Hey guys. I was wondering if anyone could give me some insight to help me make a choice for where I’ll be next fall. My top two choices are OSU and UNC Chapel Hill. I am also a pre-med student from Ohio.
At OSU:
-I’m in honors
-My major is biomedical science, an extremely competitive major at OSU that has 26 students. It’s in their college of medicine, has a near 100% matriculation rate into professional school, and would have me under two advisors for a cohort of 26 students.
-It would cost 25k a year
-It’s roughly two hours away
-I know a ton of people there
At UNC:
-It would offer me the fresh start that I have been looking for
-I’m in honors and received the excelerated research grant
-My major would be in neuroscience
-It’s roughly 25k as well
-Its nearly 8 hours away, so my mobility in coming home would be more limited
-I love the area and feel of the school
Any insight/advice would help; I just feel like I’m choosing a school because of the major vs a school because I want a new start/try something new. Thanks!!
100% matriculation rate to med school? How many students complete the major? Is there a minimum GPA threshold? If there is a high rate of completion and a guaranteed med school, I would choose OSU in heartbeat. Competition for med school is crazy!
Usually they lose one kid per cohort (what they told me at the interview) because their interests divert from medicine. No; but every single student that completed the major last year had a 3.5+ GPA. Here’s their website if you want to look into it, and thanks for your response! https://medicine.osu.edu/bms/careers/pages/index.aspx
@mreed1 I would say go to UNC. Because the biomedical science program at OSU doesn’t guarantee you a spot at OSU med school (or any other med school) and you still will need to take the MCAT (and score 80% or better to have any decent chance for med schools). Also the program is extremely difficult—it will be like you are in med school for 4 years of undergrad—as several of the courses you take each semester are in the med school. And on top of all that you will be involved in lots of research, so you won’t have as much free time to enjoy all of college life as much as an undergraduate can and should. There is a time and place for everything. Why rush being in med school without really being in it for real? I’m not saying not to work hard in honors and in neuroscience at UNC and engage in accelerated research there, as it will prepare you for med school. UNC is a great school and it’s where you feel comfortable and want to go. I would feel differently if the biomedical science program guaranteed you a spot at an OSU med school or at least an interview there if you do well in the program. But it doesn’t. And you still need to take the MCAT and score high.