Hello everyone,
I am currently a senior in high school. I have recently gotten into University of Washington and Vanderbilt University ( which are two very amazing schools). Right now, I am deciding which school to attend in the fall of 2020 as a freshman. I would like to study pre-med in college and attend medical school in the future.
I am wondering which of these two schools ( University of Washington or Vanderbilt University) would be best for me to study pre-med in. I also would like to know which school (mentioned above) would best prepare me for medical school.
Thank-you !
Is cost significantly different?
Both are outstanding schools. Medical school is expensive so it may be wise to attend the school which has a lower COA if there is a significant difference in cost.
They both will do an excellent job or educating and advising you for medical school admissions. I’d pick the one you think is the best fit and where you will thrive.
Vandy is the Ivy League of the South. Very special opportunity.
Med school admissions is largely based on GPA and MCAT scores. Either school will give you the basic science to do well on the MCAT. So that really isn’t going to be a factor. Don’t look at things like med school acceptance rates because those are deceiving. The really elite Ivy League schools already self-select for the very best standardized test takers and GPA-pursuers in the country when they fill their freshman classes with 1500+ SAT scores and 4.0 GPAs. So it is not surprising that Harvard students have higher average MCAT scores than students from some local state school. They were already starting with the students most likely to do well. It isn’t because Harvard has some secret sauce that turns mediocre students into superstar med school applicants.
In terms of comparing UW and Vandy. As a large public school, UW is going to have more bureaucratic hassles. You need to separately compete and apply into your major after getting accepted. Many majors are capacity limited and competitive. You will also have to scramble to nail down all of your required classes which can be an issue. And may be a bigger issue if (as is likely) they will see future budget cuts due to Covid-19 which will mean less class offerings larger classes that kind of thing.
Vandy is a much smaller elite private school with an ENORMOUS $6.2 billion endowment so they will likely be much more insulated from whatever fallout there is due to Covid-19. And because it is smaller and private it is likely to be much less bureaucratic and difficult to follow your chosen course of study, and likely to be more flexible if you want to make changes mid-stream.
If money is not a factor, then I would chose Vandy. If you are in-state at UW and looking at full freight at Vandy which would be about a $50,000/year difference then obviously you would consider UW for the cost savings.
To ucbalumnus:
Yes, the cost of attendance is different. UW’s COA fees will be lower than Vanderbilt’s.
Consider how much the difference will make toward finishing medical school with less debt.
Also, if you need more than $27k loans total ($5.5k first year, $6.5k second year, $7.5k each of last two years), then the loans would have to be parent loans or cosigned loans, which are typically not a good idea.