Health Sciences/Pre-Med/Merit seeking - help us decide Drexel [$51k] vs Pitt [$56k] vs StonyBrook [$37k] vs Bing [$36.5k] vs Delaware [$36k] vs NJIT [$6.5k]

College Search & Lists
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So D24 has her final list of schools that she got admitted to and I am looking for collective wisdom of our seasoned posters in narrowing down the most likely place(s) she can thrive in undergrad. Interesting in pursuing grad/med-school so we kept our options to schools that will keep the costs manageable.

About D24

Average excellent, shy to express her thoughts out loud in public but very rational, logical thinker who is also well grounded, considerate, respectful of others and listens with intent, excellent work ethic.

Extremely competitive but small NJ public, 99%ile SAT, lots of DE and AP classes, decent amount of ECs (nothing special), very good reading, writing and comprehension skills, shadowing experience in doctor’s office etc.

What are we looking for?

Must have

  • Major: B.S in health sciences/pre-med/pre-dental
  • Minor/second major: D24 is strongly leaning to do a minor or even a second major in humanities/finance/business etc.
  • Size: After visiting a few schools on her accepted list, she feels comfortable with medium to large size (>10K undergrads + grad student body) research schools
  • Fit: Academic and social fit and she thrives in a collaborative environment where she can pursue her interests and improve her leadership skills
  • Advising/Mentoring: Med school, healthcare pathways etc.
  • Research/Internship/Co-op: opportunities to get into healthcare focused internships to broaden her real-world experiences

Like/want to have

  • Good residential dorms with decent to above avg. dining options
  • Pursue her dance and music interests that took a backburner in last couple of years. We understand that she needs to find time to make them work!
  • Study abroad options
  • Diversity (socioeconomic and ethnic)

COA may end up being lower once the FAFSA gets processed based on what i have seen with NPC calcs and our unique financial situation

College College Setting Sticker/ Year Admitted Honors Merit Aid/ Year COA/ Year
U Pitt Large - Public 56K Y Y ? 56
SUNY - Binghamton Mid - Public 50K Y Y 13.5K 36.5
Drexel Large - Private 84K Y N 33K 51
SUNY - Stony Brook Mid - Public 50K Y N 13K 37
Virginia Commonwealth (VCU) Large - Public 55K Y Y ? 55
U Delaware Large - Public 48K Y Y 12K 36
NJIT Mid - Public 35K Y Y 28.5K 6.5
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How much does cost matter?

I can’t speak for the other elements - but with dental school, does cost matter - you have big deviations - from NJIT to VCU and Pitt - of $200K.

All these schools can get you to where you want to go.

Time to cut the low hanging ones to make your list smaller.

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Thank you for your response. I am only looking for guidance from the top 7 schools on the list (till NJIT). The ones at the bottom are low on priority for us and i removed them to make it easier to compare :wink:

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To me it seems to be SUNY Binghamton vs Delaware. They’re the same price and she got honors at both. I don’t think there is an appreciable difference between the schools. I would go with which one she likes better and feels more comfortable at.

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OK - same argument between NJIT and Drexel / Pitt/VCU :slight_smile:

I don’t know the financial situations. I can’t speak to current dorms or dance - but that’s the first pause, with dental school coming, are you willing to spend over $200K when you can spend $160K or $140K - or - as I’m reading it $26K.

Is NJIT living at home? Does the school have a dance program that works?

You mention diversity - so I’d eliminate U Delaware - it’s not overly diverse with over 70% white. It seems to be the least diverse school by far on the list. You can check the CDS Section B2 for each.

NJIT is very diverse.

The disparity on cost is so great - and cost is a factor. Is there a hesitation?

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Agree with @me29034 as to which of the schools I think would be the best for what she is looking for and what opportunities she would have: SUNY Binghamton and UDel.

NJIT has an amazing price point. If your daughter likes the school, I can see that being a great choice. That leaves a ton of runway for extra opportunities/unpaid research/etc during school.

At the same time - we told our kids, “As long as the school you choose is under budget - you have full choice. You don’t need to pick the cheapest under budget school, unless it is your favorite”.

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Add me to the choir on this! Both of these would be my suggested top two as well.

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My 23 year old graduated in 3 years from UDel honors, absolutely loved everything about it. She was a competitive Irish dancer but there are other dance options. Size was perfect, beautiful campus, great Main Street. Exercise science major, is now at Boston university with some merit (DPT). Her sister turned down very good merit at SUNG Bing for Clemson, but this was during COVID so tours were pretty much walking around campus in your own. I live pretty close to NJIT but for some reason it doesn’t seem to get love from locals.

ETA beautiful honors dorm for honors at UD, and they had the first study abroad program, it’s pretty great, winter break is actually until February so they can study abroad winter session as well (my daughter and boyfriend were supposed to go to New Zealand but then COVID…). UD is very proud of their study abroad options.

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NJIT on paper is the cheapest by a lot and it is with living on campus. Got aid for full tuition and dorm. It is definitely high on our list. D24 prefers to stay on campus. Only hesitation is that it is Engineering focused school and appears to have limited pre-med/pre-health undergrad options.

