So I have been admitted to both UVA and VCU honors program. UVA, with scholorships, will be free. VCU honors, with the money they offered me alone, will be free. I am majoring in Biology and plan to go Pre-Med.
I’m having difficulty deciding as I know VCU has a guaranteed admission program I can later be admitted into if I meet the requirements + they are offering me more money than I need.(leaving me with left over money I can use on other things). I know that if I attend VCU honors it won’t be as competitive as UVA.
UVA on the other hand is known for its great academics program and its prestige. Cons to UVA is the competitiveness and the fear I will fall inferiors to my peers.
All advice and help would be much appreciated on what you think is the better option!
With the understanding that this is only one individual’s opinion:
- UVa has a stellar national and international stature, VCU does not (I am not commenting on the “fairness” of this assessment, simply on the “fact” alone).
- For me, Charlottesville is a much nicer undergraduate environment than immediate “downtown Richmond.”
- It’s very likely that in 10+ years, no one will know – or care – that you were in VCU’s Honors Program or that your VCU GPA was (perhaps) a 3.5, whereas your UVa GPA was a 3.3. However, they will note that you went to UVa (“that’s a great school”), rather than VCU (“okay, so how was your weekend?”).
- How certain are you that your grades at UVa are certain to be lower, due to student selectivity and competition? Many top schools significantly “curve” grades, which could entirely negate your concern.
- Finally, there’s school spirit, alumni networking, and the enterprises that seriously recruit on campus, all of which strongly favor UVa.
Normally on CC, questions of this sort immediately evolve into “X is clearly better than Y, but costs/debt greatly favor Y.” However, you’re so fortunate to have a full scholarship at both!
Finally, without question you can be admitted to excellent medical schools from either university. But what happens if you – like SO MANY OTHER FRESHMEN – decide to pursue some other career/major? This happens with GREAT FREQUENCY; where would your future be better served when you (after two semesters) decide to major in economics or in environmental studies? Here, too, it seems clear answer is UVa.
To summarize, go to UVa . . . and (privately and quietly) daily thank the charitable donors and taxpayers who made you major scholarship possible.
UVA for sure, don’t let the inferiority complex get to you, you all were admitted and all are attending a great university! That speaks volumes on your success as well!
UVA for sure 
Students who can get in through pre-admit can also get in without it, so don’t worry and go to UVA.
But didn’t you have to make your choice already?
If this worries you then you are probably not a competitive candidate for the VCU guarantee program. BA/MD programs look for kids that are highly likely to get in to med school thru the regular admission process. It is not an “easy backdoor” into med school.
VCU says they take up to 15 currently enrolled kids per year (http://www.medschool.vcu.edu/admissions/md/recruitment/). I would bet that most of the stronger premed kids at VCU apply; why wouldn’t they? So if you’re worried about competing at UVA, you ought to worry about how you’re going to be in the top 15 at VCU.
Nor is that the end of the story. UVA does not write a committee letter. Even if your chances of getting into med school are 5%, you can still try and 1 out of every 20 “wins”. VCU write a committee letter, and screens.
Those kids with the 5% chance at VCU are probably told “sorry”. So, once more, if you’re worried about whether you can meet the level of your peers at UVA you also ought to worry about whether you can meet the standards of the VCU pre-med committee.