Iâm confused by this. BUâs undergraduate population is similar to Pittâs, but slightly smaller.
There is quite a bit of debate about grade deflation at BU. Many students attest that tough grading makes it unnecessarily difficult to get a med-school-worthy GPA. In terms of wanting smaller classes, though, BU does have an honors college with its own residential community. (That said, so does Pitt.)
All told, I agree that for most students, the full-pay price of BU would not be worth it compared to Pitt at in-state prices. Thatâs a huge price difference for a minor/debatable reputational difference (and I say that as a BU grad), and getting enough merit to close the gap is highly unlikely.
OP, youâre actually in a great position, to have Pitt setting the bar. As Thumper already said, apply as soon as the app opens, on August 1st, and your offer-to-beat should be nailed down before October. Then you can be very judicious about what else is really worth applying to.
AustenNut has already done what I was thinking - a survey of undergrad majors at Pitt that would be suitable. The operative question that I keep coming back to is, how do you feel about math? A more quantitative major can lay a great foundation for med school while also opening doors in terms of other career options and/or employment for a few years between undergrad and med school. Even if public health is of interest⊠in all of my experience with public health research teams, the role for which they were always trying to hire was the stats expert. You could major in statistics and then get work experience in public health. (Of course, thatâs presuming that there will be any funding for public health research/initiatives in the years aheadâŠ) As another quantitative option, that mathematical biology major hits most of the bio/chem premed requirements, but substitutes a math skill-set for the upper-level life science requirements of a bio major, which you donât find appealing and donât need for med school.
If you like computing, a data science or health informatics major could also give you a great background.
The BS in Emergency Medicine is an unusual and cool offering, although it appears to be more geared for aspiring paramedics and PAâs than to those who want to be MDâs.
Public Health can be a great premed major, although Iâm not sure Pittâs version is optimized for premeds. It may be better suited for people who want to go straight into community-facing jobs like being a health educator. Thereâs zero overlap between the major requirements and the premed science requirements. A good comparison to make would be to look at Pittâs BSPH requirements as compared to the BS in Public Health Sciences at UMass Amherst. UMass seems to have more flexibility in terms of ticking off premed requirements within the major, and also in terms of choosing a more theoretical and/or quantitative focus within public health, vs. Pittâs community-based emphasis (which is great if thatâs what you want, but it adds a bunch of community service requirements that wonât overlap with the shadowing and such that you need to do for med school). Anyway, thatâs just my impression, but you can compare for yourself and ask questions of any program youâre considering. And not to push UMass, but itâs not unusual for them to give enough merit to be competitive with Pitt on price, and their undergrad public health program is excellent, so itâs a thought, especially if you could score a Commonwealth Honors offer.
ANYWAY⊠I completely agree with the assessment that Pitt is the one to beat and may well be impossible to beat on price+reputation+environment. Be ready to apply early to Pitt - you donât need to use the Common App at that point if you donât want to - you can just apply via Pittâs own application. Once you have an offer nailed down there, youâll be well-positioned to be ruthless about eliminating other possibilities that you know wonât beat Pitt.