I’m deciding b/w these three and I’m a pre-med. Cost isn’t an issue.
If cost isn’t an issue, it’s totally up to you. Any of the three are good enough to get you into med school as long as you do your part by getting a decent MCAT score, good grades, and desirable ECs.
Which atmosphere do you like? You have three pretty much totally different types of campuses and locations. Students tend to do better when they like what they are doing (and where they are).
If cost isn’t an issue, it’s totally up to you. Any of the three are good enough to get you into med school as long as you do your part by getting a decent MCAT score, good grades, and desirable ECs.
Which atmosphere do you like? You have three pretty much totally different types of campuses and locations. Students tend to do better when they like what they are doing (and where they are).
I prefer a releaxed atmosphere but focused students. I like Tulane, but the party atmosphere kinda draws me away from them, but I will probably have a much higher gpa there. Rochester has better academics and I’m kinda leaning toward there but ultimately I want to get a good gpa and have enough time to study for MCAT to get a good score so I can apply to med school. @Creekland
@pachacuti092 My daughter considered both Rochester and Tulane and chose Tulane and is in the honors program there. She is a serious student and she has found her friends who are similar to her with respect to academics and personality. They both have open curriculums which is nice because they allow you to take classes and do minors within the different colleges/departments within the University. And if you later decide not to be premed you can easily major in business, for example. We heard anecdotally from students that Rochester is more of a grade deflating school so that is something to be aware of if you are premed. And this is borne out by hard data—Rochester does not make the list of undergraduate schools that supplied at least 100 applicants to medical school last year whereas Tulane made the list. I believe this has held true for the past several years at least. This could be indicative of how tough it is at Rochester to get the necessary high GPA to be able to apply to med school. On the other hand it could be indicative that you will have less competition to apply for med school. Checkout https://www.aamc.org/download/321456/data/factstablea2-6.pdf. And advantage of Rochester is that the Strong Memorial Hospital is right across the street from campus whereas Tulane Medical Center is downtown. So it may be easier to intern and shadow at Rochester.
Tulane definitely has a more relaxed atmosphere than Rochester but I think that’s due to all the festivals and things to do on and off campus. NOLA is a lot more fun than Rochester IMO. I think there are partiers at every school, so I would not let that fact be determinative for you. Basically you need to visit both and see where you feel most comfortable and make your decision on “fit” because both schools offer solid premed curriculum. I agree with @Creekland that students tend to do better when they like what they are doing and where they are and —let me add—feel comfortable who they are with.
My U Rochester lad graduated Summa Cum Laude with an MCAT score well above the 90th percentile (new version). He’s in Med School now.
It’s not the school. It’s how you do where you go. He loved being where he went (it’s his type of people), but I feel certain he’d have had the same score/grades anywhere he had chosen. It’s just who he is and his determination to do well no matter what the topic/task at hand is.
@trackmbe3 @Creekland thank you! As for grade deflation, I believe most colleges practice it to some extent, but I’ve heard only the top colleges like MIT do massive grade deflation. I personally feel I would have more friends at Rochester, but I’d have a higher GPA at Tulane. I think BU is known for grade deflation though.
I think of these as peer institutions and if cost is not an issue, I’d simply choose based on academic, environmental and social fit.