I know these are not schools that are known for science or pre med. However, we live very close to one and have family close to the other. My daughter could commute and with the excelsior scholarship her undergrad would be close to free. This is hugely important to us. We have some savings but would like to save them for medical school. She is quite committed to pre-med.
Does anyone know if either or both of these would be sufficient for pre-med. By that I mean, would they prepare her adequately and be respected enough by medical schools?
New Paltz.
SUNY Purchase is primarily known as an arts-oriented school, which is where they spend their resources.
At either school, be sure to check their course listings to see if they offer all of the courses required for medical school, which would include O-Chem and a range of bio-related courses.
New Paltz will absolutely be sufficient for pre-med.
Did she get into the honors college? Did she apply? Mostly because honors students tend to do better in their honors classes and it’ll help with GPA (same thing for priority registration: avoiding Byzantine graders and classes at a time when you aren’t as alert results in good grades.)
She’ll need to pace herself if she’s committed to med school - many pre-meds take on more than they can chew and sink their odds. Consider the first semester a transition period. Don’t overload. Take Calculus 1, chemistry with lab, Freshman composition, and sociology (some of those as Honors if possible, especially sociology). If she’s had AP Bio and AP chem already she can add Biology 1. Don’t worry, it’ll be challenging enough.
Then she needs to start looking at volunteering opportunities.
She can read what AFrenchie36 put on his tumbler detizling his journey to med school, he’s a good example of doing everything right.