I am currently planning to be a premed student at either Minnesota or Pittsburgh. My parents are not concerned over money, so finances are out of the question. Which school would be easier to attain a high gpa for med school? I’m a dedicated student and am in UPitt’s honors program, but not that of Minnesota. My GPA (on my school’s 100 point scale) is a 101.72 weighted and 95.63 unweighted. I take all APs and honors, doubling up on science courses my junior and senior years. My ACT is a 30. I believe I can do well at either school, but I want to know which might be easier.
If you go to the less expensive one, will your parents contribute the difference to you medical school costs?
@ucbalumnus My parents may contribute SOME money to help me with med school, but they only agreed to pay for undergrad. Since both grew up very poor, they don’t want me to consider money like they had to back in the day. I was thinking about making a deal like that with them, but my mom would rather have me go to the more expensive school (UPitt) bc it’s closer. Personally, I like U of M more tho.
So cool that your parents can pay almost $45,000 per year for you to attend Pitt with zero loans. What an awesome position to be in. That will make it so you are debt free heading into medical school.
I don’t think either school will be easy. I would pick the one you feel will offer the most of what you need and in the environment you like the most.
In a previous post you said:
“My parents are very ambiguous about what they can afford, but my father insists that I shouldn’t worry about the money. However, I do know that our fafsa expected contribution is around 40k a year. Obviously they don’t want to pay that much, but there is enough money to pay for Pitt. I just don’t want to waste money.”
It’s been my experience almost 100% that parents who say this are often very uninformed of the process and think their kid will get some sort of magical financial “aid.”
You will likely not get any aid from Pitt.
It looks like U of MN is offering a scholarship so your COA will be lower there.
All of the above contributes to my current situation: which school? They seem to have equal research opportunities and relatively equal neuroscience departments. I am curious as to which school would be harder, as I have to keep my GPA up for med school. @ucbalumnus
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Hello everyone. I plan on being pre-med, majoring in neuroscience and maybe minoring in chemistry(very science heavy).
I was accepted into Upitt’s honors colllege, but not at Umn.
Upitt is a 6 hour drive from my house, and UMn is a 3 hour flight. Initially, I had my heart set on UPitt, but after receiving scholarship money, I am unsure. It would cost(total cost of attendance) $38,000 for me to attend Pitt, but only $22,000 for Minnesota. I want to hear people’s opinions on both schools and their thoughts regarding money.
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Ok…you got enough merit at UMinn so that cost would only be $22k per year? Great…go there.
Did you apply anywhere else?
My gut tells me that premed competition would be tougher at UPitt.
You mention wanting to get scholarships for med school. I can tell you this, those can be rare. And, really aren’t based on GPA…more on MCAT score.
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relatively equal neuroscience departments
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Nice, but irrelevant for a premed student.
@mom2collegekids the neuroscience departments are super important for me. I might want to go for a PhD/MD, but I have to have enough research experience under my belt to make that decision. I am in love with the nervous system, especially the brain, so if I attended a university that doesn’t offer neuro specific research, I would feel lost in my studies.
@carachel2 My parents are well informed that we will not receive any fasfa money. They can afford tuition regardless.
@mom2collegekids I applied to Boston University, Drexel, Delaware, Minnesota, Northeastern, Penn, Pitt, Syracuse, and Temple. I am waiting on decisions from BU, Northeastern, Penn and Syracuse. I was accepted everywhere else. I like Pitt and Minnesota the best, based on their campuses, research opportunities, and academic level. I’m hoping to be challenged but still keep close to a 4.0.
Do you want to stay closer to home?
@mom2collegekids Distance doesn’t really matter to me unless one of the schools was close enough for me to visit home every now and then. Neither school would permit a weekend visit. The only con of the distance difference between Minnesota and Pitt is that Id have to ship my stuff there or buy new.
Sounds like Minnesota is the right choice. Cheaper and your preference.
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The only con of the distance difference between Minnesota and Pitt is that Id have to ship my stuff there or buy new.
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That’s not a huge deal. I know many who either drive the long distance and bring the stuff (so mom and/or dad can help with move in)…or they order stuff online (via BBB, Target, Walmart, etc) and pick up at the destination.
Minn is probably the better choice for a premed for another reason…UMinn’s SOM is known for accepting OOS students, while I think PA only has one public med school and I don’t think it accepts many OOS.
You said you like Minnesota more. Go there.
@mom2collegekids PA has multiple public Med schools and Pitt accepts a lot of los students.
@soyunchico I don’t think PA has many public med schools. I think it only has 3, which is not many for a highish population state.
I did think that Temple and Pitt’s med schools were now private, but they’re still kind of public. They have a high instate tuition, and not much difference than their OOS, so…
@mom2collegekids yeah there is three I just assumed that was a high number… I guess not tho
For a population that size (13M), it should have more MD public med schools.
Michigan has 10M, and it has 4 public meds
Alabama has a small population of 5M, and it has 2 public meds.
And it’s weird, but the aamc website lists Temple and UPitt as private. They do give a tiny price break for instate, but it appears that they’re more private than public.