Hi. I have not actually been accepted to either of these schools. I will probably be applying to both of these schools. I was just wondering if college confidential had any opinions about premed strength at these schools.
I also have a completely unrelated question. Has anyone gotten a full tuition scholarship to USC? What did your app look like?
I understand that most people will not be able to answer both of my questions, but any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Both schools send students to top med schools every year, but at both expect to be working hard as they’re very similar in terms of grading etc.
If you’d rather have more time on extracurriculars and more student friendly grading policies, you might consider a school like Brown (no +/-, no failing grades, can pass/fail any class etc,) but if you’re intent on challenging yourself throughout college (which still happens at Brown, but the level of difficulty can be adjusted based on your personal goals rather than HAVING to take certain classes,) you might consider UChicago or Vanderbilt to be better fits.
I got a half-tuition merit scholarship at USC last year, but that was b/c I was a National Merit Finalist and USC auto-awards us half-tuition scholarships if admitted. Full tuition is extremely competitive-----just apply widely (safeties, matches, and reaches) and hope for the best! 
Wow! Thanks for responding to my second thread. It makes sense that each of these schools would send a lot of students off to top med schools. Do you think that it is easier to get into a particular med school if you went there for college as opposed to if you graduated from a different institution.
Unfortunately I don’t know if Brown is that affordable for me. I think they use their own FA that is pretty intensive when it comes to non custodial parent info. Brown seems like a really awesome school!
I am surprised to hear that National Merit Finalists get auto half tuition scholarships at USC. I assumed that a lot of their students had really high test scores. Maybe the school does have a lot of NMFs but just give generous amounts of aid. Of course I will only be applying to 2-4 reaches. I am thinking 4-5 match schools and 3-4 safety schools.
@Ryan15 USC has a strong need-based FA program. USC is NOT generous with merit scholarships----~15% of the class receives full-tuition and half-tuition merit scholarships, with a majority NMFs and half-tuition scholarships (non-NMF.)
@Ryan15 's reply #2 suggests that the parents are divorced and not fully cooperative, so that USC, like Brown, would be problematic for financial aid.
Chicago and Vanderbilt are the two “prestige privates” with good financial aid that do not require the non-custodial parent information.
Thanks for so much great information. Just out of curiosity, what are some schools besides Chicago and Vanderbilt that don’t require the info and are a little less competitive?
If you’re looking for a college that knows how to “get kids in” you’re going down the wrong path. As Amherst, no slouch in the percentage of kids applying to med school that get in, writes
And you can go on to read that page to find out about the characteristics of the sub-group that had a 90% first-try accept rate. The info is about 15 years old, you can find more recent charts at AMCASAny college in the country is capable of teaching the dozen or so lower-division classes required to apply to med school. By virtue of getting in to a very selective college one has already stood out from most of their HS peers and has the potential to do so again when it comes time to apply for med school
Thanks for that post.
You are in a tricky situation. Both Vandy and Chicago are high reaches, and you need at least one affordable safety and a choice would be ideal. Also remember that Vandy reserves the right to ask for non-custodial parent info.
The ranking/selectivity of undergrad schools is not important in medical school admissions. So, I strongly advise you to apply to your state flagship school (which generally don’t require CSS Profile)…is that affordable? (and confirm it doesn’t require Profile)
Here is a table of schools that use Profile…you can sort by those that don’t require NCP info. You must double check the info on the table with the schools’ websites, because there are mistakes on the CB table, for example, says Bucknell doesn’t require NCP info, but they really do.
https://profile.collegeboard.org/profile/ppi/participatingInstitutions.aspx
What is your home state?
Is your NCP parent going to contribute to college costs?
What is your budget for college?
I actually have a university in my state that is very affordable. I am definitely going to apply there and probably one of my other state schools.
That is good to know that Vanderbilt still remains the right to ask for the n c p profile
I am definitely not dead set on going to a top school.
My n c p will probably contribute some money. I think that my parents would not need to go into debt to pay at a school that does require n c p profile. I just want their support for med school as well. I don’t want them to contribute too much for college and be left with a lot of med school loans. This is assuming I get accepted to a med school.
I will probably be reconsidering applying to too many out of state schools.
Thank you for your post.
@Ryan15 Most med school students, except those receiving scholarships (of which there are very, very, very few without service obligations to the military etc.) or with extremely, extremely, extremely rich parents take federal loans up to the COA----I know I will.
That is a good point PikachuRocks15. I don’t want to limit myself by being afraid of loans. I think I have just heard so many horror stories about people with so much college debt. I still have a while until I have to do all of this. I have heard some conflicting advice on this issue, but I think that being smart about your money is the important thing.
The point is to minimize / eliminate UG loans, so that the total debt load is manageable. I think a lot of people think that most Drs take home more than they do- sooner than they do.
Also, important to know where you will thrive: UChic and Vandy are not (imo) similar experiences. The students I know at each would not be as happy at the other. UChicago suits you- or it doesn’t. Not much of a middle ground.
Good point about finding the right fit, @collegemom3717.
Time line to physician:
Age 18: start undergraduate.
Age 22: start medical school if you do not take a gap year to try again after being shut out.
Age 26: finish medical school with $400,000+ in debt unless your parents helped pay for some of it, or you got lucky to get into a lower cost medical school.
Age 26: start residency, pay of around $60,000 per year (not much left after paying living expenses and income taxes if your residency is in an expensive area).
Age 30-33: finish residency, that $400,000+ debt has probably grown unless you lived very frugally as a resident and paid enough to cover at least the interest.
Age 30-33: start medical practice at regular pay, probably around $170,000 per year for the most common specialties (primary care).
Now, at age 33, you may be getting $170,000 per year in pay, but carrying a $400,000+ debt burden, which you probably need to pay off before considering other large expenses like buying a house or saving for your kids’ college.
@ucbalumnus @collegemom3717 I meant for med school there’s no way to get around loans other than entering service obligations. Undergrad would be the best bet for OP to save money by finding scholarships, unless he receives a lot of FA from undergrad.
One thing you didn’t note is the extra money that can be picked up in residency working extra shifts, usually after 2nd year IIRC. Where my D is, that is between $1,000 and $1,200 for a 12 hour shift. My D has been picking up approx 6 extra shifts a month, which more than doubles her residency pay.
Thank you all of the great comments on this thread. All of these posts are very helpful.
The best way to pay for medical school is in your home state. The tuition is far cheaper than a private or out of state med school, and they give preference to state residents. It’s still expensive, but you could start a residency with less than half the debt. Of course, the military is a very good option. You could potentially start a residency with zero debt and O-3 officer pay, which is excellent, considering that you could have base housing, food and free healthcare. The trade-off is, of course, a number of years of military service. Then you have the option of continuing a career with a military doctor salary, or go into the world of capitalism.
Most medical school applicants who get into medical school get into one. Take it or leave it, whether it is a less expensive in-state public one or a more expensive private one.
So while one may want to attend a less expensive medical school, one usually does not have a choice.