data/mcatguide.pdf
Emory would also give you better opportunities for physician shadowing at an Emory-affiliated hospital, as well as better research positions with STEM professors.
tl;dr: Emory.
You’re got quite the bias there it seems - Northeastern already broke the top 40 in US News, currently sitting there and previously hitting #39. But going back further, a difference in rank of 20 is not very much, and you’re generally giving advice that flies in the face of most on here with not really any evidence cited. Emory is also known for it’s attention to US News, delayed entry programs, etc, so it seems weird to focus in on one for that. Northeastern’s acceptance rate is also possibly under 20% at this point.
The document you link to lists “selectivity of undergraduate institution” as the least important category in all academic factors, and time after time you’ll find everyone on here in agreement when it comes to that. GPA, MCAT, and pre-med requirements are the most important. Emory is a good school, but it’s not a no-brainer unless you’re hounding for “prestige”, something literally listed as the least relevant by the document you listed. A co-op or two at Northeastern likely has a lot more value as clinical experience, volunteering or paid, are both listed as more important than the prestige of undergrad. Let’s also not forget how huge of a medical hub Boston is either and how many co-op’s Northeastern has in hospitals run by Harvard and the like.
I don’t think either is a bad choice here - it depends on the person when it comes to preferences on location, co-op (as mentioned which is a big part of Northeastern - a pro for some people, and something others aren’t interested in), and other factors. It’s not like the academics at these schools will be night and day. The student matters far more than the school here - GPA and MCAT are the main drivers of med school, then followed by experience/research, which both schools will offer good opportunities for in various ways.
Yikes, mg29409 has some serious beef with Northeastern apparently.
Price is a huge factor when choosing an undergrad for pre-med… almost everyone would agree on CC regardless of their school. Like you said price difference is negligible, but it’s good you considered it.
Emory is probably more prestigious overall but Northeastern holds a lot of weight in the northeast, so perhaps consider where you’d ideally like to live and work as an adult.
I will say that I don’t think Emory has an edge in physician shadowing/experience as our co-op program guarantees 12 months minimum of full-time experience in clinical or research settings.
I know little about Emory but I don’t think Northeastern is known for grade deflation, if you work hard you should do well. I don’t think either school will set you back considerably, so it might be fair to consider fit and what you’re looking for from your college experience. Visit if you can, ask the adcoms/current students about their experience.
@mg29409
Thanks for the kind words for Emory, and yes Emory is much more prestigious than NEU but for pre-medicine that doesn’t mater much. Also Emory is ranked 21 for Us news which is arguably top 20, but shows that rankings are not that important ( Emory is #17 on Wall street Journal/Times).
@armin23133
If you are certain about medicine then I would suggest, NEU and not Emory as it would be easier to get a higher GPA there than here. Also you will be starting at Oxford College and not Emory College ( correct?), which can make the classes required for med school difficult to obtain in 4 years.
Another thing to note: MANY students enter college as pre-med and very few end up actually applying to med school. This happens to both those who tried pre-med on a whim and didn’t like it, those who have been wanting to be a doctor since they were born but find out it’s not for them, and those who like the material but maybe just can’t hack it grade-wise. Basically, consider what your secondary major/career choices might be and if you’d still pick either school based on their programs in those disciplines. Very few people “plan” on changing majors but many do, so it might be wise to consider a back-up plan so you don’t have to/want to transfer.
I do not have any “beef” with Northeastern, nor do I harbor any sort of bias/grudge. I’m just saying that Emory would be a much wiser choice, but I do appreciate the opinions everyone’s brought on. The co-op thing I would say is the only thing NEU sells itself off of, but I digress.
@PengsPhils Are you from the area, if you don’t mind me asking? It’s not easy to get an internship or position at Boston hospitals (i.e., big names like MGH, Tufts Medical Center or the like) due to not only the insane competition of all Boston undergrad students, but also because you practically need an amazing stroke of luck to get a relationship/position with a Doc whos willing to take you on board. Sure the AAMC lists prestige within a category of low consideration, but it nonetheless still IS worth focusing on.
