<p>I'm still waiting to hear back from a few schools, but right now, it's looking like these two schools are my options. I'm in FL, so UF would be around 10k less. My family could definitely afford PSU - we don't even qualify for financial aid :(, but saving 10k/year when I have a little brother to go to college and when I want to go to med school would help.</p>
<p>The weather is definitely better in FL; no question about that. School spirit is similar at both schools. It seems as though the students at UF are overall smarter via Common Data Sets.</p>
<p>Being a "Gator" has been shoved down my throat my whole life from living in FL, and I've always had negative feelings for the school since I've always thought of it as my backup, but now I might actually be going there. Orange and blue is a disgusting combination. I know way too many people who go there, and I really want a clean slate - a fresh start where I don't know anyone. I much rather call myself a Nittany Lion than a Gator. I haven't visited either campus, but I heard UF is actually on swamp grounds... </p>
<p>I still don't know much about the pre med programs at either school, but from what I've gathered, UF seems to win in that category as well... </p>
<p>Also, I think I want to move back to central FL (where I live now) after med school, so another point for UF.</p>
<p>? Did you change your mind in the past 2 hours???</p>
<p>Regardless:
Only 50% med school applicants get into med school and most of them into ONE med school. So it’s unlikely you’ll be able to pick whether you attend med school in FL or elsewhere. However, you do have an advantage to your in-state med school as well as (depending on state) to the med school related to your university.
At which school are you likely to be top 25%? Since med school admission is GPA dependent, the better school for you will be a strong school (which both are) where you can maximize your GPA.</p>
<p>As for the two documents above, I’m not sure how you can compare them. In particular, the Penn State document tells you how many got into med school… but not how many applied. And UF highlights its… number of applicants! (Not the number or percentage of ADMITTED applicants). Neither one indicates whether they withold committee letters (you need these to have a shot and, in order to increase their percentages of admitted students, some universities - more than you’d think- refuse to provide letters to students whom they feel may not get admitted to med school.) 45-50% admission rate is nothing extraordinary for UF and we don’t know the percentages for Penn State, so I’m not sure how you can make your decision based on those. You may want to email each program and ask information such as is listed above.</p>
<p>Let me take a guess…your parents don’t see the value in paying $29K (OOS) a year in tuition for PSU vs. $6K (In-state) a year at UF…for Pre-med?</p>
<p>Putting aside your (perfectly valid) dislike for UF, I think most of us would be hard press to come up with great reasons to pass on UF and spend the extra $ on PSU for pre-med. Did you apply to any other colleges, such as FSU?</p>
<p>My parents basically like UF better because of cost, familiarity, and less traveling. My mom has no sense of familiarity with PSU, and she said it may be uncomfortable being in a huge university not knowing anyone. At UF, I know so many people and if I don’t know someone, there’s a decent chance I know him/her through someone else… I rather be in a place where I can have a totally clean start. </p>
<p>My ultimate goal is to go to a top med school, hopefully somewhere suburban or urban (for the best education and the experience), which is neither Penn State’s med school or UF’s… That’s long-term, however.</p>
<p>I do want to experience four seasons and meeting completely new people, but I also want to be in the better pre-med track. I’m still unclear of which school has the better pre-med program. </p>
<p>@Gator88NE, I’ve been accepted to FSU and waiting to hear from BC, ND, and USC, but I probably won’t get into any… maybe BC. FSU is out of the question… </p>
<p><<<
At UF, I know so many people and if I don’t know someone, there’s a decent chance I know him/her through someone else
<<<<</p>
<p>lol…uh no. UF is just too big. There will be a ton of people that you don’t know and who don’t know people that you know. Large univs are not like high school. You may “cross paths” with an occasional person from your high school, but most people will be totally new to you.</p>
<p>I know that kids like to say, “oh half my graduating class will be at the school.” No they won’t. Probably less than 20% will be at UF (the state has too many other univs that students are choosing and some will be going OOS). And the ones that do go to UF will be spread amongst a very large campus. There will be thousands of frosh that you won’t know.</p>
<p>If I were your parents there’s no way that I would pay OOS for PSU when UF is on the table as instate AND with Bright Futures. The cost to go to UF would be less than $15k per year for you. The cost for PSU would be over twice that. That’s throwing away $60k for a school that is essentially the same. </p>
<p><<
My ultimate goal is to go to a top med school, hopefully somewhere suburban or urban (for the best education and the experience), which is neither Penn State’s med school or UF’s… That’s long-term, however.
<<<</p>
<p>As for med schools…it doesn’t matter what the med schools at UF or PSU are desirable (I don’t think PSU-UP has a med school). You aren’t hog-tied to any particular med school. </p>
<p>That said, you’ll be lucky to get into ANY med school since the acceptance rates are so low. Med schools are only interviewing about 15% of their applicants and then accepting only about half or less of the students they interview. Don’t get hung up on any particular med school. You’ll go where you get accepted. </p>
<p>Adding to m2ck’s comment, and as someone who’s live it at UF, you will rarely run into someone from your high school, unless you make the effort to stay in touch. Lets say 40 folks got accepted from your HS (it’s more likely, less than more), about 50% will enroll, so we’re talking about 20 students out of 6,400 enrolled freshmen. In fact, a major issue many freshmen have to deal with is the sense of isolation…</p>
<p>Why is FSU out of the question? Our family doctor did his undergrad at FSU and we don’t hold it against him. </p>
<p>@mom2collegekids I understand that UF is huge, but I really want to go somewhere completely new. New people, new environment, new everything. UF feels like an extension of my high school… </p>
<p>The cost factor is killing me! My parents tell me not to worry about the cost, and I know we can afford PSU, but we’d be saving so much money if I went to UF… ugh. </p>
<p>Med schools usually take a good amount of undergrads from their own undergrad school, but that’s a minor fact.</p>
<p>@Gator88NE and @MYOS1634 UF’s premed program is WAY better than FSU’s. </p>
<p>Honestly still struggling with this decision. </p>
And UF highlights its… number of applicants! (Not the number or percentage of ADMITTED applicants). Neither one indicates whether they withold committee letters (you need these to have a shot and, in order to increase their percentages of admitted students, some universities - more than you’d think- refuse to provide letters to students whom they feel may not get admitted to med school.) 45-50% admission rate is nothing extraordinary for UF and we don’t know the percentages for Penn State, so I’m not sure how you can make your decision based on those. You may want to email each program and ask information such as is listed above.</p>
</p>