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<p>Duke really is the better school of the three for Med School admissions. I can’t perform a cost-benefit analysis for you since everyone values money differently, so let’s look at the two in-state options.</p>
<p>As far as GPA, there’s a major misconception that Tech has a lower GPA than UGA. Tech’s average GPA is lower than UGA’s, but that’s only because Tech has a large number of “low GPA” majors and UGA has a large number of “high GPA” majors. However, if you look at the same major across both schools, they are very close.</p>
<p>So what does this mean? If you’re a Biology major at both schools, your GPA should be fairly consistent. However, at Tech, Biology is one of the higher GPA majors so you’re more likely to graduate higher in the class than at UGA. For example, a 3.4 GPA at GT would be High Honors whereas it would be no honors at UGA. When Med Schools receive your GPA, which do you think they view more favorably based on school profile and rigor?</p>
<p>One of the interesting things is that you’re considering two different majors at GT and UGA, which complicates things a bit. First, I would consider BME vs. Bio. They’re very different majors - don’t just choose the one that seems like the “pre-med” major. If you choose BME, UGA is out. If you choose Bio, then compare GT Biology vs. UGA Biology. I wouldn’t worry so much about GPA - BME is actually one of the higher GPA engineering majors, so the transition from science to engineering might cost you a 0.1 GPA point or so, if I had to guess. However, the advantage is that if you don’t head to Med School (either because you can’t get in or because you change your mind), BME is a very high paying degree, whereas Bio is not. So the engineering degree gives you a safety net. However, BME and Bio are very different majors, and you need to consider which interests you more before just jumping into one.</p>
<p>As far as research, GT has much, much more research funding available than UGA, both as a whole and on a per student basis (undergraduates at GT are 1/2 the size of the undergraduates at UGA). Much of the medical research is conducted in Biomedical Engineering (even if you’re not a BME major, there’s so much research that you’ll have plenty of opportunity as a Bio major there), which is joint with Emory’s Medical school and is ranked #2 in the world. There really are some exciting opportunities and ground breaking research in that department (which has brand new world-class labs) and you can start as a freshman. In your first week you can schedule meetings with faculty and pick their brains about research ideas and be in a lab the next day (and be paid to be in the lab). </p>
<p>One thing that is different about GT research compared to UGA is that Tech has an incubator institute attached to the school. This means that many research ideas and breakthroughs found at Tech are then commercialized and sold. Tech has many programs that connect research to venture capitalists, managers, and major corporations quickly. Imagine the impression when you say something like “you know that new medical imaging breakthrough system that hospitals are clambering to buy? I’m the inventor and a patent holder on the technology.”</p>
<p>While CURO is interesting at UGA, GT has a similar program called UROP, has several undergraduate journals for publication, and has a mentoring process for senior students to assist underclassmen in how to conduct valuable research. At Tech, you will have the opportunity to publish at first tier journals as an undergraduate, which is how you separate yourself and get into the best Med programs. As a whole, you will see that GT and UGA take very different approaches to research. </p>
<p>At far as the class size debate, GT also has an honors program with capacity controlled classes. You do not need to apply for it (they use your freshman application) you simply need to indicate interest.</p>