<p>I posted about this earlier somewhere else... but I thought I would make a separate thread for this. Sorry if people are tired trying to help people decide their schools.. but I need help!!! :P I am a pre-med and I cannot decide which school to attend... I have visited both, but not too sure where I fit in better. I'm from St. Louis, so Philadelphia is definitely more exciting, however, I am afraid of not fitting in on the east coast too well...and I will have financial aid at Washu. Okaaayyy...thanks!</p>
<p>What's the overall difference in cost?</p>
<p>There is no question. Penn is a far better school. If you are not into US News, chances are that you do not even know where Wash U is located without being told.</p>
<p>Uhhh for pre-med, WashU is actually the clear winner. It helps to have a top 4 med school nearby and access to amazing opportunities. ;) There's a reason students turn down many other top schools for JHU/WashU pre-med.</p>
<p>If the cost difference in significant (since he mentioned scholarships at WashU but not at Penn), it only adds to WashU's appeal.</p>
<p>umm, basically, I will get 2 years of free tuition at Washu. However, I don't really see how Washu would be a clear winner? Penn's med school is actually one rank higher (not that it matters, but just saying...) than Washu's and is also on the same campus (I think it is, anyway). I know their med program is also very good.</p>
<p>my 2 cents</p>
<p>if i had a scholarship at washu like that i would go simply because the difference between the two is so nominal for premed (and this is coming from a premed :) )</p>
<p>Ah yes forgive me. I know little about medical schools and always thought it was Harvard, UCSF, JHU, and WashU in the top 4. </p>
<p>Ok, that aside, two years of free tuition at WashU!? Wow, I thought I got a nice scholarship. Since</p>
<p>1) prestige of ugrad institution isn't as important for med-school admissions
2) the difference in prestige b/w WashU and Penn is negligent to medical schools
3) you are going to come out with a much smaller amount of debt at WashU and you still have 100k+ for med school!</p>
<p>...my vote again goes for WashU.</p>
<p>Listen, I would not listen to the people advocating Wash U. Not to be rude, but I would venture to say that chemwiz would go to Penn over Wash U if given the opportunity to do so (this is just by looking at his other posts). wash u is a great school. Please do not choose a school based on its med school ranking. UCSF has one of the best med schools in the country. Should one go there over Duke or Cornell or Columbia? Absolutely not.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Should one go there over Duke or Cornell or Columbia? Absolutely not.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That should be beside the point since UCSF does not have an undergraduate school. It also seems illogical to compare an imaginary UCSF undergrad education to one from WashU. Even if your point were correct, WashU is a peer school of Cornell at the very least, and many apply to it along with Duke/Penn...i.e. peer school. Your illustration of the great difference in quality b/w WashU and the schools listed just doesn't work. Throw in 2 free years at WashU compared to nothing from Penn and your argument falls apart.</p>
<p>Yea, I know that the two schools are equally excellent in terms of me being a pre-med... I just don't know if I want to pass up an opportunity to attend Penn in Philadelphia though.</p>
<p>Ahh so your biggest deal then is studying somewhere besides St. Louis - where you currently reside. Well, in that case, you're talking about your happiness. Is location/new environment that big of a deal to you. For me, it most certainly is and I'm willing to pay a substantial difference to attend a school farther away. Is Philly worth >80K more to you?</p>
<p>i would go to penn simply because being close to home is a factor, and money is not....if i was going to have to take out loans i would go to washu since you get 2 yrs free in this case...</p>
<p>Penn is a better school. WashU'd med school has little to nothing to do with the undergrad program, and WashU has weaker graduate placement rates. That, and I think Penn is a better social experience as well.</p>
<p>Also, Brand182, Penn's med school is also a top 4. Not that this matters at all.</p>
<p>Since you're doing Pre Med, I'm going to guess not Wharton... I'd really honestly choose Wash U. Recently the college has been making a pretty big impression on me, and I'd choose it over a lot of other colleges now.</p>
<p>Wow may I ask how did you get the 2 year scholarship? I applied to both schools and if I got accepted to Penn (if I ever hear back) I would go to Penn over Wash U. But please let me say that I agree with what many of the people who posted here think about Wash U, it is a TREMENDOUS school and that is why I applied there (but still have not heard back).</p>
<p>Why?</p>
<p>Penn could bring you more opportunities.</p>
<p>Support:</p>
<p>I think it would give you a boost to your medical school applications.</p>
<p>You could get awesome recommendations from some of the top people in thier respective feilds.</p>
<p>I think Philadelphia as a city would bring you resources as well (in comparison to St. Louis)</p>
<p>I think an Ivy League degree opens doors more so than a degree from Wash U even though it is a AWESOME school.</p>
<p>Anyway thats my two cents. And congrats on hearing from the College! I think you are one of the first on CC who probably heard back. I have not heard anything yet :(</p>
<p>And one more thing I wanted to add...</p>
<p>Why dont you try calling their career services departments? They can usually tell you in a very detailed way about thier stats in terms of getting kids into medical school. That might also be helpful.</p>
<p>But another thing I wanted to mention/ask was had you found out your financial aid package from Penn? Because if you were getting little to no aid, and you are a person who really needs it then I would definitely say go to Wash U. Before I was thinking that at Wash U you had gotten this from some need based aid but I am starting to think that perhaps it was merit aid? In that case you may not get that same kind of money at Penn because I do not think they do merit aid. </p>
<p>Anyway the point is </p>
<ol>
<li>Money over prestige when it is as close of a call as this</li>
<li>But if you are getting a comparable package about Penn that does not break the bank - then definitely go to Penn </li>
<li>But only after calling the Career Services and asking about thier med schol stats.</li>
</ol>
<p>washu = bad reputation</p>
<p>Cal = sucky skool</p>
<p>
[quote]
Cal = sucky skool
[/quote]
I agree. but at least barklee doesn't try so hard to bump itself up the rankings and try to look smarter than it actually is :P</p>
<p>whats going on here?</p>