<p>Hi everyone, so decisions season is over and for me it's come down to OSU or NU. I got admitted into Northwestern's Weinburg CAS for Biology and OSU's College of engineering for BME.</p>
<p>Just to give you some background info, I'm an Asian male, from central Ohio, who is interested in pursuing medicine (Personally still undecided if I want to pursue engineering :/). </p>
<p>In terms of academics, I am pretty unsure if Northwestern and OSU are significantly different. I was able to visit both campuses and the overall connection I got from Northwestern was much stronger than that at OSU. Being close to an alive city (sorry Columbus) while also being in its own community attracted me... I feel that it was something that OSU didn't have. However, aiming to do premed, I know that cost is still a very important factor.</p>
<p>I got admitted into Ohio State's Honors Program, which could avert some of the largeness of OSU. Because of parents' faculty benefits and maximus scholarship, I don't think that money would be an issue for me at OSU. On the other side I got 20k~ year FA and 10k~ Loans and work study at Northwestern, which in total would cost me 30k+loans a year. </p>
<p>I come from a middle class family so while undergrad is likely financially feasible, I know that medical school will have its costs as well(I don't expect financial help from parents in med school if I go to NU). </p>
<p>So my question is, do you guys think that I should attend northwestern over Ohio State in order to prepare for medical school and is the extra 100k~ worth the opportunities and the connections that Northwestern may have over Ohio State?</p>
<p>Any opinions or comments are appreciated!
Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>You have also mentioned that you might pursue engineering…NU is definitely stronger in that regard. Also, if you do well at NU in the first two years ( and your GPA is 3.5 and over), you can be admitted to NU’s medical school at the end of your final year. I do not know about OSU. </p>
<p>Northwestern is absolutely the better of the two universities, BUT it is hard to justify spending an additional $100,000 considering that your family is middle class. Unless you can find additional financial resources for NU, then I think OSU is the smart choice. It definitely will prepare you for medical school.</p>
<p>I don’t think this is true. You may be thinking about the Honors Program in Medical Education (HPME), which is a highly competitive separate program.</p>
<p>In fact, if the OP plans to go to medical school, OSU may be a better option because he would have a better chance of getting a higher GPA there (which is critical for med school admission). </p>
<p>Your objective is to graduate with the highest GPA and MCAT scores you can and have money left to pay for Med School. I would not spend $100,000 more for NU. If you graduate at the top of your class at OSU, you will get into a good med school and have the money to pay for it. I suspect the pre-med curriculum will be demanding and competitive at both schools. If you are not 100% sure you want to go to med school, I personally would choose NU if there was not graduate school in the future.</p>
<p>My dad is a surgeon and always recommends going to a less “prestigious” undergraduate university to complete premed requirements. He went to his state’s flagship school and then went to NU’s Feinberg for med school. Also, Feinberg has no preferred admission whatsoever for NU undergrads, unless you’re in the HPME program. So in all honesty, OSU is the smart choice. For someone on the premed track, saving money and getting good grades should be the priority during undergrad. Also, from what I’ve heard, the premed program at NU is extremely competitive, making it that much harder to get good grades. That being said, you definitely shouldn’t choose OSU because it will be “easier” but if money is a main concern, it really is the smarter choice.</p>
<p>Yes, but that is for early/preferred admission. In terms of regular admission, there is no advantage. Yesterday I attended a Weinberg info session where the admissions director said it doesn’t hurt, but there is no advantage applying to Feinberg being a NU undergrad. Of course, this has nothing to do with this question, but I’m just saying.</p>
<p>My physician partner’s daughter went to OSU Honors college on what was then the Presidential scholarship (now the Maximus, name changed - how’s that for politics?) and loved it, turned down Cornell and UPenn for OSU Maximus, eventually recruited many of her unhappy Ivy friends to join her, graduated with a 4.0 and great MCAT scores and lots of research, and had a wide choice of med school acceptances. The Honors college students have priority class choice, separate beautiful dorms, mentorships and research opportunities handed to them, and great pre-med advising with the med school and hospital ON CAMPUS. Maximus gives you free room and board and 3K a year for “enrichment” so she did public health tours in Africa and South America during some breaks. </p>
<p>NW is in a gorgeous location, and is a great school, but the med school is no where close and the pre-med experience can be painful - look on the pre-med forums about NW gen chem. </p>