My D has been admitted to both Pitt and Fordham (Lincoln campus) and has been offered the Dean’s scholarship at Fordham. Both schools will be out of state for us. She is going to follow the Pre-Med track and we wanted to find out which of the two schools would give her the best opportunities in the field. Please list Pros and Cons of both.
We are still waiting to hear back from other schools and hoping for more merit money after she submits her mid-year grades.
I would lean Pitt for pre-med, but I am sure Fordham works too…as will most colleges.
All in all, I would choose the least expensive option…what are the relative net costs? Are those net costs affordable, or would your D have to take the Federal student loans?
Of course the final decision would be based on Net Cost.
I had read somewhere that Fordham @ Lincoln lacked a good science program especially for those in the pre-med track. Pitt has several hospitals nearby that offer volunteer & research opportunities to under grads.
Funny my son is also looking at both. Is she doing the Natural Science major at Lincoln Center? I am glad you started this thread because I have the same question.
She is thinking of doing her major in Anthropology but on the side do the pre-med track.
My D is only interested in the Lincoln campus but I feel if the campus is lacking in their science program or opportunities then it may not be worth it. Though Fordham allows students to take classes at Rose Hill I feel the energy to go back and forth would not work.
Pitt is very strong in their STEM fields, is a large public research oriented public university.
Fordham is a smaller, private Jesuit university with an emphasis on business, economics, and finance. It’s also consisting of upper class students. There also might be a core curriculum that needs to be completed before graduation. That may or may not appeal to the student.
It’s good you are asking this question but i would do a lot of research about the differences between the two colleges which seems vast.
There is no shortage of opportunities in NYC.
Premed students need volunteer hours in both health care (direct contact) and non health care areas. This can be found in NYC …even during Covid.
NYC has many teaching hospitals. Pre Covid- you can call one and get invited to shadow.
I can’t answer the research question, as my D didn’t attend either school (she did research elsewhere, but I don’t think it’s as impt for med school…depending)
These two schools are different, IMO. I would research the differences and also look at costs. I have no doubt that Pitt has outstanding opportunities.
Our daughter also applied and accepted to both Pitt and Fordham. For us, we would choose Pitt over Fordham for many reasons but I’m listing a few that may apply to your daughter:
Cost: Pitt will be much cheaper unless D. received substantial grants on top of merit aids.
Medical experiences: UPMC provides students tons of opportunities for doctor shadows and internship.
Research opportunities: Pitt is research powerhouse for medical and other areas of study. Pitt medical school also has programs and research opportunities for premed students.
BS/MD , SPAEP and EAP programs.
The cost savings alone for us is very important since medical school is expensive.
Adding a link below for SPAEP program info:
@ttb1263: Has your D been accepted to Lincoln or Rose Hill? Also has your D also received the Dean’s merit from Fordham. Ours was 20k
She got accepted to Rose Hill with 20K too. That leaves almost 60K a year and I heard Fordham is raising COA yearly, which may cost close to 90K in a few year.
Pitt was one of my favorite schools.
You mentioned that it might require too much “energy” to travel between Fordham’s 2 campuses. Your D might not like NYC…where she might find a great opportunity requiring a 45 min train ride each way. Or…she may find something down the street. Right now you don’t know.
I think Pitt might have more local opportunities, but I don’t know enough about Fordham.
I have a son at Fordham RH. From what I have witnessed, Fordham seems to be more geared towards business and government than the medical field. You can travel back and forth but it is not as easy as it sounds. The Ram Van is awesome but it can be time-consuming if traffic is heavy. Alternately, they can take the subway but LC is on the upper westside. My d21 is going into nursing/medical research and likely attending Pitt as they are known for their research and medical fields. Both schools are great, it just depends on your major.
For anyone not sure if X school is “good” for pre-meds, a simple option is to ask their pre-med (or pre-health) department where recent graduates have been accepted. (Specifically where, not just numbers, because most (all?) schools will count Caribbean and other “alternatives” in with their acceptance numbers to skew them higher.)
If you are content with what you see, the school can get a student there. If not, it’s a caution flag.
The school will not actually get the student there (no school will) - that depends upon the student with their grades, ECs and test scores, but the student can get there from that school if they do their part.
Pitt is a pre-med powerhouse in our state. That has its pros and cons. There are a lot of opportunities one can get within walking distance of their dorm room, but there’s also a lot of competition among peers for committee letters, etc.
I’m not as familiar with Fordham. I know one student who went there (not sure which campus), but it was years ago and not with pre-med intentions.
Committee letters would be something else to think about. Some schools do this, and others do not.
Are committee letters like Letters of Recommendation?
Sort of, but more. Here’s a link for Pitt’s:
https://www.pitt.edu/~sorc/poms/committee.html
If you get a bad committee letter you can essentially kiss your med school hopes good-bye.
I have also heard that some schools will give committee letters to some applicants, but not all. If it’s true, it certainly adds more stress and makes one wonder if they should choose a school that does not do committee letters (?). I guess it depends.
Is getting a committee letter mandatory if your school does one?
I’m not involved with med school admissions, but I would imagine so. Med schools know which schools give out committee letters and which ones don’t. Not having one would be a huge red flag I suspect. The flip side is if you get a really good one, it helps because they know you’ve already been with competition.
Schools that give out committee letters tend to have “high” rates of acceptance, but take it with a large grain of salt because those who got the bad or “meh” letters likely never applied. Schools have other ways of skewing acceptance numbers too.
Keep in mind that it is becoming increasingly more common to take time off in between college graduation and medical school (1-3 years and sometimes more). The time is spent taking the mcats, doing research, volunteering, shadowing, working etc. I don’t know how committee letters factor in when students don’t head straight to med school.
Those who head straight to medical school will be applying in the spring of junior year. They need to immediately hit the ground running. Pitt may be the better option for these students (nothing against Fordham).
Students invited to apply to Pitts BS/MD…that competition is fierce and many of those applicants have research experience from HS.
Going straight to medical school is tough. A lot needs to be done in a short period of time, in addition to getting strong grades. I really give those students a lot of credit.