<p>Is UGA Honors, UNC Chapel Hill, or GT the best option for a biology/biochemistry/etc. degree on the pre-med track? I'm a GA resident, so I qualify for Zell Miller (100% tuition covered for all four years) at UGA and Tech. Here are my pros and cons of each college. Please add on your opinion.</p>
<p>UGA Honors- Ranked 46 for Bio
pro- Will be able to get high GPA. There are a lot of undergraduate research opportunities available through the honors program. Apparently, UGA allows students to publish their findings if they're ambitious enough to conduct serious research. Also, I like the campus, Athens, and more! It's very similar to UNC, yet a lot dumber.
con- UGA isn't exactly a great school. My brother is an alcoholic pothead who got 400 points lower on the SAT (granted my ACT was better than my SAT) than I did and he's a student there. It irks me that I worked hard and he didn't try at all, yet we would end up at the same place. Getting into an acclaimed med school--if any med school--is harder coming from UGA than from a top tier college.</p>
<p>UNC- Ranked 24 for Bio and 13 for Chem (amazing for a public school!)
pro- My dream school! I love everything about UNC. Likely more difficult than UGA, but it is still possible to earn good grades. Best bio program out of the three universities.
con- $40,000 a year. My dad makes $200,000-250,000 a year as an environmental engineer (steady job) and supposedly has around $1 mil in stocks. Sounds like we can afford it, right? Wrong. He claims that he needs the money for retirement. God knows why he needs more than twice what the average American saves for retirement. In short, I'll qualify for no financial aid b/c UNC is poor and he's cheap af.</p>
<p>GT- Ranked 56 for bio
pro- More reputable school than UGA so succeeding here would guarantee me a spot in med school.
con- I really don't like this school at all. The campus, the people, the city (which I live 45 minutes from), the ridiculous rigor, etc. don't appeal to me. The average GPA is a two point crap meaning that it's nearly impossible to make above a 3.5. Med schools want high GPAs, which is extremely difficult to make happen here. Also, their bio program isn't amazing. My guess is they invest too much in biomed engineering and skimp on bio. I hate physics with a passion and am only "good" at math. To succeed in Engineering, one has to be a math prodigy. Although I don't like this school, it's one of my only two options so I have to consider it.</p>
<p>Be grateful that your dad has a lot saved for retirement…that means he won’t become a financial burden to YOU later on.</p>
<p>There’s NO REASON to spend that much on UNC when you have UGa or GT as options.</p>
<p>Getting into an acclaimed med school–if any med school–is harder coming from UGA than from a top tier college.</p>
<p>BS</p>
<p>oh and ALL US MD schools are excellent…every single one of them.</p>
<p>If you have the stats from UGa or GT, you can get into med school.</p>
<p>My son went to Bama and only completed 6 US MD med school apps (bad boy!). But he was accepted to 3 and got merit scholarships to all 3. He’s attending his top choice.</p>
<p>If you want to go OOS, then go to Bama. It would give you free tuition if you apply before Dec 15 with your stats.</p>
<p>As for being a bio major…no one gives a crap about rankings. With every college in the country having a bio dept, rankings are irrelevant…especially for premed majors. (and were those ranking for grad school or undergrad?)</p>
<p>BTW…your dad’s money is his.</p>
<p>oh…and guess what? There are kids at UNC that have stats much lower than yours as well. They’re not all top students. Some will be pothead alcoholics there too.</p>
<p>UGA is the best option. If you go to UNC it’ll end up being 160k + whatever you have to fork over for med school. GT, like you said, is notorious for being overly difficult in terms of achieving goal GPAs. Don’t let your brother make your UGA experience go sour; what matters most is what you gain from the college experience, not just the fact that you got in.</p>
<p>If UGA and GA Tech are both covered for you, I see no reason to attend UNC. (The rankings in departments are for graduate programs - usually doctoral programs - and the things that make them great aren’t necessarily directly applicable to undergrad programs.)</p>
<p>I think you have a lot of misconceptions about the schools here. Don’t assume that you will get a higher GPA just because it’s ranked lower - there are a lot of factors that influence student GPA, and engagement and challenge and peer environment all count, too. I also don’t see how UGA is “dumber” than UNC. Also, doing well at Georgia Tech won’t “guarantee” you a spot in medical school. Medical schools don’t care where you went to undergrad; they care about your GPA, MCAT scores and volunteer and research experiences. So it won’t necessarily be more difficult to get into med school from UGA.</p>
<p>Anyway, you don’t like Tech and UNC is unaffordable for you, so it seems like UGA is your best option. UGA and UNC are pretty similar university environments. I would also like to point out that UGA and UNC also have very similar middle 50% SAT ranges and similar percentages of students that were in the top 25% of their high school class, so…just like at UNC, you’ll be surrounded by plenty of bright and ambitious scholars, especially in the honors college.</p>