Northeastern does not have a hospital nor does it have any official affiliated medical center while Emory does. That being said, all the clinical experience you could want is literally 5 minutes away from main campus. Just putting that out there again. I’d also like to imagine that Emory would favor their own undergrads when picking candidates for MD admission.
OP: I agree with @novafan1225–go visit both to make a final decision. Talk to students, faculty, and explore the area fully because you have less than 2 months to decide.
@mg29409 Actually Northeastern has many long established coop positions with institutions in the nearby Harvard Medical Area. Most of these are research positions which look a lot better on a med school application than shadowing a doctor. You were waitlisted at Northeastern a couple of years ago.
@TomSrOfBoston And now I go to a much better school.
@mg29409 Boston College doesn’t have a medical school either. Has that hindered your preparation for medical school?
Yes, I live in the area, currently attending Northeastern. I have multiple friends who have worked in local hospitals - this is quite common. Based on a co-op map on a northeastern site, there are at least 50 students there a semester. There are more than enough great opportunities here for pre-meds.
That’s not a convincing argument and quite the walk back from your previous claim. Not to mention how relatively small the difference in prestige is.
“Sure the AAMC lists prestige within a category of low consideration, but it nonetheless still IS worth focusing on”
This is bad advice. @armin23133 please go to the premed forum, they can give you better advice on what the important criteria is for med school admission (hint high GPA and high MCAT).
Emroy also will not give you a better chance at getting into their med school.
All that said Emroy is an excellent school and if you live in the south it is going to be more known in your area and it’s more convenient to be closer to your family, probably. You should consider fit and ability to get a high GPA and research and internship opportunities in medicine, in your decision.
Mg29408’s post is filled with superlatives and comments that sound like fact, but are not. He has no way of knowing where NEU will go in the rankings and SHOUTS that “rank matters”.
Mg29408, from your previous posts you didn’t want to attend BC because you didn’t think it was prestigious enough and you thought it would be too easy, but that was the highest ranked School you were accepted. Do you still think it’s too easy? Did you have any luck transferring to Brown?
Don’t choose based on pre-med. Choose based on fit criteria: would you enjoy 4 seasons and snow or would rather stay in the south? Do you want small interactive classes for 2 years then a major Research university? Or is the co-op system central to the way you envision your college years?
@TomSrOfBoston, The fact that BC doesn’t have a medical school has not hindered anything. I am only saying that Emory’s medical center is literally minutes away from main campus, in contrast to other universities that don’t have medical schools. That point is enough of a contrast to bring it up. You can’t really apply my point to BC as I’m not setting it apart from any other school.
@suzyQ7 Sorry, but what you list after an arguably 5-minute ordeal searching my post history has 0 relevance to the current argument.
OP, these people are biased as they speak from experience with Northeastern, either being a parent of a child who goes there or a student who goes there. I don’t go to Northeastern nor am I affiliated with it.
Rank does matter. A difference of 20 spots is substantial, and the opportunities available at Emory are innumerable. That’s not to say that Northeastern isn’t a good school–it is. However, Emory is just that much better.
Speaking from experience does not make one biased, it makes one informed. More informed than a student with no first hand knowledge of the university.
And you’re just affiliated with a rival school, were rejected by Northeastern previously, have shown a knack for overvaluing prestige in past posts, and don’t cite any evidence for your claims beyond repeating that prestige and small rank differences matter in the face of contradictory evidence. No bias there at all.
Multiple posters in this thread are not affiliated with Northeastern in any way. One is even “affiliated” with Emory and also telling the OP that rankings don’t matter much when it comes to pre-med. Even those here who do have direct experience with Northeastern are not blindly saying to pick it, but simply giving information for a more informed decision
All of this doesn’t even touch the other good advice given here: that most pre-med’s don’t stay pre-med, and that many other factors are important when comparing schools.