URGENT! please help with college decision!

<p>It’s almost that time for me to make my decision, and I still have not made up my mind, but I have narrowed it down to two schools. I got into DARTMOUTH with no financial aid, meaning I would have to pay $46,000. On the other hand, there is BRANDEIS in which I received full tuition. Which one should I attend? Which has the better package? Please HELP! Btw…I plan to major in the science field, so biology/chemistry/biochemistry…something of the sort.</p>

<p>I think a large part of it is your family's financial situation which you did not address. If you can afford the tuition at Dartmouth it is the more "prestigious" school. However, Brandeis is well known for its science and pre-med majors and would likely give you an equal education and a good chance of getting into med school if you want to pursue that path. Either way you will be happy and fine, don't stress!</p>

<p>If Dartmouth gives you an "equal education" to Brandeis than it doesn't deserve to be part of the Ivy League. And I say this as a Brandeis student. Dartmouth is definitely a more prestigious school, when it comes to things such as pre-med. And don't let anyone tell you prestige doesn't matter when it comes to that stuff. I've had admissions committees and even fellow applicants look down their noses at me because I "only went to Brandeis." Moreover, our serious grade deflation makes us look like we're dumber than we really are. Getting a 3.5 in science, which is actually a feat at Brandeis, makes you look like a dumbass when you're competing with people at Ivies with 3.8's who may be no more intelligent than you are.</p>

<p>I can't speak for the professors at Dartmouth but I can tell you here a lot of them (in the sciences) are uncaring, selfish, pompous jerks who only care about their research. My pre-med advisor, the guy who's supposed to be my guide for helping me get into medical school, doesn't even recognize my name or face even though I've been to see him multiple times!</p>

<p>Like you, Izzy, I had to choose Brandeis with a lot of merit aid vs. another school with no aid. My parents pressured me into coming here, and now even they feel guilty for making me do it. Don't be fooled. The majority of pre-meds and many science major non-pre-meds are not very happy here. I'm sure I'll be getting a lot of flak from the Brandeis lovers who mainly frequent this site, but everything I'm saying is the damn truth.</p>

<p>Yeah ..... maybe go to Dartmouth then.</p>

<p>Brandeis is near Boston, Dartmouth near some beautiful countryside --depends what's important to you. Brandeis has produced some outstanding professors in biology, biochemistry. Campus feel is quite different at each school --best to have visited both before deciding. Agreed that name recognition and overall prestige are higher at Dartmouth-- but full costs wil take a big bite out of most budgets--how much in loans would you have to face on graduation? If Brandeis environment is congenial to you, it could make a lot of sense to go there....</p>

<p>deispremed needs to forget about brandeis and move on....</p>

<p>I'm not going to say deispremed's comments are untrue because I don't know him. But, I do know his comments are not representative of most pre-med people at Brandeis. I'm not a science person, but my friends who have a completely different opinion of the departments. They say their professors are good teachers and approachable. What's special about Brandeis is that undergrads get the chance to work with leaders in their field, get work published and get funded for research. This is rare for undergraduates.</p>

<p>My social life at Brandeis is excellent. Last night, Danny and Mel from Real World: Austin were here and did Singled Out:Brandeis edition. Tonight, I'm going to see Boris' Kitchen perform their annual, original sketch comedy show.</p>

<p>Last but not least, you will be saving nearly $200,000 dollars. I don't know your individual financial situation, but that amount of money is not something to be taken lightly. Think about all you can do with the money you save. </p>

<p>Deispremed is right; you shouldn't solely pick a school based on money. Come to Brandeis because it's a great school, and enjoy the privilege of not having to pay for your undergraduate education. </p>

<p>Please, PM with any other questions!</p>

<p>I'm not a Brandeis student, (I applied as a transfer student and the response is coming in May), but If I were you, I would definitely chose Brandeis. I don't think Dartmouth is going to make a huge difference on your application to med schools. What Med schools are looking for, for the large part, is a good preparation in basic sciences (general physics, general chemistry, general biology) and calculus, when it comes to academics, and I must say, there isn't immense variation in those fields nationally, so how about when it's an issue between Dartmouth and an academically renowned school such as Brandeis? If you get a good GPA in Brandeis and get excellent MCAT scores, I don't think you will have any problems in the academic part of your application to the most prestigious med schools. Ofcourse, Med schools are looking to more than good grades, so the rest of the stuff you need to do falls on your back. Also, if you think research is important, then as I've been told, there are plenty of excellent research opportunities in Brandeis.</p>

<p>So really, if it's about 46000$ you have to pay for 3 years and little difference, then I would chose Brandeis all the way. Don't forget the huge costs of med schools. So saving 46000 for 3 years would really help you.</p>

<p>what is the definitive cost of attendance for Brandeis? I heard somesay say it's 46,770 and others say is 45,550. Which one is true? And why is Brandeis so expensive?</p>

<p>Yo, Gaura,</p>

<p>When Brandeis stops trying to shake me down for donations, I'll forget about them and move on.</p>

<p>Any school that even has the nerve to ask me for more money (on top of the money my family already had to pay them) better treat me at the very minumum like a human being. And unfortunately Brandeis couldn't even meet that standard.</p>

