which will better prepare me for graduate school?
How are your costs?
I do not know about costs right now because I find out about scholarships from SMU in a few months.
Tuition at UH will be around 10K + financial aid. I applied to 2 full tuition scholarships at each school.
If you are admitted to honors college at UH, you don’t get some money automatically?
@texaspg I received an academic scholarship of $8500, so with room and board, it would be around 10K. I am not sure if I will be receiving any more. I applied to 2 full tuition scholarships at UH.
Until you know the cost at SMU, it would be hard to make a judgement. Honors college at UH is supposed to have some privileges which will help you with premed prep. SMU is a private school and unless you can afford it, it would not be a great idea to borrow money to go there as a premed. Medical school costs a lot.
@erhwum, which scholarships did you apply to for UH? I’m assuming one of them is Tier One. I’m a pre-med Tier One Scholar who chose UH over many other schools, so I might be able to help you out a bit.
First, the Honors College is pretty awesome. The University’s liveliest students are there. Also, the size of the Honors classes is great. For example, my biology class has about 30 kids in it, and my professor knows each by name (she makes a point to memorize each person’s name during the first week). In fact, I’m in the process of applying to a few summer internships, and she’s writing my recommendations for those. That’s pretty rare for a freshman.
As for research and internship opportunities, Houston simply cannot be beaten. The University has a TON of connections in the Medical center, so the student page that lists researchers interested in hosting interns over the summer is ENDLESS. You simply don’t have that in Dallas (or Austin, College Station, etc. )
Also, if you scored above a 32 on the ACT, you may be eligible for the Honors Biomedical Sciences program/major, which is a 7 year medical program between UH and UT-Health in Houston and UTMB in Galveston. If you qualify, check it out.
If you have any more questions, let me know!
@BioBud Are you doing the HBS program at UH or Biology Honors Program?
@collegePapa, yes, I am in the HBS program. Here’s the link to it if you want more information, and feel free to ask me if you have any other questions. It’s a great school and a great program.
I have a student double majoring in hard sciences on the pre-med track at SMU. I do not recommend this school.
@BioBud - would you share your thoughts on the honors biomedical program, now that you’ve spent more time there? If the student is sincere, it is easy to maintain the GOA? Also, would you recommend the program only if someone got into the 3+4 BSMD, or would you recommend it as a pre-med option (4 year BS in HBS only) as well?