<p>Hi guys, which one do you think is the best for Pre-Med?
i would like to be able to actually conduct research/get internships where I'm studying.
I like how tufts has small class sizes and is more personalized, but I reallly like the prestige of berkeley. I don't know how good oxford at Emory is, I know emory is great for pre-med though.
Please don't post a " depends what you're looking for"
I would just like your opinion on which one you would choose and why please :)</p>
<p>I’m planning on going to Emory, but I’ll give you my opinions on each school. However, let’s get some things straight. </p>
<p>1) Your gen chem/bio, orgo, physics courses (aka most of the classes you need to take for med school admissions) will be large at all three schools. I usually associate small seminars with the humanities. Are you majoring in English or something? If not, I don’t think intimacy/personalization derived from class size should be a deciding factor in your decision. </p>
<p>2} Research opportunities should be available at all these schools. I think it’s a matter of proving yourself to the PI, or whoever is heading the lab, that you’re not an annoying or incapable undergrad. If you’re worth having, then you’ll find a position.</p>
<p>3) Prestige shouldn’t hinder admission into any med school. As long as you’re not going to some for-profit college, brand name shouldn’t mean much.</p>
<p>Oxford/Emory
Starting out at Oxford seems rather undesirable to me personally. You’ll only have two years on the main campus, which is where the opportunities are at. Emory is, as you said, amazing for pre-med. Having the CDC nearby is a plus. </p>
<p>Tufts
The best hospitals in the nation/world are in Massachusetts, which would be amazing places to volunteer at. Having Mass Gen., Brigham’s, and Tufts Medical center within commutable distance through the T is nice to have. Random, but it arguably has the ugliest campus of all three.</p>
<p>Berkeley
Okay, do not know much about this school. It has better name recognition than the other two, but that shouldn’t matter. </p>
<p>I think my decision would come down to finances. I’ll assume you’re a typical middle-class student. If you get in-state tuition, I’d go for Berkeley. Save that $$$ for med school. If you’re not from CA, then between Emory and Tufts with similar EFC, I’d go for Tufts. I just couldn’t survive two years at Oxford, so I’m thankful I’m starting out at the CAS.</p>
<p>In terms of education, Oxford is actually really good at educating people in the sciences, especially at the introductory level. It is probably more innovative than main campus, Berkeley, or Tufts due to its smaller size (it’s intro. classes will have more like 30-60 people). Many Oxford intros. for example have their labs run by the lecturer (this makes a huge difference as the lab is likely to be synced with lecture better and can be more personalized as opposed to out of sync and incoherent when run by a disconnected lab director). In addition, normally labs emphasize research skills, and intro bio and chem will have poster sessions for projects designed by the students at the end of the year/semester. I would not rule it out because of its location and very small size. For those first 2 years when you’re taking intro. pre-med classes (which are usually critical for your success as a pre-med or critical to preserving your interest in science), I think it, for the sake of education, is ideal (and then when you get to main, you may likely have a more solid foundation than students on main and more passion for science, which makes for a success story in upperlevel courses, even the more difficult ones. Based upon what I have observed from Oxford continuees, main campus may need to try some of the things Oxford does, even if we have to make honors courses. Many of those students are fearless and enjoy science just because, whether pre-med or not. Can’t say the same for most on main. Usually all the non-premeds are actually the ones who care about about science and the caliber of their education. Oxford is doing something right). With this said, it doesn’t have much grade inflation (Oxford science courses are rare for private schools in that they appear to have a fairly high workload in addition to challenging exams. Normally private schools just give difficult exams, but Oxford is trying to strengthen more than just test taking ability). BTW, some of Emory’s best research students have come from Oxford because the campus seems good at getting students genuinely interested in science and not just pushing them through coursework (plus coursework is more inquiry based which encourages one to approach the material as a scientist would and not as a student merely taking it for a checklist requirement. You will rarely get this at any major/elite school at the intro/pre-med core level). </p>
<p>As for the size of the classes rainyday05, since you are going to main campus, you’ll be delighted to find that main campus intro. sciences (except physics) are much, much smaller than those at peer institutions and high caliber publics like Michigan, Berkeley, Chapel Hill, Virginia and Austin. Each biology section is only like 75 students for example. Everywhere else, they are over 150-200. Gen. chem is still in the low 100s (110-125) whereas most elite privates just throw 200+ in it (let’s not bother discussing the public schools). Organic, most except the most popular professor (usually 90-110 in each of his 2 sections) have 45-90 students. Unless you take life sciences math, intro. math classes at Emory are capped at 32 students. And even life sciences only takes like 60 per section.</p>
