Hi!
I was accepted to Rutgers honors college for biology full tuition, and also Emory University for the same major. My goal is to go to med school. Rutgers New Brunswick has a ba/md program which sophmores can apply to, so you graduate early, and given tuition is covered my parents will be able to pay for med school for me. On the other hand Emory is a great university almost considered t-20 but, my parents can only afford to fund my education at emory not medical school. Which university would you advise I go to?
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I’d choose Rutgers in your circumstances even without the Honors College, and it actually has a great Honors College too! So to me Rutgers is an easy choice.
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I agree. Don’t underestimate the gift of finishing med school without debt.
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The only logic for Emory is to be chasing prestige, which unlike my others around here, I am not against (and will admit there is a value to it on occasion).
However, if that is part of your consideration, I personally feel that getting a full ride scholarship to Honors at Rutgers is more prestigious than being full pay at Emory.
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Keep in mind that medical school for you will likely cost $100,000 a year if you actually go there. Medical school is funded by loans, loans and more loans. Or the bank of mom and dad.
Perhaps that will help guide your decision.
You can take the required courses for medical school applicants at either of these colleges.
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Another tack: most would-be premeds never actually apply to med school (once in college, they find careers and subjects that they consider more interesting) and of those who do only about 40% get into even one med school. So, odds are… you’re not going to go to med school. In that case, what is your plan B and would Rutgers Honors with money saved/left over help you? Would you regret not attending Emory?
(Btw I am assuming your parents can afford emory without parental debt.)
Rutgers Honors is very hard to get into BTW.
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I suspect those who are in Rutgers honors college also had acceptances to prestigious universities as well, those I know did.
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I note one of the reasons I think Rutgers Honors is a great choice for pre-med is it is an inherently interdisciplinary program and I think it would be very easy to transition to something else cool if pre-med didn’t work out.
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Given your plans for med school or possible grad school, I would choose Rutgers honors. Not only will you be attending a strong and very competitive program, but you will be able to continue your education debt free, which is huge.
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Yes, it is pretty much aimed squarely at this decision, they are trying to make it easy for kids they really like, kids like the OP in other words, to take the better financial offer knowing they will get a special, small-college-ish experience as well.
And it is not at all a bad thing to be wooed like that.
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That can be a euphemism for “after looking at their B and C grades in biology, chemistry, physics, and/or math courses, they realize that they have no chance of getting into medical school, so they look for more realistic academic and career directions”.
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I don’t agree with this. Some very strong students just find other areas of interest and pivot from premed to something else. Not just students who don’t get all A grades.
But back to this student. I think if medical school is a possibility, you want to save money on undergrad.
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I don’t agree either. I know students who graduated premed with a 4.0 who decided against medical school because other career paths were more in line with their interests. This is not uncommon.
The Rutgers acceptance is impressive. Congrats!
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Adding…one of my best friends had a 4.0 college GPA. He first intended to apply to medical school, but switched gears and became a well regarded lawyer.
But back to the OP. You want to do the best you can in college if you plan to apply to medical school (even if you change your mind). Rutgers is a fine university with a broad selection of majors.
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By the way, you don’t hear about it as much because the way the net flow works, but anecdotally I have encountered a few kids who thought there was no way they going to do pre-med, and then they actually took it up in college.
I guess my point is while weeding out is obviously part of what is going on, there are also just people discovering their passions in college are not what they imagined in high school, which is fine.
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Getting C’s in premed classes does not mean you can easily pivot to another career. Some of these careers/programs will not accept C’s (maybe one…depending).
And sometimes a premed can be successful despite a C. There are a lot of variables that are considered for these career paths.
In some cases it can be. I have talked to some people for whom this is correct (although they might have had half A’s and half B’s, maybe with one or two Cs, which is still not quite enough in most cases). Two that I recall are working in some other capacity in the medical field (and are helping people, including helping me at some point). I also know people who at one point considered medical school, and just decided that they wanted to do something else in spite of having grades in premed classes that were very, very good.
It can go both ways.
But to get to the original point, I agree with other answers that the Rutger’s offer looks very, very good. Getting your Bachelor’s degree from a great university such as Rutger’s with no debt and money left in the college fund is a great option. The honors college is great, and the scholarship is great.
Most premed students end up doing something else (whether due to a lack of acceptances to MD programs, grades that discourage them from applying, or very often a desire to do something else). However, for any premed student it is a very good plan to start with a financial plan that could help with medical school if this happens, and that could help with other graduate programs if a different path turns out to be the desired one.
There is another point that has come up in other threads. Premed classes will be tough, and will be full of very strong students. @Ann6 you have done very well in high school. This has allowed you to have two very good acceptances. The financial aspect of having your parents help you with medical school will be a HUGE benefit in the future. However, the really BIG advantage that you gain from your hard work in high school is that you are going into university very well prepared to do well in the tough premed classes. You will have learned how to be a good student, and will have a strong preparation in many areas. Even with this, premed classes will be tough, and the competition will be tough. However, you are going into this very well prepared.
Congratulations!
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If it were us(our child is chosing CS/Biz so we are sort of torn between prestige and practical approach), we would chose RU HC in a blink for Pre-Med. We just visited RU HC during admitted student day event and majority of folks there were for Pre-Med. Getting easy Profs using priority course selection(easy grades lol!), personalized advising and “STRONG” peer group as they prepare for MCAT are very hard to beat. Story setting changes if its CS or Biz as strong prof’s(for cs) and prestige for Biz matters. Congratulations. If you are in state for RU - go for it - but YMMV based on your own preferences and research!!!. Good Luck!
FWIW - we discussed RU HC Vs another T-25 school/B-10 Program in detailed in another related post if you want to get some additional inputs. You can look it up!
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I can imagine a student preferring the student experience at Emory, not just for reasons of prestige.
But for a cost differential this big, and the prospect of having to self-fund med school vs. having enough reserves to finish med school debt-free… that’s a huge financial commitment that might not even result in being happier after all. And from the wording of the original post (“a great university almost considered t-20”… with no references to deeply-felt “fit”) it appears that prestige may indeed be what’s keeping Emory in the running here. And if that’s the case, it isn’t worth it, as the Honors+scholarship at Rutgers equally validates the student’s prestige-worthiness.
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Given you have an 8 year plan (med school) and can only afford one of the options if you go 8 years, the answer appears obvious.
The rank in regards to med school is not relevant. Your ability to fulfill the requirements for med school (which appear to potentially include a year or two after college while you continue to prep and that comes at a cost too) is what’s relevant.
So you sort of answered your own question with your initial post.
While others correctly note that you might not choose medical school, I’ll give anyone the benefit of the doubt. And it’s not like - even if you major in something else, that you can’t do just as well in the real world with a degree from Rutgers as you could with a degree from Emory - because you 100% can.
So if it were me, I’d take the risk-free option.
Best of luck to you whatever you decide.
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