Hello! I’ve made the decision to stay in state just recently but now I have to make readjustments to my plans accordingly to my parents contribution to college. My parents agreed to pay up to UIC’s tuition for wherever I go.
I have two main options: uic and NU. (Uic biochem and nu chem) I’m planning to study premed and I heard it doesn’t matter where I go for my undergrad, but I still find the full undergraduate college experience useful. From my AP credits, I could graduate from UIC in about two years, then move on to get a masters or find work relevant to add to my resume for med school.
On the other hand, NU has a premed acceptance rate of about 80% and offers me more options if I choose to not go into medicine. I will have to take out loans for 20k the first year, and around 5k for every year after.
My end goal would be to go to medical school in California and live there. What would be the best path to get there? Ty in advance!
Not an easy decision given the financial situation. That said, I would recommend Northwestern. With an 80% medical school acceptance rate and outstanding reputation, it is worth $35k differential. I do think the prestige of your undergraduate school will serve you well. After graduation, you might consider doing an MD/PHD as many of these programs fully fund the students. Be sure to get involved in reasearch while in undergrad so you can see if in interests you. Best of luck!
One doesn’t study premed. Premed is an intent, hope, goal, not a course of study. Getting into med school is much more about your performance in college (GPAs, MCAT), ECs, LoRs, PS, interview (if offered) than where you attend college.
AP policy varies among med schools.
Suggest you ignore NU’s 80% premed acceptance rate as such numbers can be misleading. Most who start as premed change their career goals. For example, say 100 students started premed, 80 change their minds, leaving 20 who actually applied and 16 got accepted, not exactly an 80% acceptance rate.
Good you’re thinking this way as a Plan B is always a must for any premed hopeful.
As med school is very expensive and typically paid for by loans, trying to graduate from college with as little debt is an important consideration.
IMO a silly goal. Of those who actually get to point of applying to med school, 60% fail to get even one acceptance anywhere. CA med schools are insanely competitive. CA produces a lot of bright successful premeds every year, most who will start med school OOS as there is simply not enough space in CA med schools. It’s said that UCLA alone produces enough grads each year to fill every seat in every CA medical school.
You may have a misconception about med school education. All US med schools are good schools. There’s a sameness to med school education. Getting into one is quite the accomplishment and can serve as platform for any pathway you want to pursue in medicine. When the time comes, apply broadly to med school, do very well in med school, apply for residency training in CA. Good luck.
“Pre-med Med-School acceptance rates” aren’t helpful because they tend to be manipulated across schools. Why UIC? If you got into Northwestern, Is UIUC not in the picture? You would pay in-state and have that traditional college experience.
Also, I’ve heard getting into UC medical schools being out of state is very difficult.
I think NU is worth the 35k differential. As you said, it’ll offer more options whatever path or career you want, plus better network and way more resources.
@wildestdream I’ve considered UIUC but they offer no financial aid for me (Illinois is broke) and ends up even more expensive than NU across 4 years because I would commute to UIC
@Jugulator20 whoa whoa whoa I apologize if I came off the wrong way but thank you so much for the advice
I understand that medical school is very difficult to get into and I’ve watched handfuls of my family members get repeatedly denied and eventually switch their careers, but I’m trying to stay optimistic and have goals. I also understand that over 2/3 of northwestern premeda eventually switch to a different career path. One reason why northwestern appeals to me is because of the flexibility it offers with my undergrad degree.
I don’t specifically want to go to a UC school for medical school, but I just want to be in California because of the weather, my health, and the city life. I’d be excited to go to any medical school, but especially a school in California, private or public. I’m trying to take things one step at a time and right now I’m simply trying to choose the better fit for undergrad