<p>Berkeley. I would say Emory, but you’re going to have to go through Oxford for two years.</p>
<p>For some reason, I don’t see what’s wrong with being at Oxford for 2 years. Do y’all really hate its location and its lack of prestige that much? As I was trying to mention. It’s really good, and if you really want to be on main that much while there, manage your time and take the shuttle to see some friends or enjoy the events (then again, Oxford is quite creative at creating its own, student organized events). I don’t feel like Oxford would be “going through” anything. Please consider the educational benefits and what they can do for motivated students before making comments like that. I know we all like to harp on how good the actual elite/prestigious schools are, but academically, they really aren’t anything near as special as we would like to think, especially when you are in the midst of doing intro. work. It’s the same lackluster experience you get everywhere else with perhaps more rigor and competition. There is nothing amazing about this situation. The only thing that is a huge advantage for the other 3 is that they offer more in the way of resume padding EC’s simply because they are larger. However, with that said, you’re more likely to do something that actually sets you apart at a place like Oxford whereas, at the other 3, all the pre-meds are trying to (and are involved in) get involved in the exact same things. </p>
<p>And why Berkeley over Tufts? It’s a large, and from what I’ve heard, quite competitive environment. It may be more difficult to establish connections with professors (especially in intro. courses) and they will likely have stricter grading curves. I don’t see how this helps. I think Berkeley’s environment is honestly more conducive for those wanting to go into engineering or science (as in non-healthcare) as a career. It’s an amazing school and all, but I would not go there for pre-med unless I’m like in the 75% or something. I think many of the good private schools have environments more conducive to the success of pre-professionals. They have similar rigor to places like Berkeley with more personal attention, a softer grading curve (I think this is bad for building the character of future doctors as many try to take advantage of this, but it certainly helps as long as the coursework still retains some rigor), and more accessible advising (and more accessible faculty in general). I would not go to a place like Berkeley for the sake of being in its presence. I would have to consider whether or not I want that sort of learning environment. It’s nice to have Nobel Prize winning profs. and a nice campus and social scene, but those won’t help one get into med. school.</p>
<p>I don’t understand how you got into Tufts and Berkeley, but not Emory. I would choose Tufts over Oxford. I don’t know much about Berkeley.</p>
<p>@peacefulmom
I don’t understand either…stupid college admins.
They’re really arbitrary though, one of my friends got into hopkins, to which I got rejected, but got rejected from Tufts.</p>
<p>If you can get in-state tuition, I’d go Berkeley. </p>
<p>Even if you can’t, it may be worth it to go to Berkeley if you can establish residency after the first year.</p>
<p>If you aren’t from/don’t want to go to the west coast, would perhaps prefer smaller class sizes, or have the financial means, then go Emory.</p>
<p>It’s almost impossible to establish instate residency in California unless your parents are actually moving there. Even then you have to wait a year after high school graduation just to be eligible for instate rates.</p>
<p>regarding the residency. I know it’s hard to do in CA. anyone knows other state? for example: Indiana? I heard that one student went to Purdue, paying out of state tuition for the 1st yr, then in state for the rest yrs. I read the school website: </p>
<ol>
<li> You are an unemancipated student (financially dependent) and your parent or guardian establishes a domicile in Indiana prior to the first day of the academic session for which resident classification is sought. The move to Indiana must be predominantly for reasons other than to enable you to gain resident status for tuition purposes (such as moving because of a job transfer).</li>
<li> You are an emancipated student (financially independent) and have been domiciled in Indiana for at least 12 consecutive months immediately preceding the first day of classes of the academic session for which resident classification is sought. Your domicile must be established for a predominant purpose other than attending an institution of higher education. </li>
</ol>
<p>it seems even you are in the school for the 1st yr, but since your purpose coming to the state is for education, so one yr in school does not count for residency.</p>
<p>There are very few states where it’s easy to establish residency without being an emancipated student or veteran. The only exception I can think of is Missouri. </p>
<p>Other states offer merit scholarships which eliminate the OOS additional charge. Unless these states are in the middle of nowhere, they typically require extremely high test scores.</p>
<p>You can’t establish state res if you are still being claimed by ur parents in another state.</p>