RU vs. Penn State vs. UIUC vs. UMICH-AA

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rutgers University
1

<p>I want to major in the field of biology and eventually want to move on to go to medical school. I want to know which of these schools would be the best for me. I am a NJ resident and Rutgers is virtually free for me (commuting) and the other schools are almost full tuition.</p>

<p>My family makes around 50-60k a year.
*Note that I am a hardworking student that NEVER really wanted to go to Rutgers but..now it seems to be a wiser choice..the more I look into things.</p>

<p>-Why I never wanted to go to Rutgers:
I was one of those kids who always dreamed of going to a big since day 1 of high school. I worked my @$$ off throughout all of high school and maintained a very high GPA while obtaining an SAT of 2040. I don't want to go to Rutgers because it seems like I wasted my time working so hard and ending up where majority of NJ students go. I know it sounds kind of foolish but, I can't help but feel/think that. Although I feel such an attitude towards Rutgers, I still like the facility itself because I know of its great students and programs...I am just...simply put, self conflicted. </p>

<p>Please give me some input.</p>

<p>Rutgers University-New Brunswick
Penn State- University Park
University of Illinois- Urbana Champagne
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (A SCHOOL I REALLY WANT TO GO TO IF I GET IN...but the tuition is very high!)</p>

<p>Is it worth it to go to a higher ranked undergrad program when tuition costs are at a higher magnitude? Is Rutgers' biology program as prestigious, if not, better than the schools mentioned above? Please give me your opinions on the matter.</p>

<p>Thanks for any input.</p>

2

<p>If you want to go to medical school, go to Rutgers. You will be graduating from medical school with 200,000 in loans. Do you want to add to it you undergraduate loans?? Medical school is very expensive and it will not matter where you go to undergruate as long as you fulfill the requirements, get a high score on your MCAT, do plenty of research and community service and get good letters of recommendations. Amd make sure you keep your GPA very high because it does matter to medical schools. </p>

<p>The other schools you got into are all great and if money was not an issue, i would tell you to go to Umich, but that is not the case. Good luck!!</p>

3

<p>Hey there, Im was in a similar position as you. I worked my @ss off from day 1 and when it got around to colleges and getting serious about it, I settled on Rutgers NB. I want to be a bio major and also go to med school. I wanted to go somewhere prestigious and out there…not somewhere where a lot of people would go, like you described “ending up where majority of NJ students go.” </p>

<p>I looked past it though. Its a huge huge school, but its also very well ranked for research. Applying for med schools with a resume full of research is great. Plus, its very well known outside of NJ. My brothers in his 3rd year there and hes going to be off to med school soon and RU is known for sending a lot of their students to med schools/grad schools/etc. If you work hard enough you can get into the 7 year medical program there, which is tough, but doable.</p>