<p>I’m sure it’s a nice place, and maybe you are emotionally connected to it now. Still, why would you pay so much when you can go to a SUNY, some of which are ranked above your school (if that’s a concern)? You can save money, and still go to medical school. I don’t think going to SUNY will have any adverse affect on med school admission.</p>
<p>I really didn’t like the SUNYs. I checked out Stony Brook and I really didn’t fell comfortable with it. I didn’t look into Binghamton but I believe its ranking dropped to 90 or so and that was a bit of a turnoff for me. Plus I went to both private and public schools and I have to say that the atmosphere is very different. Only a few public schools impressed me (Penn Sate U - Park and Cornells CALS)</p>
<p>I think many people are unhappy with Stony Brook. By reputation it is a suitcase school, and the campus I hear isn’t great. I don’t think you can judge all SUNYs by sb. You have to be a much stronger student to get into Bing than to get into Scranton, so I wouldn’t worry about the prestige angle there. Geneseo is supposedly a great LAC, and pretty competitive. As I said, Cornell CAS is not public. Anyway, at some point, I hate to say it, it is not about what you like best, it’s about what you can afford. Now, if you can afford the privates you like, great. It just doesnt sound like you can, and you need to be realistic. </p>
<p>Do you LOVE your school now?</p>
<p>Yeah, Bing is #90, Buffalo and Stony Brook are both #111, albany is #138, but scranton isn’t even ranked. You also don’t have to be only looking at SUNY’s… consider some private safeties that could offer some merit aid.</p>
<p>OP would be a transfer. I don’t think he/she would be eligible for merit aid.</p>
<p>Out of state tuition at Penn State is almost $29k, not including r&b. Pretty much the same as Cornell for NY ers.</p>
<p>Redpoint - depending on the school and student stats, transfer students most certainly can get merit aid. The $12k/year I got at a private uni and the 10k/year I got at a different private LAC were purely merit and not need-based aid.</p>
<p>Wow, that’s great. It must depend on the school, and will take some research on the ops part. Still, in no way can he/she depend on it.</p>
<p>
I understand your reluctance to go through the transfer process while you are not the strongest applicant you could be - especially if your goal is to trade up. BUT you also have to keep in mind that if you don’t go through the transfer process now, you might be taking the “traditional” junior transfer route from a community college next year. </p>
<p>In all honesty, rankings don’t matter in that selectivity range. A degree from Princeton or Cornell can open doors; but no one will care if you graduated from a university ranked 50 or 70 or 90 or 130. Once you have a professional or graduate degree, you won’t even be asked where you did your undergrad.</p>
<p>One last thing re typical transfer route: take a look at Scranton’s Common Data Set. Their freshman retention rate is 90% and the 6-year graduation rate 80%. Half of all the students who do not graduate within 6 years left after their very first year. This means that sophomore transfer is the most typical transfer route at your university, not junior transfer.</p>
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Yes it is. Its ranked number 8 in the North.</p>
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I would not say that I “love” but I really like it. I would love to stay another year and get my difficult classes like Calculus and orgo chem over with. Their probably much harder at Cornell and Penn State</p>
<p>Ranked on what list?</p>
<p>Regional Universities. U.S news</p>
<p>Suppose you had $30,000 in your bank account right now. You could choose to spend it on anything you like; anything at all. You could travel Europe for a year, invest it, buy a nice car and a shiny new Macbook Pro, have a dream wedding, learn to fly an airplane, have cosmetic surgery and go on a fancy shopping spree, move to a larger apartment, donate it to charity… Would your first choice be to invest it into calculus and orgo classes at Scranton if you could take these classes for free at Stony Brook? If not, you shouldn’t even consider taking on that kind of debt to stay another year.</p>
<p>
Maybe you should take these classes at a community college then: even easier than Scranton and much cheaper too!</p>
<p>I meant it isn’t ranked on the national list, but it seems I didn’t realize it was a regional uni, not national. Still though, I do not think going to one of the top SUNY’s will be a step down at all; probably actually a step up from Scranton. I understand you want to put yourself in a good position for med school, but transferring really would be best for your situation</p>
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<p>Calc. and orgo are no picnic at Scranton ;).</p>
<p>Im actually planning to take Calc at a community college this summer hahhaaa. Just hope Scranton or whatever school i wind up in accepts the credit</p>
<p>I don’t live too far from Scranton, and honestly, I never knew the school had any kind of great reputation. Everyone wants to think they’re at a great school. And everyone would like to think that the more you pay for school, the more you get in return. It just doesn’t work like that. There are plenty of good schools around at a cheaper cost that may offer more aid. You don’t have to take a step down in colleges. There are other options. And you may love the school you transfer to more than the one you’re at. </p>
<p>I have a large amount of student loans. I loved the college I went to. It was challenging and has a good reputation. I had excellent grades, publications, research experience, etc. But it was not worth the $65k I am paying back to student loans. It’s not nice to have to leave a school you enjoy because you can’t afford it. But in a few years, you’ll thank yourself when you can get the nice apartment or house rather than living paycheck to paycheck to pay back your loans. And think of medical school - do you have any idea how quickly those costs will add up? Do you know what your monthly costs will be? You may be expecting a lot of money from your first job, but things may change. What if you don’t get into graduate school? Or if your interests change in a year or two and you realize you don’t enjoy it? Someone has mentioned a cost-benefit analysis - this is something you need to sit down and consider. Always have a backup plan, and always think about the long run.</p>
<p>If you want the community college calc. accepted at Scranton, there is a procedure you have to follow in advance. You have to follow the instructions and get required approvals on this form <a href=“http://matrix.scranton.edu/academics/registrar/pdf/Req-to-take-courses-at-other-institution.pdf[/url]”>http://matrix.scranton.edu/academics/registrar/pdf/Req-to-take-courses-at-other-institution.pdf</a></p>
<p>^ Yea I know I filled it out already. I’m submitting it when i return.</p>
<p>To Nova: to be honest i never herd of the university before a representative came to my school november of my Sr year. The biggest reason why i decided to go to that school was because of the 80% medical school acceptance rate</p>
<p>An 80% medical school acceptance rate is really not that special though. It’s 77% at Pitt, 78% at Fordham. Stony Brook reports an 81% rate for med school applicants with a 3.6+ GPA and a 28+ MCAT score.</p>
<p>You generally have to be careful when comparing med school admission rates. Some colleges support all of their med school applicants, while others strongly discourage their weaker applicants. If the weaker applicants (who are unlikely to get an acceptance) are not allowed to apply in the first place, you’ll get artificially inflated acceptance rates. Scranton may or may not be one of those. I noticed that the pre-health advising website tells students that they should have at least a 3.5 GPA and a 30 on the MCAT. I wonder to what extend Scranton discourages students with lower stats from submitting med school applications in the first place.</p>