Hi! So two of my top schools are the University of Michigan and USC. I am hoping to follow the pre-med track, so which would be a better pick? The cost would be virtually the same.
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What are the costs associated? (Med Schools are EXPENSIVE)
Michigan. USC cannot even be found on any top medical school ranking. It’s always been behind academically compared to other top schools.
https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-medical-schools/research-rankings
https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-medical-schools/primary-care-rankings
#1 Yes they can
#2 According to that logic, Princeton would really be a bad pre med school.
#3 Med school rankings have very little to no impact on the pre med program.
My answer is always: What school would you go to if you remove the possibility of med school?
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For the same price? USC! Private over public.
Better weather too!
Both are excellent choices - which is less expensive? They are pretty comparable “prestige” wise in my opinion, so it’s not like you’d be crazy to choose one over the other. Med school means debt, so definitely be judicious about undergraduate loans.
Some more meaningful things to think about as you consider:
Academic
-To which environment are you better suited?
-Where will you get research opportunities better aligned with you interests?
-Which school has better support for pre-med students based on your needs?
-Is the pre-med culture collaborative or cut-throat?
-Are there plenteous resources for pre-med student development/research/placement into Goldwater/NIH/NSF and other such things? (I think UMich might have the edge there.)
Social/Personal
-Are you seasonally affected? Ann Arbor is beautiful and a wonderful college town, but the winters are rooooouuuugh.
-Do you want Greek life (big at USC) to be a part of your own campus experience, or a significant part of the campus life generally whether or not you take part?
-Where is closer to home? Do you want to be far or near from home?
-If you were to decide in 6 months that you didn’t want to be pre-med anymore, what would you want to do? Which campus would better equip you for that field?
I hope these questions give you some inner clarity. Congrats on having a decision like this to make! Both wonderful options.
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Great advice!!!
I keep telling pre-meds that 1/3 of my freshman class at Cornell were pre-meds.
Only about 1/3 of them maybe stayed pre-meds.
I think it’s all about fit! Both schools are excellent.
And yeah, LA weather >> Michigan.
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Do you want to be able to walk off campus without being mugged or killed?
Michigan>>>USC
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