UVA vs VCU Honors with Scholarship

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Virginia
1

I have absolutely no idea which to pick. I’ve visited both campuses and I think we all know what each one has to offer. The thing is, if I attended VCU, I would have no debt after graduation, whereas, at UVA, I would incur about 15,000 a year. I want to go into medicine, and VCU’s guaranteed medical school is very appealing. Could I please get some advice.

2

Have you been accepted to the guaranteed medical school program? If so I would go for it. It would lift the huge burden of med school acceptance. I think they mostly offer it to super high caliber students in an effort to lure the best and brightest. There is a forum on here for medical students and I’m sure someone who knows better than me can advise you better. I have noticed it is usually said to incur as little debt as possible for undergraduate education. I have no idea of your family finances but $60k debt before med school seems like a lot. But it’s UVA and I’d probably want my son to go. Are your parents going to cosign loans for UVA? You can only borrow $5500 this year on your own. Good luck. It sound like you have great choices.

3

Haven’t been accepted to the guarantee medical school yet, but as long as I get my pre requisites and keep my GPA above 3.5 I’m guaranteed a spot from what I have researched. And scholarships may relieve some of the debt from UVA but I will not know if I received any until after May 1, but even then it would be more expensive.

4

“Honors premedical students may elect to follow the Preferred Applicant Track (Medicine), which offers an opportunity to apply to the Guaranteed Admission Program (Medicine) at the end of your sophomore year. Students who successfully meet all the requirements of the Guaranteed Admission Program may enter the School of Medicine without further competition.” https://www.pubapps.vcu.edu/honors/guaranteed/medicine/index.aspx

“Students accepted into the Preferred Applicant Track (Medicine) must successfully satisfy the requirements of the Guaranteed Admission Program (Medicine). Note that a corroborative, combined MCAT score of 26, obtained in a single sitting, with no score below seven, is also required.”

So it’s a little more than prereqs and gpa. Still, if you want to go to med school, it is probably your best choice to minimize or eliminate undergrad debt. I’d take the VCU offer in your position. VCU med school costs are already over $60k/year in state as it is. http://www.medschool.vcu.edu/studentaffairs/financial_aid/cost_attendance/ (That’s over a quarter of a million dollars for Virginia residents, over 4 years.)

5

I think that you should go for UVA…UVA has a med school as well and it is much more prestigious than VCU’s med school. If you ever want to go to a med school out of Virginia, such as GW, Georgetown, or anywhere else, it would be wise to go to UVA. If you can thrive at UVA, it would be really nice going into med school. Granted that the guaranteed program at VCU is difficult to get into, you should have no problem at UVA. I say, go for UVA…you will probably like it better there, have a better environment, and you shouldn’t worry about the money right now because for undergrad, $15,000 a year is less than average. You will probably have no problem paying that off once you become a doctor anyways.

6

I respectfully must disagree with the post above.

  1. Getting into UVA undergrad will have no effect on you trying to get into UVA Medical School. If you go to VCU with the guaranteed admission (assuming you retain a 3.5) you will be admitted to MCV and can still apply to other medical schools. I have a friend who did this and ended up at UVA. At UVA you will not have this same arrangement so there would be no fallback option (if that’s how you want to see it).

  2. Medical schools will not care much (if at all) about where you went to undergrad. It doesn’t matter if you go to UVA or VCU, what matters are your grades and MCATs primarily.

  3. 15k a year adds up even if it is below average. If you could save that 60k and put it towards medical school you will have far less debt upon graduation. Doctors make very little after graduation (you must get through residency first which does not pay a lot) and you’ll appreciate the difference once interest starts to rack up.

None of this means UVA isn’t a good choice for you. It is. Given the options, I prefer UVA over VCU (although I am a biased UVA alum). That said, the VCU package is very compelling and may in fact be the better choice for you. It sounds like it might be.