In that case, I would absolutely choose UGA Honors over Georgia Tech for medical school. Your concern about grade deflation and impact on medical school admission is a valid one. Statistically, if you apply to medical school with a 3.8 GPA you have a 60% chance of getting in on the first try. So basically, you need a 3.8+ for a decent chance. There are plenty of smart people at UGA – you will hardly be the only one – And there is great premed support at UGA. Going to Georgia Tech won’t help you get into medical school over UGA, and it may actually hurt you if you can’t maintain a3.8 or higher.
You need to rule out the private full pay schools. You can’t take out loans to afford them and if your parents are going to pay out-of-pocket, you would be much wiser to save that contribution towards medical school. Having hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans can be absolutely debilitating for many physicians who are not in the very highest paid specialties.
What concerns me about USF is just the atmosphere of being a commuter school - that would not be ideal and would be worth the extra to me to choose an in-state option.
And the OP is not alone with her ego. There are plenty of really smart kids that “ended up“ at UGA because it was their best option financially, even though kids from their class who “didn’t work as hard“ in high school as they did got in as well. It’s a common refrain but one that vanishes once you start classes . . .
I know they are not alone. If I had a nickel for everytime someone is disappointed they have to go to Michigan because they worked hard and deserved better
Yes, pedigree disappears on day one when you show up and realize - wow, i’m not close to the smartest one here
Even at Charleston - one of my daughter’s bffs got into Rice, Penn, and Vandy. Smart kids are everywhere.
Why do you think USF is a commuter school? Most big state universities only have dorm room on campus for freshmen and then students move to apartments or houses, with their friends, surrounding the campus, or Greek housing.
Would you consider U Wisconsin Madison a commuter school? Most students live off campus. CU Boulder? No, most live within walking distance of campus but ‘off campus’ and can be closer than the biggest dorm complex to the campus. USF is a D1 school with a thriving campus, full of activities all week long and on the weekends.
If you like the medical school possibilities, go to USF. If not, go to UGA or GT. All are good schools. (I’d take the free offer from USF.
It depends on whether they are going “home” every day or every week. Then it would be a commuter school. Not just because they are living off campus. For example, I think Rutgers is a semi-commuter school. Penn State is unlikely to be a commuter school because it is in the middle of nowhere, and kids’ families don’t live close by for them to go home frequently.
How many student’s families can live close enough to Rutgers (or USF) to make commuting from home practical? 100? 500? 3000? Still a drop in the bucket for the size of the schools.
I went to school in Boulder and quite a few of my sorority sisters were from Boulder (a few joined, they got their friends to join, etc etc) and a few of those still lived at home (liked having the sorority house as a place to crash) but really, it was a few out of thousands who attended the school. Even if every graduate from the 2 high schools in town went to CU Boulder and lived at home, it would still have been a drop in the bucket and not make it a commuter school. Of the few in my group, some lived in the dorms to get the ‘college experience’ and then lived in the sorority house. Just a couple continued living at home throughout college.
The comparison doesn’t work.
The population in metropolitan Tampa is about 3 million. As for Rutgers, we’re also talking about several million people. And in Rutgers, there’s easy public transportation - Rutgers is about 1 hour to 1H30 from most points in NJ and 1H from NYC. So lots of students commute from home every day or every weekend. It’s totally different from Boulder, which has 300,000 people and where students live off campus because, indeed, few could go home every day.
Due to its location, UGA is more residential even though, like in Boulder, lots of students move off campus to live with friends.
A few years ago, a friend’s son (GA resident) chose the USF BSMD over all other, very desirable options. Interestingly, he ultimately decided he preferred research, so chose to complete his undergrad at USF and then to pursue a Ph.D. in Cancer Biology… at Stanford.
Maybe USF has dorms but is more of a suitcase school? (everyone goes home on weekends) Whether it is commuter or suitcase, that will impact the residential college experience so is worth considering by the OP. Edit: And I’m referring to going to parents’ home, not living off-campus in typical college housing.
6,500 dorm spaces for 33,000 students, so guessing about half freshmen commute every day and most upperclass students live off campus or at home. OP would have the Honors Dorm guaranteed for Year1 and 2 as long as s/he deposits soon, so not a dire situation, but it would impact the campus experience (esp.in terms of what the campus offers) so worth investigating indeed.
I still think UGA is your best overall option including quality of life. I’m going to be a little contrarian and wouldn’t rule out GT. It’s a tough school but grade deflation has been on the decline.
If you might consider research GT would be tough to pass up. Worst case go to UGA for a year and transfer to GT.
we are out of state but my daughter was also admitted to UGA honors, with a scholarship that makes it quite enticing. I know, like you, my daughter, although she hasn’t come out and said it, is struggling with the ego issues of UGA compared to some of her more “prestigious” options. Not that she has many- it was a tough admissions cycle for sure, but she has always been a top student and people around home will probably raise their eyebrows a little when she says she is going to UGA. Yes, it’s stupid, and she knows that, and I believe won’t let it cloud her judgment, but feelings are feelings.
on the flip side, the honors college kids have impressive pedigrees, and there is no doubt the honors college will provide advising and opportunities far beyond what you or she would get being just another number at a different school.
