<p>Our son is now trying to decide between NYU and Pepperdine, which offered him full scholarship. NYU has better student diversity, reputation, and strong majors other than premed, so if he changes his mind (we heard 50% premed students give up), he can switch to other career path easily. Its medical school is in top 20. But our concern is: is the school too big for him? He is not a "street smart" boy and is often times too laid back and not self driven. I heard NYU requires a lot of independence and self discipline, with general science classes of the sizes of 400-500. We are afraid he may snap under the pressure. However, others say he should be thrown into a larger school in a large city setting in order to mature quickly. We should not cuddle him too much.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Pepperdine offered him Regent's Scholar program which promises all small class teaching, has safer environment, and is so much closer to home that we can visit him easily in case of issues/emergencies. The official website states the professors do not grade with a curve, contrast to NYU. But it does not have the name recognition or ranking. We are not sure if their premed program is strong enough (20-30 medical school applicants each year, 60-70% acceptance rate). We are really struggling to decide. </p>
<p>Any advice?</p>