I am currently deciding on which college I will be attending this fall. I want to major in biology or physics to go into medical school after.
My top choices so far are UCLA, Northwestern, Cornell, Georgia Tech and UCL (London). But, unfortunately, their financial aid is quite low. However, I received scholarships that cover all tuition fees from Fordham, Drexel and U of M. Now, I did some research on the individual universities and their courses. Cornell is supposed to be really really hard, even compared to the other ivies. And of course, I am hard-working etc. but I just need a high GPA to attend a good med school.
So, do you think getting into a great med school of let’s say one of the ivies is easier with a great scholarship and a very good GPA at a less prestigious school or rather with an average to good GPA from Cornell or the other schools?
I’m just asking myself if it’s really worth and if it pays off coming out of a really great school indebted…
Thanks!
Not Cornell. Northwestern sounds good. The Honors program a team Fordham is also very good.
Which U of M?
Do you have to take on debt to afford any of these schools? If so, how much?
Med schools do not care about the prestige of the undergrad institution, nor do you get extra ‘points’ for going to a tough grading school.
I would hesitate to choose UCLA, Cornell, or NU…high grades are tough to earn at all three of those, and all have some level of reported behavior closer to cutthroat than collaborative on that continuum.
I can’t speak to UCL, or the likelihood of US med school acceptances coming from there…@wayoutwestmom?
You can’t borrow more than the standard student federal loans on your own. Someone else would have to co-sign loans with you, or do the borrowing.
Starting med school with debt already is a really bad idea. You will almost certainly need to pay for med school with loans. You don’t need to have a bunch for the undergrad years if you can avoid them.
If you plan to attend medical school in the US, do not attend college overseas (UCL) since US med schools will not accept coursework taken at colleges outside of the US and Canada.
Truthfully, for pre-med it really doesn’t matter what undergrad you attend so long as you have taken the requires pre-reqs, scored high in the MCAT and have developed all the appropriate pre-med ECs. (Leadership, clinical volunteering, physician shadowing and community service. Research is nice but unnecessary unless you plan to attend a research intensive medical school.)
Like @happymomof1 , I strongly recommend that you do NOT go into debt for your undergrad degree. Med school is expensive and financial aid is loans, loans and more loans