<p>I intend to be a pre-med and I am fairly certain that I will end up going to medical school. I have been told that if this were not the case, I should go to Penn because of the overall better opportunities it will offer me and because the ivy name will help in the future with whatever I do. However, because I will be applying to medical school, and no one really understand how medical school admissions works (i.e. I could probably do well at Rutgers and go to a top med school just the same as with Penn), I am leaning towards Rutgers where I will get my undergraduate education free of charge (tuition + room and board) and be able to finish medical school virtually debt free.</p>
<p>If anyone can offer any insight, especially if you have ever been faced with a similar decision, please advise.</p>
<p>considering how expensive med school is, rutgers seems like a very promising choice because college tuition will be one less thing to worry about. now i’m not premed, so i don’t know how the whole procedure works. if the undergraduate school you attend doesn’t really affect your med school chances, then rutgers would be a good choice. but if you feel that penn would prepare you better for med school, like the quality of education you’ll receive, then going to penn would be a good option. is penn giving you any scholarship money or financial aid? if you went to rutgers, what school would it be (sas/sebs/pharmacy/engineering)? i’m assuming sas or sas honors.</p>
<p>I haven’t had experience with such a situation but reading your post I think you should go to Rutgers. Overall, I think it’s more important to go to a great med school and as long as you have good grades med snoops don’t really care as much where you complete your undergraduate. Rutgers is the better choice since you’ll be saving so much money since you have a full ride and you just have to worry about med school tution. No matter which you choose you will end up at a great school but in my opinion got to Rutgers. </p>
<p>Good luck and let us know your decision</p>
<p>i have a friend who is in a similar situation. he is choosing to go to rutgers over Columbia because he has a full ride to RU and he wants to get into med school with as little debt as possible. i would say the only advantage to going to Penn would be that you might have a little advantage if you are applying to Penn Med School. they have a really good program, and if you did your undergrad at Penn, you might get preference. i dont know for sure, but it makes sense to me. i would say RU is a smarter choice if you have no preference between the two, because getting a doctoral degree is going to cost a lot of money. saving as much money as you can now will always help</p>
<p>Chose Rutgers and contrary to expectations, I have no regrets</p>
<p>thanks for the helpful feedback</p>
<p>Rutgers would be a better option because they have a great med school. I mean with the full ride, you’re saving around $120,000 by choosing to go to Rutgers than uPenn. But if money isn’t a problem, then choose uPenn.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter what major or what school you go to that affects medical schools decision on you. I would say go to Rutgers because all of NJ medical schools are affiliated with rutgers some way and take ALOT of their students. Also, you dont want money issues in your mind while studying undergrad.</p>