<p>I don't know if you're planning on applying to med school or not, but I'm not premed, so I can't really speak to that. Personally, I am a chemistry major and I love the department. Many of the professors are great people who don't look down on their undergrads at all. I can just walk right in to the office of many of my science professors without a problem to address any questions or concerns I have, or even just to chat if they aren't busy. Also, the professor teaching honors gen chem next year is excellent. :)</p>

<p>Deispremed, it is not too uncommon for schools to ask Seniors to give a Senior Gift. They requested $20.06, which I don't think is too exorbanent. Many, many students gave that amount because of their love for Brandeis. See <a href="http://www.brandeis.edu/givingto/seniorgift/honors.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.brandeis.edu/givingto/seniorgift/honors.html&lt;/a> </p>

<p>I'm very sorry Brandeis didn't meet all of your expectations. I hope you do well in med school.</p>

<p>20 bucks is by no means exorbitant. However, it's more on principle. A school that doesn't treat me well and that may have actually sabotaged my chances of getting into more/better medical schools should not be rewarded even by small monetary amounts. </p>

<p>Besides, there are a lot of other charities that shelter the homeless, feed the hungry, and vaccinate and educate poor rural children, all of whom need our help far more than a school with a $500 million endowment who will use our money to put up a little bench somewhere on campus. If our gift was going to a real cause like the options I mentioned I'd give way more than 20 bucks.</p>

<p>I was in a similar dilemma a few days ago choosing between Brandeis with full tuition and MIT for biology. I chose MIT because I knew that while I still would be happy at Brandeis (which seems like a really good school), I would regret not going to MIT. If your parents can afford it, go to Dartmouth since it seems like that is where you want to go.</p>

<p>Thirty years ago a boy (premed) who had lost both parents approached Brandeis for financial aid. Aid was offered conditionally, and unpleasantly. Subsequently, Colby College pledged a full ride and that finances would never be a problem. While numerous premed friends of his at Brandeis began to love poetry and sociology and switched majors he graduated from Colby and is now a physician. Since that time I have seen many children of my friends have the muse strike them, at Brandeis. The most recent one was premed to psychology to physician's assistant. In spite of these experiences, with an open mind my son applied to Brandeis premed. Fortunately, my S was accepted to a combined BS-MD program. This morning I learned that Jack Abramoff is a distinguished alumnus. This is demonstrative of the idea that political science and pre-law majors are more creative than the average pre-med.</p>

<p>scidoc, I'm not quite sure what you're getting at. First off, your story takes place 30 years ago...not so indicative of a school that's only in it's 60's. Second, what's wrong with deciding that you really love the humanities more than you want to be a doctor? Priorities change during the four years of college. I came into college wanting to be a Judaic Studies and Physics major...I changed to chem and creative writing. Not because of the school, but just because I realized that's what interested me more. If you REALLY want to be premed, you stay premed. If you don't actually want to be a doctor, it's good to find out at a school where you're not locked into a program and that's strong in many other areas as well. This is the reason that I did not apply to MIT or Caltech, even though I was pretty sure as a senior that I wanted to pursue the sciences. Thirdly, I'm not quite sure what Jack Abramoff has to do with anything. Every college has its bad eggs, unfortunately. It's sad that someone would use the excellent education Brandeis gave them to such ends. However, I assure you Jack Abramoff is not representative of the student body and has no relevance whatsoever to political science majors or anyone's decision to not be pre-med.</p>

<p>The unabomber went to Harvard after all. </p>

<p>I prefer to think of myself as the future Abbie Hoffman anyway.</p>

<p>Frankly, to say that pre-meds are less creative than other people is a bunch of bull*****. I know there's the whole stereotype that we have our faces buried in orgo books and have no appreciation for anything outside of the sciences, but that's just untrue. Science, like poetry and politics and all that other stuff, requires lots of creativity when it comes to research.</p>

<p>However, Scidoc has a point, although maybe not worded in the best way. Pre-meds are not rewarded for creativity; in fact we can be punished for it. Time and effort spent on being creative is time and effort not spent on memorizing the orgo book, etc.--and when it comes to grades in the basic sciences, memorization and regurgitation of the book and lecture material is really all that counts. In poli sci and classes like that, you are given broad scope for paper topics and professors are looking for new, original ideas in the papers. In science classes, you get exams asking a set of specific fact-based questions, and quoting the book word for word as an answer "rewards" gets you rewarded far more than if you come up with your own creative theory of a concept.</p>

<p>True science and medicine of course, does not work this way at all. You will never get a grant or make a discovery, and most of your patients will probably die. Conclusions: a) pre-meds seem "less creative" because creativity is not a virtue in basic science classes. b) the way we educate our pre-meds is completely wrong.</p>

<p>The term "struck by the muse" was adopted by engineers as a condition which strikes undergraduates upon leaving the Dean's
office after being informed that they are no longer engineers. It aptly applies to pre-meds as well, particularly at Brandeis where the competition can be so punishing.The term evolved at a well known engineering school when former engineering students would taunt the engineers that they had no understanding of the arts. The Abramoff reference was of course, a joke. However, it would be interesting to know if he contributed to his alma mata with extorted Native American funds.</p>

<p>He's contributed about $50 since he graduated in '81. It was in one of the Deis newspapers when the scandal first came out.</p>