<p>Hi, I'm a senior in high school applying to colleges and I'm faced with a tough decision.</p>
<p>I have been applying entirely to public state schools, all of which are more or less pretty mediocre in rankings. I applied to Washington State University (WSU) as my top choice and just got accepted. After looking over financial aid info, it looks like I will end up getting a full ride or close to it. My parents are very low income, and I am interested in going to medical school or at least graduate school, so not having to pay very much is extremely important. Not to mention, I like WSU a lot. In a single word: comfortable. However, I am a little concerned with the environment... Greek life & alcohol is such a big deal there since it's all the way out in Pullman. I definitely adapt to my environment, so it'd be more work finding a way to balance social life & academics, and I really want to keep my GPA high for grad school. I am also pretty deadset on living & attending grad school in California and I don't know how easy that would be from WSU.</p>
<p>Recently I've been doing some research and I found a private, religious-affiliated school that I really like & probably could get into, Pacific Union College. It's pretty much a polar opposite of WSU. Haha. A lot smaller, and I'll be more occupied with worships than hangovers. It has pretty high ratings, not to mention the school's focus is almost entirely on pre-professional fields like pre-med. It's in Northern California, right where I've always wanted to be. Price tag: $25k tuition, about twice as much as WSU... I think I'll be eligible for some merit scholarships, but I'm not positive it'll cover too much. </p>
<p>I think I would enjoy being at either school for different reasons, but I'm not sure which one would be better for my future. I know that taking the money is almost always the best option for pre-med, but PUC has so much to offer that it's definitely something I'm considering.</p>
<p>The consensus at CC is usually “take the money” as a deciding factor, but here I’d take great pause. At WSU you stand the real chance of getting lost in the crush of 20,000+ undergrads obsessed with their “beer & circus.” At a caring LAC like Pacific you will probably grow as a person as well as learn. This kind of question is beyond strangers on the internet - try to have some discussions with the people at your church and school as well as parents and friends. I’ve seen too many students who begrudgingly attend a giant party school end up transferring out after a year. Best wishes for your search & decision.</p>
<p>It’s important to look at objective factors as well. The fact of the matter is, the four year graduation rate for Pacific Union College is only 25%, while its six year rate is below 45%. That’s far below the national average for private schools. With a graduation rate that low, I’m not sure how “nurturing” it can be. Additionally, the school only meets about 1.2% of demonstrated need, which indicates it may be unaffordable. </p>
<p>Remember, that as a traditional back up school for University of Washington, there will be all sorts of people, many of whom drink, but many of whom will be hyper religious Christians. According to the WSU Greek website, only about 17% of the student body is greek. That means, 83% didn’t pledge, and you better believe they’re not all sitting in their rooms wishing they could be a frat star</p>
<p>A few points: Check out whether WSU has substance free dorms that you can opt for - kids who choose sub-free housing are usually kids for whom partying isn’t their preferred form of socializing and it helps them to find others like themselves. It also means if they do party, they can leave it behind and return to their usually quiet and clean dorm.</p>
<p>Second, is there an honors program at WSU that you could get admitted to? Again, another way to find like-minded students who take their academics seriously.</p>
<p>Thirdly, while your goal of getting into medical school is a good one, keep in mind that CA is a net exporter of medical students. The number of ‘seats’ available in medical schools there for OOS residents is in the dozens (if that) and the competition even for in-state residents is fierce. As I recall there is typically around 8,000 applicants for 108 seats in UCLA’s medical school class. If you are serious about med school (and affordability), look to your own state med school(s). </p>
<p>Lastly, don’t let the rankings of your state schools put you off: Remember, to get into med school you need to have at least a 3.7 GPA and glowing recommendations from faculty. That’s a lot easier to do at a school that isn’t highly selective and extremely competitive. And graduating debt-free is a huge benefit, especially if you are looking at med school, but even for any other grad school you decide to attend.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your help.
I am really trying to push to get into the honors college at WSU, but my stats might fall a little short. I suppose I should be realistic and consider UW for medical school haha. I know I will end up in Cali at some point so where I go to school should be practical first. But my mom went to USC for grad school and I’ve always wanted to follow in her footsteps.</p>
<p>One thing that I did not mention: I do not consider myself religious at the moment, so PUC’s environment would be new territory for me. I was not ever raised religious but on my own I know I want to eventually practice some form of Christianity.</p>
<p>Go to WSU and check out area churches while you are there. Or another state univerity in Washington. To spend a lot of money on a school with a poor graduation rate that is primarily focused on a religion you don’t practice seems like a terrible idea to me. I am pretty sure we would see you out here asking for transfer advice a year from now…</p>
<p>With a 25k price tag and 25-45% graduation rate, the LAC under consideration does not seem to be type you want to waste your money on or saddled by debt.</p>
<p>Thank you… I don’t think it’s really a terrible idea to consider it based on it matching so much of what I want in a school, but I agree, the graduation rate & price is pushing me the other way.</p>