Pre-Med student and cant decide?!?! Baylor, WSU, Seton Hall, UCI, or SDSU

College Search & Selection
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So I got accepted in to Baylor, WSU, Seton Hall, UCI, and SDSU. And now I cannot decide where I want to go or what’s the best option. I got in to all as pre-med biology and so obviously I want to be a doctor. Little back story I am from SoCal and I love the medical field I have been volunteering at a hospital for 3 years now, I have been the president of the medical club at my school, and I am constantly shadowing doctors. So my dream isn’t a whim after watching scrubs or greys anatomy. However, I dont know whats best for me. Overall, I just want a good balance of prestige, weather, cost, quality of life, and somewhere with a bit of GPA protection bc med school is very fixated on GPAs.

Baylor University: Farther away
Pro: very conservative environment, close-knit, big football school, amazing campus, I got a big scholarship, but it will still be expensive, school spirit, good pre med program, close to hospital volunteering, decent med school rate 40-60%, decently competitive not too bad, pre med advisory support, well known school, massive new bio buildings/labs, research heavy
Cons: expensive, VERY HOT WEATHER (which I dont like)

Washington State University: Far away
Pro: Big school spirit, snow ( i love the snow), beautiful campus, cheap OOS tuition , not as much competition academically, big football school, my brother goes here
Cons: Big school so not a lot of individual attention to pre med, very remote so not a lot of access to shadowing/volunteering, not prestigious, and I dont know if the medical school admission rate is very high

Seton Hall University: Farthest away
Pros: School spirit, pretty campus,snow (i love the snow), I got a massive scholarship so one of the cheapest options, small so more attention, high med school rate 93%, just opened up a new medical school this year, its in new jersey so I don’t have to go far for med experience.
Cons: Its in New Jersey…I dont know a lot about the school population or the type of people that go there, im afraid its too small only 6,000 undergrad, its catholic school so I have to take religious courses ( im actually catholic, not by choice though my mom forces me to be…long story), not well known school

UCI: closest away
Pros: in state, close to home, known nationally, has a good pre med program, research oppurtunity
Cons: VERY competitive and cutthroat atmosphere, strict hard curve=grade deflation, known as a “pre-med mill” from all the doctors I shadow and a lot of ppl dont get good GPAs bc of it which will be a problem, I dont particularly like the students that go there, I have vistied 7 times and was never really happy, plus it is a commuter school

SDSU: 2 hr drive
Pros: not as much competition, SD is the place to be has D1 sports, in state tuition
Cons: party school, weird campus, there area directly around the school isnt that nice, not prestigious, and not taken seriously

I’m not here to start arguments these are my opinions so don;t get offended pls.
Thanks in Advance!

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I’d pick Seton Hall. You just need to get the best grades at the cheapest price for med school, It has a high med school rate and a new med school. It’s 45 min from NYC. I don’t know why being in NJ is a con. Those Jerseyans are O’k :wink:

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Oh and NJ has snow. Don’t you worry about that. No shortage of snow.

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Net price at each?

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Run your numbers here: http://www.finaid.org/calculators/awardletter.phtml

You want to do this as affordably as possible so that you have money left over to pay for med school. You also can ask each of them about the med school admission rate for students who still are pre-med in the senior year of college and who actually apply to med school then.

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What is your net costs for each school and how much will your parents pay.

Btw…the religion classes that catholic colleges require are usually a wide variety of choices and can include world religions, etc. They know that many students aren’t catholic. it’s not like religion classes in catholic k-12 at all. BTW…Seton Hall is well known… you just live in Calif where the attention is all on Calif univs and ivies. I’m from Calif and it’s sort of funny how Californians barely know of any colleges outside of their state or the ivies/MIT/NotreDame.

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Take WSU off your list. No reason to go there. It won’t give you a tie to UWash med because you’’re OOR (out of region). Also probably pricey.

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@mom2collegekids Yeah I thought that was odd that OP thought Seton Hall was not well known. Not true.

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As med school is crazy expensive and typically paid for by loans which need to be paid back, consideration should be given to trying to graduate with as little college debt as possible. Also understand that most successful CA premeds will end up going OOS for med school as there are simply too many qualified applicants and not enough slots at CA med schools, meaning assuming you get into med school, it’s likely you’ll be at OOS public med school paying high non resident fees, or at some pricey OOS private med school. Again consider keeping college debt low.

I would ignore any school’s success rate at getting students into med schools as those numbers can be easily manipulated.

In Fall 2017, 500 students enrolled in Bio 203 (premed course). In Fall 2018, the class is again open to 500 students. I’ll guess that 15% of each class earned or will earn an A, with most getting Cs or lower. Like any school on your list, premed is hard and the competition will be fierce for the As that are important to any premed. Although you might have cons (eg rep as party school), and the entering class profile of UCI students might have higher stats, do not assume there won’t be much competition for As in every premed course at SDSU. https://sunspot.sdsu.edu/schedule/search

Why bio? As most premeds change their career plans and of those who actually apply, 60% fail to gain any acceptance, have you considered what you can do with bio degree (and perhaps any high debt) should you change career plans? Although the term is ambiguous, where do you think you’ll “fit” in best? I don’t need answers, just food for thought. Good luck

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I laughed at this. This looks highly manipulated and do those numbers include those who matriculated at DO schools and/or Caribbean schools. There’s nothing wrong with DO schools, but you need to know what a college is including in its reporting numbers otherwise you’re comparing apples with oranges. And any school that includes Caribbean acceptances is really using smoke and mirrors.

