<p>So I recently had a meeting with a teacher who knows a lot about admissions, and pretty much what he said is apply to our state flagship (UF) and that's it. It is reasonable advice, seeing as it will be pretty much free (ran NPC and it was 4 dollars, and I have the Bright Futures scholarship) and he said it was like a safety for me (~90% chance ill get in). But WashU is my dream school right now, and although I couldn't visit the school due to time and cost reasons, I have actively emailed the school and asked questions. I ran the NPC for WashU, and it would be around 10K a year (before loans). I plan on doing pre-med, which both UF and WashU have undergrad paths for, but WashU's is better. Should I even try applying ED to this school, cause I'm feeling very discouraged right now. Brief summary of my stats, 3.6 UW/4.6W GPA, 2220 SAT, 800 Math 2, 740 Chem SAT 2's, national and state level awards, but they aren't too impressive. Research, lots of volunteering, the usual. </p>
<p>Frankly, WashU is a reach for you. Your chances of going there are slender. If you were admitted, they are not likely to spill much merit on you. </p>
<p>So if you get in, and that’s a big if, should you spend 40K to go to WashU rather than UF when your goal is medical school?</p>
<p>Well, you might not get to medical school. You might decide to do something else with your life.</p>
<p>On the other hand, you can get a pretty good education at UF, and you wouldn’t be one of the also-rans at UF the way you might be at WashU with its superior students. That is, UF might be a better fit.</p>
<p>In my experience, dream schools often don’t work out to be so dreamy, and money can be one reason they aren’t so dreamy. If I were you, I’d go to UF for free. You can always go to WashU for medical school or grad school. Med schools won’t care that you didn’t go to the most prestigious college; they’ll care only about MCAT score, letters of rec, interviews, research experience, and GPA–and you have a better chance of an outstanding GPA at UF rather than WashU.</p>
<p>On the other hand, you don’t have to have this concern right now since you haven’t even applied to either school.</p>
<p>Doesn’t hurt to apply to Wash U and see if you’re accepted although I’d lean towards UF.
Do yourself a favor though and cover that 10 percent chance of not being accepted to UF. My neighbor’s kid thought he was a shoo-in also–he is now a last minute FSU student.</p>
<p>Follow gouf78’s advise and apply to at least one safety (academics and financial). Perhaps UCF which has a great pre-med honor’s program:</p>
<p><a href=“Burnett Honors College Medical Scholars Program Begins | University of Central Florida News”>http://today.ucf.edu/burnett-honors-college-medical-scholars-program-begins/</a></p>
<p>If you met the undergrad requirements, you’re an auto-admit to the medical school. UF’s holistic admission process is just a bit too random for you to bet the farm on.</p>
<p>Back to your question. Apply to both (plus that SAFETY!) and review the offers. Keep in mind that med school is pricey, and keeping cost down while earning your BS degree would be wise. </p>
<p>The AAMC tracks the “Undergraduate Institutions Supplying Applicants to U.S. Medical Schools by Applicant Race and Ethnicity”</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/86042/table2.html”>https://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/86042/table2.html</a></p>
<p>In 2013, UF had produced 708 applicants for med schools. UF is one of the top 5 schools for producing applicants. In comparison, WashU had 312, Emory 394, Duke 363, FSU 267, USF 293, and UCF 253. The only point you should take from this, is that these universities do create competitive applicants for med school.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>To everyone:
Thank you very much for your opinions. After thinking about the posts, UF does seem like the best choice for me, financially and academically. I would be perfectly content at UF, as it is a great school and the tuition would be great for my parents. I will apply to another safety, maybe FSU or UCF. I’m hoping I’ll be super studious and get a 4.0 in college, and as @jkeil911 said, it would be easier at UF. Thank you everyone again for your opinions! I am still all ears if anyone else has an input.</p>