<p>I’m a graduate of UNC, a current medical student, and my advice, however biased it may be…</p>
<p>Go to UGA.</p>
<p>UNC is awesome, but not worth a $200,000 price tag…heck, it’s arguable if ANY school is worth $200,000 in debt. Having that much debt will really set you back later in life.</p>
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<p>lol yes there are pothead alcoholics at UNC. Even though I have never partaken in any illegal drug use in my life, getting the chance to hang out with some of these people has provided for some absolutely hilarious stories!</p>
<p>I’m with phonyread98 – very biased toward UNC. It is a wonderful school. (By the way, alcoholic potheads don’t last long at UNC; they flunk out.) However, I wouldn’t pay $40,000/year or go into huge debt for ANY school.</p>
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<p>The average American doesn’t save nearly enough for retirement. Your father is being financially responsible. You qualify for full tuition at a couple of good universities. It sounds like Georgia would be a better fit for you. There are plenty of intelligent, highly motivated students there, just as there are at just about any state flagship. Go there, be happy, and don’t concern yourself with “what if”.</p>
<p>A couple of things that serious students sometimes forget to consider when they’re dismissing a large flagship because it has some “less-serious” students attending:</p>
<p>1) Those “less serious” students will likely be found in the “easier majors”. They won’t be found in your serious major…or at least they won’t be there for long. ;)</p>
<p>2) Many of these schools offer Honors Colleges which can create a “school within a school” atmosphere…especially if they have honors dorms and other honors facilities. </p>
<p>3) Once you’re really into your major, your dept becomes like your own mini-college. Your classes are often held in a couple of buildings. What’s going on across campus becomes almost unknown to you. </p>
<p>4) STEM classes at any good school are going to be a challenge. </p>
<p>5) Premed req’ts at any good school are going to be a challenge. Those are the weeder classes. They serve the purpose of weeding out all of those who really don’t have what it takes to move forward as premeds or as STEM students (since the classes are shared). </p>
<p>6) Students who graduate from their flagships (or other state schools) do get into ranked PhD programs, med school, law school, etc.</p>
<p>(By the way, alcoholic potheads don’t last long at UNC; they flunk out</p>
<p>lol…this is pretty much true at all good schools.</p>
<p>Med school is expensive. It sounds like your dad will pay the $15k or so that will be your remaining costs at UGA, GT, or any other school where you’d get free tuition. That means no undergrad debt. It may also mean that your dad will help you with med school costs. YOU DON’T WANT undergrad debt if you’re going to med school.</p>
<p>You have an ACT 34. If you don’t want GT or UGA, then apply to a school that will give you free tuition for those stats.</p>
<p>Admission UGA has been getting increasingly competitive due to the Hope Scholarship. There are many top students in-state who choose to go there for the free tuition. In addition, because you were admitted to the Honors program, you will have academic benefits at UGA that should make it more attractive to you: [Welcome</a> to the University of Georgia Honors Program](<a href=“http://honors.uga.edu/p_s/why_honors.html]Welcome”>Why Honors? - UGA Morehead Honors College)</p>
<p>Your dad is being a selfish SOB and should risk his retirement and pay full freight at UNC. He shouldn’t want you to have to rub elbows with your fellow Georgian students. He should realize that you’re so much better than that. </p>
<p>And, then when you get to med school, the other med students who went to UGa or similar schools should just shut up and keep that info to themselves so that your dad won’t know he wasted $100k+ on nothing.</p>
<p>I always enjoy Mom2CKs posts because she always cuts through the nonsense. The OP should take heed of her advice. You’ve got UGA and GaTech essentially in your pocket.</p>
<p>Sugarandspice, you have a bit of growing up to do. You have the choice of two full ride scholarships to two schools with excellent reputations - you will find either of them challenging. Don’t expect any of them to be some sort of cake walk for you. With that type of attitude you will be setting yourself up for real failure. Your going to have to work hard at either school to have a shot at med school. You like UGA, so that’s your best bet. </p>
<p>Your father works hard for his earnings and he is wise to be saving for retirement. Here is a news flash for you, 1 million in savings isn’t going to allow your Dad to retire anytime soon (assuming he is in his 40’s) and he’s going to need a lot more than that if he wants to retire and enjoy a similar standard of living that his 250k salary has him accustomed to. You would be wise to learn more about financial planning. Your going to need a better perspective on borrowing and saving before you take on the debt of medical school.</p>