I’m going to try to find where that 93% is listed.

It’s also important to look at how many students at a particular college apply to med schools. A school that has very few, or a school that has TOO many, can be less desirable.

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Re: medical school admission rates from a college

It would be more useful if each college published a grid like this one (and separately for US MD schools, US DO schools, and non-US medical schools):
https://www.aamc.org/download/321508/data/factstablea23.pdf

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Don’t trust the rates for those entering med school. Those could be only those making the cut for a pre-med committee letter or include off shore schools. Wash St just opened a med school, but it sounds like you are a CA resident, so don’t expect any special treatment.

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Where did you find that claim that Seton hall has a 93% med school acceptance rate? I can’t find it. Please provide the link.

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i don’t know where that 92% number comes from but it looks like they screen big-time

So the premed advisor won’t even talk to you unless you have a 3.5GPA w/ 45 units (end of frosh year).

It isn’t clear if they will refuse to recommend you for a med school with less that a 3.8 for a MD , or if the info above refers to cumulative GPA when ready to apply or after frosh year, but it may be entirely possible they refuse recs except to the best students. Considering that the AAMC table shows that with a 3.40-3.59 GPA almost 40% of applicants with a 506-509 MCAT get in, rising to 71% for the best scorers (MCAT over 517) a hard GPA cutoff at Seton would kill the chances of a lot of kids that could have got in.

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It was a mailer I had receive from Seton Hall Admissions prior to when I applied. Same with Westmont College in Santa Barbara it was 84%, this is considering the fact that the school is only 1,500 students too.

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Tuition Only:
Baylor-$29K
WSU-$14K
Seton Hall-$13.4
UCI-$15.5K
SDSU-$7.5K

Tuition PLUS room and board:
Baylor-$41K
WSU-$25.8K
Seton Hall-$25.4
UCI-$30.3K
SDSU-$23.4

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What would you major in? Would you be able to double major in something?
I assume you got into Seton Hall’s honors program - check what benefits that entails.
Right now, Seton Hall is your best choice because (especially if you got honors) you’ll get a lot of support and access to resources, you’ll likely be top 25% (important for pre-meds), and it’s one of your lower prices. In addition, because they just opened a medical school and are private, you’re not at a disadvantage applying to it (unlike wsu which will favor instate and inregion applicants) and maybeven have a slight advantage. However their requirement you keep a 3.8 to apply to any med school is very very tough. It means straight As, in every subject, and it means being top 10% of your class in every single class you take. It’s very hard to do in college. On the other hand, most med schools like to see 3.75 so they’re not far off. You should email that professor (Dear Professor Moldow,…) and ask whether there’s no recommendation/committee letter for a 3.7/518 student, if the 3.8 required to apply to MD schools is inflexible.

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With the exception of Baylor, I think you have a good choice of equivalent level of schools. Baylor is not worth the extra $15k per year for premed, especially you are not TX resident.
My first choice for you is Seton Hall, you might have a better chance with their newly opened med school if you do well. I used to visit south orange frequently as my aunt lived there. Recently, the school has risen in the rankings, but their 4 year graduation rate is still around 60%. It’s a school easy to get in and difficult to attend.

My second choice will be UCI. It’s a large school, if you change your mind in premed, you have more choices.

Premed is hard everywhere don’t be fooled by the advertising from the schools.

19

Go to UCI. Great pre med program and the medical school is top of the line. Baylor would be my second choice due to its amazing med school and endless opportunities. But try and stay in state and save money. UCI should be an easy choice here

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@purplerocketman : I’m going to guess that despite the 70s reference in your name, you’re a high school student?
Because there’s no such thing as a ‘premed program’. Being pre-med is an intention. It means you’re going to take two semesters each of biology, inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics, as well as one semester each of Composition, communication, Calculus, biostatistics, psychology, sociology, biochemistry, a diversity-focused class, and preferably one or more each of neuroscience/cognitive science/neurobiology, ethics/philosophy/bioethics, and rank in the top 10-20% for each of them. Additionally, speaking a language other than English (which can be acquired while volunteering at a clinic), shadowing doctors, doing research, working as a CNA or EMT, spending time volunteering among people very different from yourself (mentally ill, homeless, very low income, refugees, children, old people, people who live in rural or urban areas, etc), will be necessary. That’s all ‘premed’ means. It’s on you. The classes are just regular classes. They’re not medical in any way. What a college CAN do is offer a lot of support, resources, a personal adviser you can meet with several times a semester starting your first semester, free tutoring… Generally, a collaborative atmosphere is seen as better than a competitive one.
California is blessed with a very large number of ambitious, hard working, driven, smart students. Unfortunately the number of spots in California med school is very small, which makes every UC a bloodbath as not all these amazingly talented kids can be top 10-20%. UCs offer great classes in biology or chemistry. But they’re very hard on would be pre-meds, who have a better shot elsewhere, especially since they’re likely to interview outside of California anyway. The jackpot for a California would-be pre-med is to have the level to get into a UC and find a decent university outside of California that costs about the same as the UCs. This makes success much more likely.
So, in terms of research is UCI better than Seton Hall? Absolutely. But is it 'a great premed program"? Unfortunately, not so. If you personally ( or a reader stumbling on the discussion) are targeting UCs, the UC to target for pre-meds is UCR. Look up all the pre-med pathways they offer.