Hey all. I’ve been accepted to both colleges, but haven’t received full scholarship/financial info for either. I’ve got a while to make a decision, but I thought it’d be nice to hear input from other people. My mom wants me to choose Houston, I want to choose Minnesota. It would really help to hear pros/cons of either decision.
Also, I plan on attending graduate school afterwards (medical/dental/PA).
Minnesota:
Has my major
Waived oos tuition - still waiting for smaller scholarships in spring
At most will cost: ~25k/year
At least will cost (based on possible spring scholarships): ~18k/year
Houston:
I’m okay with going here
Really near home… my brother attends
Does not have my preferred major, but offers something similar
At most will cost: ~21k/year
LIKELY will cost: ~12k/13k per year
At least will cost: free first 2 years, ~12k/13k last 2 years
Basically… Should I choose the cheaper, closer option of Houston (I tend to see this as the “easier” option… As in I will know people and be close to home, I will not have to adapt to a new environment or get out of my comfort zone), or challenge myself with Minnesota?
If you choose cheaper, will the money saved be available for professional school?
Houston or some other school in Texas will probably be easier to go to medical school interviews at Texas medical schools. Assuming that you are a resident of Texas, Texas public medical schools are significantly less expensive than most medical schools, which means that, if you get into one, you will start your medical career with much lower debt than most new MDs.
I would mention that Minnesota is generally regarded as the better school, but that doesn’t matter so much given that you desire to go to med school.
Bear in mind, however, that most who declare as Pre-Med (or desire to go into medicine…) do not end up even applying for med school.
If you changed your mind, would Houston still make more sense?
I would weigh the likely cheaper cost of the Houston education and the relative ease of getting into med school (vs. getting that same GPA at Minn and finding as likely a suitor as the scenario ucbalumnus paints) – and making your mom happy – against going to what is a better school all-around (and in most departments) and being able to enjoy all four seasons: six months of winter and about two months apiece of the others.
I don’t think you can really make a bad decision. I’m sure Houston has plenty of good majors/programs as well, should you change your mind.
So, do Texas medical schools prefer applicants who attend in-state schools vs residents who attend oos undergrad?
I was also wondering if one campus has “better” opportunities than the other. (I know UH has the Texas medical center right there.)
Minnesota definitely has more OOS, and I believe international as well. However, their diversity isn’t as much as UH… I think Minnesota’s student body is around 70% white.
Minnesota has 8.1% international students, versus 4.6% at Houston.
Domestic students at Minnesota are 77.5% white, 9.8% Asian, 4.3% black, and 3.6% Latino. Domestic students at Houston are 32.3% Latino, 29.0% white, 22.7% Asian, and 11.3% black.
No other universities in Texas are under consideration?
https://services.aamc.org/tsfreports/ shows the tuition and fees (not including living expenses) at MD medical schools in the US. If you are a Texas resident, you probably want to attend a Texas public medical school with tuition and fees under $20,000 per year (or Baylor at a price just above that for Texas residents), versus some other medical school at $50,000 to $70,000 per year for tuition and fees. It would be a lot easier to go to medical school interviews from a school in Texas than from Minnesota.
Yes, right now UH is the only Texas school I’m considering. Even though I’m an auto admit to UT Austin or A&M, I highly doubt I’ll get scholarship money… Which I need. And the ones that I would get money from are similar to UH, so I might as well choose the one closest to home and by the medical center
UMN is a MUCH better school. In addition, UH is mostly commuter and if you change your mind about being premed (like most freshmen do), you’re better off at a better university. One thing sticks out to me: UHouston doesn’t even have the major you want to pursue! Considering the difference in quality is so much higher than the difference in cost, I’d pick UMN. I understand wanting to make your mom happy, but considering Texas doesn’t consider where you did undergrad but rather whether you’re a resident, and the fact UMN is much stronger academically than UHouston*, if you’re a strong student, you should challenge yourself and choose the better school.
check out the CDS: you'll see the TOP 25% at UHouston... are the bottom 25% at UMinnesota. Virtually no one (even ahtletes and legacies) scores below 24 on their ACT at UMN, whereas about 45% of the admitted students did at UHouston. If you scored 30+ on your ACT, you'll be among peers at UMN, not at UHouston. It may not even be that much "easier" at UHouston since there's less campus culture, many students commute (87% freshmen live on campus at UMN, vs. 82% commute at UHouston and freshman housing is not guaranteed) so it's harder to find study groups or make friends.
This student should still have TX residency if their parents still live in Texas. Keep stuff like your driver’s license & voter registration in Texas, too. I would not worry about that aspect of it if you attend MN. I think MN is the stronger school, and you seem to want to try something new. If the finances work, I’d give MN a try.
I grew up in Houston. I would personally pick the University of Minnesota over UH if you can afford it.
Your stats are excellent. Have you run the NPC and looked at the merit scholarships at Trinity? Trinity has a solid reputation for pre med. You would get great merit money from UT Dallas. You should visit UTD.
Since scholarships may exist to reduce the cost at these other Texas schools, you may want to consider them if Houston is less desirable. In the end, Minnesota may not be significantly less expensive, particularly if you consider travel costs (and eventual travel to medical school interviews).
Does anyone know if Texas medical/dental schools look less favorably upon UH than other state schools (like UT Austin)? And I’ll look at the suggested schools, thanks for the input everyone.
With medical school, it’s not about med schools looking more or less favorably at certain colleges. It’s about resources and support - the appropriate information, networking, tutoring… to ensure you make it to a med school. A flagship will have more resources (after budget cuts to higher education, the flagship always gets the lion’s share.) The more students are “med school caliber”, the more likely you’ll have that support. A downside is that you’ll have more competition, but if you’re competitive for UT Austin, you’re competitive about anywhere and you shouldn’t fear being outranked if you continue working hard. For instance, compare the situation at Texas State and the situation at St Edward’s, two colleges that have roughly the same caliber students. St Edward’s has an excellent record, whereas Texas State doesn’t (St Edward’s even ranks among top schools nationally for Hispanic medical school aspirants.)
