If cost wasn’t a factor, which would be the best choice based on opportunities, community, culture, reputation, and I guess best set up for medical school?? I’m still learning about each school, and was wondering if anyone who knows a lot about them could provide pros/cons of each as a pre-med
UNC has a med school. UTA does not. That’s for starters. Also, UNC is extremely rigorous. Frankly, reputation of the school is less important for pre-meds. Go to a school where you can shine.
Paging @thumper1 and @WayOutWestMom that have more knowledge than I do.
UTA does have a med school.
Dell School of Medicine opened in 2013.
But @1dadinNC is right.
The name of your undergrad is much less important than what you accomplish during undergrad. Both UNC and UTA will offer you everything you need to be a successful pre-med.
My advice to pre-meds is to choose the school that offers the best combination of
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*Fit–because happier students do better academically (and there is objective research to back this up)
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opportunity–including the opportunity to find mentoring from professors, to expand their interests and worldview, and to explore other careers besides medicine. (Only about 16% of freshman premeds actually persist all the way through to apply to med school. Most drop out not because they can’t hack the coursework, but because they find more interesting, less time-intensive careers along the way. Also of those 16% who persist and actually do apply to med school, 60% fail to get a single acceptance. Every pre-med needs to have a Plan B career plan.)
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Cost–because med school is hideously expensive (well, maybe not if you live in Texas…) and there is very little aid except for loans, loans and more loans. Undergrads need to minimize any loan debt they take on for undergrad
What is your home state? Your state’s public universities are usually the most cost effective option for a pre-med.
The USNews ranking of your undergrad is irrelevant. Successful pre-meds come from every type of undergrad: from huge state publics (like UTA and UNC), to tiny rural LACs, and never-heard-of-it directional state colleges.
Getting a med school acceptance is really about what you do with their time in undergrad.
ETA: UTA had more med school applicants last year than every other US college except for UCLA. UNC is not far behind at #9.
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If you are in-state for NC or TX, then attending the one that is in-state may make it more convenient to get to medical school interviews at in-state medical schools, as well as likely being less expensive and allowing you to save money for medical school.
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I’m in state for TX, although this thread is currently just speculation because I don’t really know if I’ll get into UT which should release in about two days. Outside of the cost, which is a factor I definitely need to think about with my parents, and in terms of just the schools themselves, does UNC having a more established medical school have more benefits than UT’s since its extremely new? As well as the Triangle I’ve heard is extremely well-equipped for pre-meds. At the same time, I’ve heard staying in TX is nice because there are so many top medical schools in the state that favor in-state residents so im not sure
Yes, you have many medical schools in TX that favor in-state residents, and the in-state cost for TX public medical schools and BCM is relatively low in the context of medical schools (which can mean significantly less debt to start a medical career with).
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My DC was accepted to the above, came down to those 2. At UT however, he/she was accepted to 2 honors programs and since we are in state for TX, chose UT. The Honors Carolina doesn’t really add much. However, if DC did not get the 2 honors programs at UT, he/she would have gone to UNC. The honors programs at UT are a big bonus.
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i see, due to being non-auto, even if I do somehow get into UT i highly doubt I’ll get any of the CNS honor programs because of their selectivity so it’d most likely be UT flat vs UNC with these programs for me
I would pick UNC with the honors over flat UT.
Dell is no longer a “new” medical school.
A new medical school is one that has not yet graduated its first class of students.
Dell has sent several classes of students into residency now and they’ve been quite successful. Any bugs in the curriculum design or course structure or faculty have long been worked out.
Texas is very advantageous state to live in for pre-med. Texas has 16 in-state med schools and the public ones are required by state statue to favor in-state applicants. (By law, 90% of all public med school seats go to TX residents. Baylor SOM is also required to enroll 75%+ of its class from instate because of the state funding it receives.)
Furthermore, because of the low in-state costs to attend a TX med school, OOS med schools are reluctant to interview and accept TX residents because the schools know they won’t enroll.
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Cost trumps the other factors you list. Sort that out first.
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Neither of these are going to be different in the way they prepare you for medical school admissions. Even if you believe that school matters, as I do, the two schools are in the same grouping.
I would remove medical school from the decision making process. The reality is that the most likely outcome of someone that says that they want to go to medical school as a senior in HS is that they do not attend medical school.
Well, first let’s find out if the OP was accepted to UT. The results are out.
I got in!! Still have 17 decisions left so going to push this decision to the back of my mind until march, but just more things to think about now
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CONGRATULATIONS! With 17 decisions to come, I’m not going to bother comparing these two you’ve heard from at this point.
But as a personal opinion, assuming the finances work for your family, I would choose the best fit OOS school simply for the experience of living in another part of the country. If you stick with pre-health, obviously apply to TX med schools due to the relatively low cost and resident boost.
ty! I actually got admission to Plan II at UT as well(also deferred from deans honors), so the decision has become even more tough, but I’ll probably set it aside and look into it more as more rd’s come out
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