Have admitted student days visits in the next couple of weeks to NJIT, Drexel, Pitt and Bing. Went to Stony brook this past weekend and D24 liked their Bio/health sciences offerings. It has Med and Dental schools on campus with lots of research opportunities.

May be we will have better understanding after we complete our visits.

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I really appreciate your insights @Mjkacmom, @beebee3 and @thumper1.

NJIT for its price point should be a no-brainer but here i am trying to justify the other schools :upside_down_face:

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Are the schools we suggested affordable for you? Would you be able and willing to fund your student’s undergrad education there (with no parent loans, perhaps)?

NJIT is a good school. But what does your student think of it?

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So you have some very different schools there…

tl;dr. I would go with UDel/Honors and spend less or Pitt and enjoy the Pittsburgh experience and the clinical options.

First, many schools don’t have a major in pre-health but rather a track or concentration you can take with other programs. Others will give you a BS in pre-health or natural sciences if you don’t have another major. My S18 ended up as Natural Science at Pitt

So, the settings and college experiences are very different. You should think about this.

NJIT is very urban in Newark. Very very diverse. There is a small, actual campus but the immediate surrounding area is not somewhere you’d spend a lot of time. Maybe down the hill closer to The Rock where there is more to eat and do. I did a masters there and there are Real safety concerns if you stray too far alone. But it is close to NYC, concerts and such, and great mass transit up and down the east coast.

Stony Brook is a great education and cheap but is still a mix of campus and commuter school. It’s large enough student body that there are people there all the time, but it’s pretty quiet on a weekend. Suggest you do a visit overnight Friday and Saturday if you are seriously considering it. We did a Saturday for one of our kids. It’s also pretty far out onto Long Island and in a quiet suburban area with some strip malls and such along route 347. it’s a large expanse of property with not much around it. There is a train to NYC but you probably need a car for the local towns (the “three villages”)

UDel is a real campus mixed into a small college town. It mid sized like Pitt, and works for a lot of people. Sports but not top tier. Parties if you want them for sure. A ton of programs to choose from as a second major. Honestly it checks a lot of boxes as someone described above^^. And honors and merit…

Pitt is more expensive but the access to hospitals and clinical experience is unmatched. Every other bldg is a hospital. My S18 was honors and that crowd is a super smart bunch. The honors dorm has large rooms, better food than the main cafeteria (which is bad), and has less of the raging party culture down in Towers. The base science classes are hard - be prepared. But the other thing Pitt has is Pittsburgh. It is a GREAT place to be a student. Great places to eat, museums, fun areas to hand out. We had merit which brought the price down.

Drexel is that city experience that’s a step up from NJIT. Still a city - beware - but a large school, more campus, quick ride to the heart of Philly, access to hospitals, and UPenn and St Joes not far away. My S24 loved Drexel and if yours is thinking about a good dual major (business, CS) that can get a high paying co-op then you can really cut down the cost. But it’s a very non traditional experience with kids disappearing for 6months at a time and no summers off after the first (for the main plan) How does yours feel about that?

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Yes, the schools you suggested are affordable for undergrad without loans etc and that is the reason for keeping them in the mix.

NJIT with its price point and honors is very compelling and top contender until we visited Stonybrook so wanted to see how it plays out during our admitted student days visits for the remaining schools.

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I’d consider this issue carefully. You said your student is interested in premed/pre health and maybe not engineering. For that reason alone, if affordable, I would choose a college with lots of options.

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How important is this - Delaware is far and away the least diverse (racially) with a 70% white population - whereas some of the others are under 50%. It looks like PItt is 2nd after Delaware, about 60% white so a lot more diverse (that UD) but less than the others on the list.

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My personal favorites are Pitt and UDel, but I will also add Bing to the list as it is an outstanding school.

Have you visited?

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I hope you get to visit UD, we are 2 hours away and very few students from our HS go there (my husband’s best friend got a full ride back in the day and turned down Georgetown, my daughter and her friend, who was salutatorian of their class and got a distinguished scholar award (friend, my daughter got the highest merit outside of distinguished scholars) were the only ones from their 2019 graduating class to attend. Lots of her HS friends visited and were very impressed (especially her Rutgers friends who were envious that although there is a campus shuttle, she had never used it). I was impressed by where the honors graduates were heading next.

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I’d flip the narrative. Most kids who think they are premed or pre-dental do NOT end up becoming doctors or dentists.

So figure out which option gives her the most robust education overall and prepares her for what is next- which is statistically not likely to be medical or dental school.

She does NOT need a specific, named pre-health program. She needs decent advising (to make sure she’s taking the med school required classes and to alert her to the non-academic requirements) but she doesn’t need a formal program.

My sophomore year roommate was a Classics major (not even a STEM minor); took the pre-med classes along with the official, designated pre-meds and did just fine in med school admissions. I realize a lot has changed since then- but you can be “pre med” from just about anywhere!

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@blossom is wise ^^^^^ this

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Visited UDel and Bing last spring before we had any idea on what D wanted and we were very impressed by both the campuses and the typical college town feel. The pre-health program offerings combined with state-flagship and research school credentials at UDel, Pitt and Bing are very promising.

as @BoroDad said NJIT, Drexel are in a very urban setting so the vibe will be different and D hasn’t really given it a thought (yet).

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