My D got accepted into UT Austin- major-Psychology(did not get into honors). She also got into Texas tech - major- psychology Honors program. What are the pros and cons of both options? She is considering pre med and would like to pursue medical school in future. If She Wants to go to medical school does it matter where She goes to college?
UT Austin
Pros: high reputation , ranked higher for psychology major compared to Texas tech
Cons: no honors benefits, not sure how hard it is to maintain gpa in ut vs tech.
At the end of the day, mcat and gpa is key to get into med school. Not sure how much the college you graduate matters. So looking for some unbiased opinion.
Thanks
Rachael
Texas Tech Honors would make it more likely for her to make it to the med school stage with a better, more personalized experience, but if, like most premeds, she doesn’t make it to med school, UT may serve her better.
I’d veer toward TTU Honors though.
What does she think?
BTW in psychology make sure she takes sufficient cognitive science/biostats/applied stats classes in parrallel to other branches of psychology (psych of organizations, social psych…) even if not required for med school
(in order to have a more versatile degree.)
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She is leaning towards tech since it’s a smaller school meaning more opportunities and can interact better with professors. She’s still trying to talk to other students or anyone that knows more about what Texas tech university has to offer. Do you know anything about what specifically TTU has to offer for pre-med students?
We just visited tech for admitted student tour and she didn’t really like the TTU campus. UT seems like a nicer environment but opportunity-wise TTU seems better.
Isn’t Texas Tech a school with 30K undergrads? At a LAC or small private you will have small classes and interaction as a matter of course, but I’m a bit dubious about TT providing any advantage over UT in general. The honors program helps with dedicated advising and a few honors classes, but at the end most of the classes (like at honors colleges in general) are taken in the regular U. See https://www.depts.ttu.edu/honors/ and read carefully the info under the Academics tab.
At the end of the day, mcat and gpa is key to get into med school.
That, along with strong recs and exposure to patient care. Taking part in research was once also key but for the past 30+ years it is just another EC. She can learn what it takes to get into med school by reading thru the very informative https://www.rhodes.edu/sites/default/files/PreMed_Essentials.pdf. There is also a good handbook at Amherst College Guide for Premedical Students – Amherst College | Loeb Center for Career Exploration and Planning and no doubt many other websites, as well as books.
But since this is an advice form, my advice is first to ask why an M.D? When a lot of HS kids become interested in a career in medicine it becomes “I’m pre-med!” and they embark on a path that will take 11+ years of school/training plus enormous debt. Doctors are far from the only ones in the health field that help people. Physical therapists, radiology techs, nurses, speech pathologists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, to name but just a few. as you can see on http://explorehealthcareers.org I knew someone at a top-10 med school who said that if she had it to do over again she would have gone into nursing. Unless DD has carefully considered the alternatives and spent time actually working in a health care setting its better to think of her as interested in exploring a career as a doctor rather than someone who has already made the decision.
So I’d say the most important thing to do when she starts college is to get a job or volunteer position in a medical setting (volunteer in a hospital, etc). This will give her a better sense if medicine is right, and if being a doctor is the right choice in medicine. An additional benefit of doing this is it will give the motivation to persevere thru the hard work it takes as a pre-med. A lot of kids that throw in the towel (maybe 4 out of 5 entering as pre-med) because they were never that committed in the first place.
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Thank you. Appreciate taking time and providing advice. During her high school, she volunteered at multiple hospitals and likes the profession. I know M.D. is very competitive and not easy to get into. She knows the time commitment and hard work it takes to complete the path. That is why we are trying to make her life little bit easier seeking advice and making right decisions.
My daughter is also considering the Texas Tech Honors College for premed. I found out today that it’s difficult to get a spot in the honors science classes since they’re capped at about 20 students. That said, she would have much more individualized attention at Tech than at A&M (she didn’t get into UT Austin). I really encouraged A&M, but she really doesn’t want to go there. Tech seems to offer plenty of opportunities for research and shadowing that would be tougher to find at UT Austin (if not in Honors). But UT Austin is known as a “public Ivy” and has a fantastic national reputation, while Tech doesn’t. However, Tech is well-regarded in Texas and it would probably be easier to get a higher GPA at Tech. I could be wrong though.
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