Once kids realize that smart kids are everywhere the ego tends to vanish. It’s quite a change to find out after doing so well in HS that you aren’t the smartest kid on the block anymore.
That’s about the same number as for Boulder, and it is not a commuter school. Almost all those 6500 spaces are for Freshmen (some RAs, some married student housing, a few other upperclassmen). Boulder is within an hour of Denver and a million people (my home was 45 minutes away and I never went home). Friend lives 20 minutes from campus, and her daughter lived in a dorm, then in an apartment. Her other child went to Mines, also within a 40 minute drive and lived on campus or nearby.
You could make the same point about any of the LA schools, NY schools, Georgia Tech or any school in a metro area. The students aren’t going home every day or every weekend. They are at college, they are with their friends.
My nephew was in one of those Tampa high schools. It would have taken him 2-3 hours a day to go back and forth every day.
UGA would give you a more traditional college experience plus the honor’s college perk (I don’t know if UGA has specific requirements attached to it).
USF has grown significantly and while years ago it was a commuter school it is not considered that any longer by most. Have you visited? I know several students who went there and they really enjoyed their experience. It’s free. That’s nice.
Down to the BSMD program then. The program does cut out a year of schooling which saves a year tuition plus adds a year of salary (hopefully). The acceleration of study is going to be stressful. You’ll take the MCAT about a year earlier (if I read it right) than most med school applicants plus need to keep grades up (but you already have that track record of doing well). You’ll do research early (because you might end up liking that more–students change tracks because of interest changes.) The program does not guarantee med school admission and the MCAT requirement is similar (I believe) to what’s needed at other med schools. So if you score that well and have the grades also then you could probably apply to other schools and gain admission as well. So the biggest draw I see is that if you are truly focused, work your tail off and bent on becoming a doctor then the program allows you to save a year of study (and associated tuition plus salary).
One word of caution if you go that route to hurry through. We all do a lot of growing through the college years which is why you DO need to consider the actual college experience. You might find something that interests you more than medicine no matter how determined you are now. You WILL find yourself competing at some point against students who are much older and more experienced than you are at this stage (even upon getting into med school). Some may have multiple degrees, prior work experience in labs, research or other professions. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pursue it but just a heads up.
Someone pointed to me your post.
If I were in your shoes I probably would choose between USF or University of Georgia (and eat my ego).
Here is why. GaTech with loans and grade deflation - forget it…
Any other schools with significant loans before premed - forget it.
USF - is not easy to get MCAT 516. It is not impossible. In the worst case, you will need to apply as a regular student and you have free tuition! You have nothing to worry about. And premed absolutely does not care what school you attended. Program will cut the people with low GPA and low MCAT.
Ayway I would pick USF in a heart beat in your case.
For the record: I am GaTech graduate (used to leave in Ga years ago), my oldest daughter is in GaTech in BME, my youngest is choosing school now and is certain that she wants to be a doctor.
Are you enrolled now? Because my daughter is. And her GPA is not 3.6 in BME.
Did you look at how many credits a student need to take to graduate GaTech in 4 years? Take a look. You will be surprised. It is 17-18 credits of difficult classes every semester.
Good luck with grade inflation… And all is heavily depends on the instructors. And surprise they are often different and TAs are often useless. Instructors are posdocs… You can get a good one or a bad one. And often there is one instructor per semester. Will you stay for couple extra semesters to protect GPA?
For the schools that recruit primarily within a commutable radius (Rutgers, CCNY, USF, CSULA, Northridge, CPP, even SUNY Stony Brook and Georgia State)… they are. Flagships that recruit from the entire state in a huge state (like CA, TX, or FL) or less densely populated states are mostly residential. UF, FSU are residential, as are GTech or UCLA. The directionals by definition aren’t in the same situation (ie., CSUs, USF, FAU, FIU…) as are the flagships in densely populated areas (SUNY SB, Rutgers, for sure.)
You can compare p.25 in the CDS: only 6% freshmen (proxy for “live with parents” since otherwise they are required to live on campus) commute at UC Boulder v. 43% at USF.
Last comment because otherwise that would derail the thread…
USF is not FSU or UF, it’s more commuter than UGA. However the Honors students live on campus for 2 years in both cases, with guaranteed housing, so the issue is not so much about friends&social life in that specific case, and more about what the campus organizes on weekends for the students who do stay there: free films, arts&crafts, trip, big name or niche concerts, play, stand up comedy, open mike night, dorm v. dorm basketball tournament… Does the HOnors College organize activities and field trips during weekends?
It’s worth investigating, asking for a calendar or list of everything going on.
For sure UGA’s entertainment will center football and Greeks in higher proportion.
USF will probably have beach-related activities.
