<p>I am interested in pursuing a career in medicine and for the undergrad , I am thinking of a majoring in Biochem or related Premed stream. I have following options available :</p>
<ol>
<li>U Mich - LSA : No Scholarship</li>
<li>Case Western : 25K Scholarship</li>
<li>Urbana-Champaign Biochem - No Scholarship</li>
<li>Pittsburgh Honors College - 10K scholarship</li>
</ol>
<p>I am torn between U Mich and Case. U Mich has a better reputation but it will cost almost 100K more for my undergrad. Given that I plan to do post grad in a Med school, I think Case is also a good choice with Cleveland Clinic around the corner where i can get plenty of opportunities to research/practical experience . U Pitt Honors college is the least expensive but I don't have any feedback or visibility of that option. I would greatly appreciate your feedback on the above choices and what in your view would make most sense.</p>
<p>Medical school is expensive, so you may want to try to save money and avoid debt so that you finish medical school with the least debt possible. High debt may pressure you into seeking the highest paying medical specialty even if you are really interested in a lower paying medical specialty.</p>
<p>I am not sure what you mean by no visibility to Pitt. Could you expand on that. Pitt does have a medical school so maybe you have to visit. Have you visited the schools? Are you a resident of PA?</p>
<p>It looks as if Pitt Honors will be least expensive at 34K next year, so go there. It will also be able to support you if you change out of pre-med, which a lot of people do. It has a great hospital and altogether is a leader in medical research. The lower the debt you have going into med school the happier you will be coming out of med school. And if you change out of pre-med you will be happy with that lower debt, too.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for your quick response, here are the answers. </p>
<p>The costs are appx:</p>
<ol>
<li>Umich - appx 55K per year</li>
<li>Case after scholarship around 33K per year</li>
<li>University of Pittsburgh - 27K per year</li>
<li>Urbana - 49K per year</li>
</ol>
<p>I am not a PA resident. I have been to U Pitt and liked the campus but in terms of schools reputation/ranking overall my understanding is its lower than both Case and UMich. Having said that , I have not visited the honors school and would be great to get some feedback on it as well</p>
<p>If you are intent on medical school, Pitt offers you the least expensive option (so you can save for costs of medical school) and the one where you will be able to get your hands on research and also be able to shadow drs/volunteer/etc. I feel like a broken record, but Pitt ranks #6 in the nation in NIH funding, research conducted on campus - undergraduates can get involved in that research fairly easily, it’s all right there around the campus in the labs, medical school and medical center. Go over to the Pitt forum - lots of info there. </p>
<p>Yes, You should at least look into Pitt more since it is your least expensive option. Pitt has Dl sports, lots of things to do in Pittsburgh, is in a nice area right next to CMU,etc.</p>
<p>My D1 went thru this and she could not be happier. Pitt is sound academically and well rounded socially. Why have you left it out of your list? The med school rankings (USNWR) are more or less the same - UMich (#12), Pitt (#16) and CWR (#23)… they are all super Med schools!</p>
<p>I would probably go for Case Western or Pitt in your case. Both great schools, I believe Case is a little bit stronger in terms of academics and preparing students, but the lifestyle is very different from Pitt.</p>
<p>A dad (M.D.) here; even though I went to Michigan, I agree-Pitt and CWRU are your top choices; you don’t want to accumulate debt as an undergrad if you are planning to attend grad/med school. If you were my kid, I’d be steering you to Pitt-lower cost, nicer city, and just as easy to do research there-excellent medical center, both Pitt and CMU leaders in bioengineering, bioinformatics. </p>
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