As a National Merit Scholar, UTD is all paid including fees, dorm and meals vs Case Western with some scholarship, still have to pay close to 60K per year. Considering Biology major.
I live in Austin, TX, so UTD is closer to home but Case is more prestigious. Anyone can weigh in on the pros and cons of one vs. the other especially for PreMed.
I feel there would be a lot more research opportunities at Case due to its proximity to huge medical facilities. Not sure how the course load or grade deflation is at Case.
Also, does going to a private college position you better for med schools especially the prestigious ones over going to a state school?
So…Case would be $240,000 for the four years…and UTD is basically…free.
By the time you get to medical school, the annual costs will be $100,000 a year. Do you want to pay $240,000 PLUS $400,000 or so in the next 8 years?
What are your parents saying? Are they willing and able (without parent loans) to pay the $60,000 a year for Case? Ask them this question. Some parents are very willing to do this for their kids. Others won’t even if they can.
If your parents say yes to paying the costs at Case, give them a huge hug and thank you. This is a wonderful gift.
I’d ask them if they would be willing to support some of your medical school costs if you save a lot of money by attending UTD.
WRT to medical school admissions…really basically medical schools don’t care where you went to undergrad (some do, but most don’t). Your MCAT, GPA, sGPA, LOR, essays, interview, and ECs like volunteering with underprivileged populations, patient facing experience, shadowing are what medical schools want to see.
You have the potential to get accepted at medical schools from either UTD or Case, or just about every other four year college in this country, arts conservatories excluded. You need to make sure you take the required courses for medical school applicants.
can your family afford Case Western Reserve from income and savings ? If not/if the answer is “with parental loans” then the only choice is UTD.
if the answer above is “yes”, then: Can you switch easily to another major or add a Statistics, Bioinformatics, or Data Science minor (because Biology has an unfavorable ROI on its own) at UTD? If not, then that’d favor Case.
if, like 80+% seniors who want to be premed, you never make it into med school, what would you do and which college would be best for PlanB?
if you save them 240k, did your parents offer you something (like funding a semester abroad and internships in any US city…) and does it push you away from Case ?
If you make it through the premed gauntlet and actually apply to med school, as has been mentioned above, med schools won’t care what university you attended, only what you did there. Both have excellent STEM offerings so it won’t make a difference, it’ll be all on your doing everything to take advantage of opportunities available and being among the best at everything you do.
The only way attending a private college helps is in providing closer contact to professors and advisers, so you’d hear about opportunities or would potentially get better LoRs… but since you’re in collegiumV and Honors you will already have some of that at UTD. Case has more money per student and generally better resources due to being private but it doesn’t mean you’ll be spoiled or coddled ;). It does have one definite advantage, it’s primarily residential and there’s a close knit campus community.
And UTD would mean saving a lot of money to use for med school if you do get into one.
Talk to somebody from the pre/health or pre/whatever board they have at each school. Get a feel for how much help each will give you into getting experience (research labwork, internships, etc.). Will they just tell you what you should do, or do they offer or actively assist you in getting those opportunities. How diverse are the opportunities, not just for the top students but for all? Case does a crazy amount of research itself and with the other med institutions around I imagine they do a very good job at this. I’m sure a major city like Dallas also offers lots of opportunities. Both schools put lots of students into med schools. According to AAMC, Case sends about 200 students to med school a year, UTD about 400. You are competing with all those students (and those that don’t make it) for whatever research/internship opportunities exist. If one seems to have a big advantage in providing/assisting in those opportunities, that could be worth more. Otherwise, it is hard to imagine turning town a “free” ride (that you have earned, congrats).
Texas is a great state for instate residents to apply to medical school. I believe the public med schools are required to admit 90% as Texas residents. Lucky you!
Thank you for the update and congratulations to your son
Don’t hesitate to let us know about his 1st year since I’m sure future students will face the same dilemma and personal experience is always extremely useful​:+1:
