Hello everyone,
I plan to major in Biology with a concentration in Ecology/Evolutionary Biology and would like to go on a pursue a graduate program. Right now, I am having troubling deciding between the Midwest Big10 schools I have been accepted to for undergrad.
Madison:
At Madison, I have been accepted to the honors program, but am receiving little financial aid and tuition is expected to increase each year for OOS, which makes it the most expensive out of the three. However, I like the campus and atmosphere the best here and I feel like Madison has a good reputation for their biology program (with a lot of great professors).
UIUC:
I am an in-state student, but once again receiving little financial aid. I was not particularly fond of the Urbana-Champaign area, but the campus was alright. Iām an LAS James Scholar here, but from what I read, this really only gives students an advantage in terms of scheduling (please correct me if I am misinformed).
UMN:
I was awarded the National Gold Scholarship, which makes UMN the most affordable by far. I think that being in the College of Biological Science will give me a lot of opportunities in terms of research and concentrate on EEB. But the campus is pretty spread out and Iām not sure how I feel about some of the class set ups. I would apply to the honors program my sophomore year, but I know there are no guarantees that I would get it.
Any insight would be appreciated.
I would go with Minnesota. CBS is strong, itās cheapest whereby you can save for Grad school and Minneapolis and the campus are great. .
UMN would be the best choice. Second would be UWI, but the way you speak about costs make it sound like itās barely affordable, so think long and hard about this - if it means taking the federal loans ($5,500 your first year), youāre in the clear, but if it means Parent PLUS loans, then go to UMN and donāt look back.
I agree with UMN if finances are your primary concern. You will be studying with a lot of high caliber students in CBS, and it is a very highly regarded program. See: http://admissions.tc.umn.edu/academics/profile.html My daughter plans to attend UMN (in a different college), and when we visited and talked to the students there, none of them seemed to mind the commute between campuses.
However, if UW-Madison is affordable for you (more expensive but still affordable) and thatās where you feel more at home, then choose that. Being in the honors program and graduating with honors might be important when it comes time to apply to graduate schools. I havenāt researched that though, so you might want to find out if being in honors is important or not when applying to grad programs in your field. If not, then stick with the more affordable UMN.
Thank you all so much for your responses! I have been thinking about this decision for a couple of weeks now and finally decided on Minnesota with all the advice I received. However, I was just admitted off the waitlist from Case Western Reserve University and offered a substantial scholarship. Itās still slightly more expensive than Minnesota, but manageable. Now I am once again stuck between schoolsā¦ any thoughts? Would anyone be able to offer some insight on the biology program of Case Western vs. Minnesotaās CBS?
My S had both CWRU with a substantial scholarship and Minnesota on his final list (final had 5 schools altogether). He had one last session with this college counselor last night to make his decision. I had thought he would pick Case but he picked Minnesota. Counselor felt that S would āoutgrowā the student opportunities at CWRU. Academically itās a very fine school but lacks a bit in school spirit (no D1 sports). Focus is very heavily on academics so it depends on what your criteria are. Obviously he wanted a focused student body but still wanted other collegiate elements to be very present. In his case, his areas of study also are ārankedā higher for UMN over Case - I donāt know about their respective biology programs. University size is another major difference - I do have some concerns over the size of UMN and it has more of a commuter component than Case (all students must stay in residence for the first two years).
Not sure why the counselor thought one could āoutgrowā the offerings at Case, itās a strange comment to make - can you explain @singermom4?
Itās a great medical school, great area (University Circle is rife with research opportunities and hospitals, but itās also culture and food), smaller class sizes, less focus on sports and fraternities, more driven student body overall (although students at UMN are no slouches, especially in CBS), more personalized education, less redtape.
In favor of UMN would be the Twin Cities and if you really like D1 sports or professional sports.
You could ask what % of the entering class at their med school comes from their own undergraduate program; you could ask whether undergraduates can shadow professionals from the med school; you can ask what percentage students find medical-related internships nearby; you can ask, among the students who participate in pre health advising, how many make it into at least one med school?
Also, ask about housing (is there a health science or biology living-learning community?), percentage of students who have to repeat Organic Chemistry, average GPA in the CBS/in Biology, conditions to enter the Honors Programā¦
The reference to āoutgrowingā is restricted to student activities - my S also is an enthusiastic sports spectator so a D1 school would better fulfill that criteria. Also he is in marching band so again, a bit more of an experience at a D1 school. Focus is most definitely on the studies at CWRU - so it seems harder to explore opportunities outside of studies.
Thanks @singermom4 :), that makes total sense in that context.
All of the first three you mentioned are more or less equal. Between MN and Case, itās really a matter of preference. Theyāre similar academically.
Case is a smaller, research driven private school. Students are going to be very strong in the STEM fields and academically focused.
UMN is a big state school. There will be many different types of people and more opportunities due to sheer size (not necessarily better oppertunites).
Were it me, I would go with MN. It seems easier to stand out which is great for grad school. Doing the same caliber of work at Case, you would be average/above average, but at MN you would be elite.
I donāt agree that the student body of Case is better than Minnesotaās CBS or CSE - not at all.
UMN sounds like the right way to go. Itās a good thing that you didnāt choose Madison because the entire UW system is facing massive budget cuts right now. However, there is also an in state tuition freeze. So, the first thing that they intend to do to address these cuts is hike up out of state tuition. Lucky for you, Minnesotaās current government is quite higher education friendly.
Thank you to everyone for all of your input! Sorry it has taken me so long to respond, but these last few months have been crazy busy. I just wanted to update that I will be attending the University of Minnesota in the fall.
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