<p>although I have not applied yet, michigan is definitely in my top 3 choices. As a future med school hopeful from OOS, is it worth collecting huge debt (little to no money for out of staters) to attend the prestigious LSA and have a sublime college experience (UMich has everything I want in a university)...or is it better to try to limit the debt I put myself into before med school and attend a lower caliber school (e.g. boston college, michigan state, or pitt) where I am prone to get a higher GPA (I think)?</p>
<p>Any and all comments would be extremely helpful!!</p>
<p>I had the same decision to make. Honestly I made my decision to come to U-M because my parents told me that it didn’t matter where I went. They told me that the only thing that mattered to them was getting high grades. I chose U-M because they have outstanding programs related to the sciences, The undergraduate experience is phenomenal from the people I’ve talked to and it sends 150-200 Pre-Med students to the top 15 Medical schools in the country. I also chose to come to U-M because it’s located in an unfamiliar area and I love exploring/seeing new places. U-M didn’t give me any money, but they gave me some financial aid. I plan on doing very well my first year and apply for scholarships within the department of LSA. Just because you are in college doesn’t mean you should stop applying for scholarships.</p>
<p>Boston college, Michigan state, and Pitt are all good schools. However the money you will be saving is minimal. Boston college is expensive. Michigan State and Pitt are both good colleges to go to if you are Pre-Med, but from what I’ve heard, nothing beats the U-M experience. Michigan is worth the money. I also weighed a couple options. Science is hard everywhere. Just because you go to Pitt or Michigan state doesn’t mean that you will get a higher GPA there especially if you major in the biological sciences. If you try hard at any school you will be somewhat successful. U-M isn’t a harder school, but it has better programs. They have Top notch faculty, nobel prize laureates and loads of resources. The alumni base is the largest in the world. The city of Ann Arbor is rated as one of the best college towns in the U.S. With all of the connections, academic prestige, and incomparable WOLVERINE experience, I made my decision to come to Michigan. Michigan is the quintessential college experience. GO BLUE!</p>
<p>How is BC cheaper than Michigan? Michigan at full cost is roughly $6,000 cheaper than BC at full cost and BC is not exactly famous for its generosity.</p>
<p>And although Michigan is not very generous, they do give out merit scholraships to good students.</p>
<p>This said, for pre-med students, assuming you are virtually certain you are going for medical school, I recommend accummulating as little debt as possible during your undergraduate years.</p>
<p>Although BC looks to be more expensive due to the higher cost and tuition, this is not the case. The college board web site demonstrates that Boston College meets 100% of financial need whereas UMich only meets 90%. Also, the true indicator of the cost of a school is the average indebtedness at graduation, which is about $26,000 at Michigan compared to about $19,000 at BC. These figures include the average financial aid packages, need-based loans, need-based scholarships or grants, and non-need based aid. Furthermore, considering the average indebtedness at Michigan would apply more toward an in-stater, as an out-of-stater I would undoubtedly be in much more debt upon graduation. However, Boston College has the same tuition and fees for in-state and out-of state. In addition, BC was featured on the best-valued universities list for U.S. News…a list that Michigan was not included on.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the feedback though…great info. Keep it coming!</p>
<p>Having visited all of the places you are considering, I have to say that Michigan is worth it (I’m out of state as well). Of your choices it is the best academically, best location, and best overall experience. I don’t think your numbers are correct but even considering that the numbers you are going from show only a 7k difference I’d still choose Michigan (and I did).</p>
<p>drury, your figures are all correct I am sure, but in the end, you will see that the cost of attending Michigan, even for OOS students, is lower than the cost of attending Boston College. Apply to both schools and you will see.</p>
<p>Alexandre, I have seen your knowledgeable past posts and have the utmost respect for you. I have previously described Michigan as sublime and am almost positive that if accepted to both institutions I would go to Michigan. However, can you please explain to me the logic of your last post…you probably know something that I don’t and would like to know about this topic.</p>
<p>All I am saying is that university admissions is not an exact science drury. If you like Michigan, apply to it…along with other universities you like such as BC. Include a couple of safeties among the schools you apply to, and that should include your in-state flagship university so that you can ensure affording your fall back school.</p>
<p>I think drury meant this financial aid part.
I would advise you (the OP) to apply to all the schools you want to go to (apply early to UM since it is non-binding) and then wait to see what the financial aid packages are. See which one is affordable and a good fit.</p>
<p>I did all the math between the most expensive school I applied to (UM) and the cheapest school I would willingly go to (Northern Mich), and in the end the difference between them once I added up all the expenses I could think of was less than $10,000. So that pretty much made my decision for me. It would generally, I think, be more frugal to go to a lower caliber school for undergrad so as to not take on too much debt and then go to a better school for your medical school. Having said that, I intend to go to law school and am doing my last two years of undergrad at Michigan anyway.</p>
<p>bc is also not really lower caliber compared to u of m. though bc may be a couple spots lower in the usnwr, it is still quite a prestigious school</p>
<p>^Not really rjk. Michigan and BC have very similar caliber student bodies and both are well-respected. The difference is that Michigan is located in a fantastic college town and BC is located in an urban environment.</p>
<p>ring<em>of</em>fire, who is talking about student bodies? The OP was refering to reputation and academics, not student bodies. Wash U’s student body is equal to Stanford’s yet Stanford’s reputation and academic departments are significantly better than Wash U. Nobody would say that those two schools are peers.</p>
<p>ring of fire… you obviously dont know much about BC because it is not in an urban environment. Just because it says “Boston” in its name doesn’t make it urban. I would go so far as to say Michigan’s campus is more urban than BC’s. And Michigan > BC hands down. BC is a great school but not as good as Michigan.</p>
<p>I don’t think it would be fair to the OP to let this devolve into another School A is better than School B discussion that ends up needing to be deleted. :</p>