<p>Which One for our son?
Our son was accepted to Ohio State honors-Northeastern honors-William and Mary all biology. We live five minutes from Ohio State. We visited Northeastern last weekend pretty cool campus and the coop program is tough to beat anywhere. In two weeks we go to William and Mary for an accepted students Monday visit. What a tough decision the young man has and we are leaving it up to him. He wants to go to med school too. I work in the medical field myself as a pa and all the surgeons and physicians I know say don't worry about undergrad as know one cares about that especially if your going to med school. I find that hard to believe but experience usually wins out! Any thoughts from students or parents that have spent the big bucks for undergrad and then went for the big debt on grad school?</p>
<p>When applying for grad school or medical school, what counts is not so much the prestige of the school you went to for undergrad, but what you make of it. That’s what you were getting at: it’s the experience that really makes you stand out on grad/med school applications. Northeastern and Boston can provide a lot of that. Co-op can give great clinical and research experience, both of which are essential for med school applications. I have also gotten a ton of great research experience on campus - the school is big enough to grave fantastic research going on, but the professors are still accessible, from my experience. Being in Boston, you’re also right next to great medical facilities like Brigham and Women’s and Masschusetts General hospital, which have great volunteer programs.
That said, I’m definitely completely biased here. You could get a great education and experience at any of these schools. Part of the reason I chose Northeatern was because they offered me a great scholarship. I was originally planning on going to just straight med school, so I was concerned about the cost. But now I’m looking more at MD/PhD and PhD programs. Med school is pricy, but if your son decides to go for a research route in biology, any grad school/PhD program he would do should be totally funded.</p>
<p>Echoing what nano said, and putting it a little bit more bluntly:</p>
<p>What are the financial aid situations for each school, and what will they all ultimately end up costing you?</p>
<p>One of the biggest things you should impress upon your son if he chooses an expensive school without a very good scholarship is that he is essentially BUYING A HOUSE. That said, it’s not necessarily a bad thing, just something he should understand (and, well, you too since I’m assuming you’re gonna co-sign some loans).</p>
<p>The quality of his education, as nano said, ultimately lies in what he decides to make of it. Not the price tag.</p>
<p>Scholoarships at Ohio State and Northeastern nothing at William and Mary yet! Ohio State is our home state school by the way!</p>
<p>Good luck! All very different schools, all very good 
I am partial to NEU, of course - and W&M is a rival!!!</p>
<p>Did he get full rides to Ohio and Northeastern? Or are they different? If he has a full ride to both, then he just needs to decide which of them has a program that clicks with him, and what atmosphere he enjoys more.</p>
<p>Also make sure it’s a scholarship and not just a loan package. It can be a little confusing the way they present “Financial Aid”</p>
<p>For bio, I echo everyone else. You can get a good biology education at any of these schools, and it’s true that where you attend undergrad doesn’t really make a difference in getting into med school (generally). I graduated with a bio degree several years ago from NU-- since we generally need to go to more schooling (either MD, PhD, MS, MPH, pharm, etc etc), it’s REALLY nice not having to worry about debt. Graduating with minimal debt meant more freedom in my post-college options, which is even more important for those of us who graduate with a semi-useless bachelor’s degree :)</p>
<p>Gregory Panic-neither were full rides. Ohio State offers the maximum scholarship(keep in mind we also get in state tuition) Northeastern offered the Dean’s scholarship which is 7500 per semester up to 60000 total-and you get paid for coops.</p>
<p>Ohio State offered the Maximus scholarship not maximum!</p>
<p>dekalb11 what is the difference in total cost for the schools?</p>
<p>Pepper03-Will check numbers when I get home from work!</p>