sure, but BME is in “conjunction” with NC State, which is where the Engineering schools reside in North Carolina. “State” would be a better major fit than the traditional liberal arts offerings in Chapel Hill (but less name prestige).
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You’re welcome - but it wasn’t me that provided info on clinical opportunities. But they can take their thanks from me 
I don’t see Pitt as $45K - but it’s neither here nor there as you have no interest.
Tuition is somewhere between $20 and $23K depending on the school.
Another $18K for room, board and more but $2K of that is miscellaneous - which may be under or overstated.
That you haven’t asked about Pitt and have clearly communicated you have no interest in Pitt, I wouldn’t attempt to sway you to Pitt.
Good luck whatever you decide between UNC and CMU. I would eliminate Cornell for a host of reasons - budget and your concerns that you wrote, whether accurate or not.
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Let me respond to this. Both my daughters recently were considering academic faculty positions.
It does matter for your first attending job in academia where your last institution attended was–but that “institution” isn’t you undergrad or med school. It’s your residency or fellowship.
Academic hospital residencies/fellowships (as opposed to community hospital residencies/fellowships) usually have some type of research component, or at least the opportunity to get involved in research projects even if you don’t get a research rotations built into the program. Academic residencies tend to hire their own for a first attending job–though these jobs usually aren’t on a research track. Typically a new junior faculty will have very little paid research time. Research will be on your time and on your own dime unless you can write a grant and get it funded.
However, the strength/reputation of your residency will carry weight for several years after you graduate . D1 was recently interviewed for a academic faculty position at one of the top ranked academic programs in her specialty–and this was after she had been out of academia (and not publishing–though she does have one paper in progress) for 6 years, working at a low resource hospital. A former co-resident of hers who is faculty there recommended her for position after he learned she was moving to the DC area. She was interviewed there and advanced to a finalist round before she declined further consideration due to logistics. (She didn’t want to be commuting one hour plus after working a 10-12 hour shift in very, very busy ED.). She was also interviewed at another academic program because her former
co-resident is now the co- CEO of the hospital system. (So it seems it’s not the residency itself that makes the difference, but the contacts you make during residency/fellowship. Medicine is actually a much smaller field that people think, esp in academic medicine.)
D2 was in negotiations about taking an academic attending position at her former residency site, but intra-departmental politics kept stalling her appointment. Finally, frustrated at the delay (of over a year), she took a community hospital position in the same town that paid over $150K more than the academic job was offering. Although she has no paid release time for resear, she has continued to do research with her academic mentor from residency and has continued to publish in high quality specialty journals. several times as first author. Additionally, she just opened a unique specialty clinic that serves 5 states within her healthcare system. So she has a high profile and high visibility and could go back to academia any time she wishes. She’s already had multiple soft contacts asking her if she were interested in a faculty position. . (Though not back at her residency site hospital --because politics.)
Now, does the name of med school matter for residency placement. Some, but it’s not a trump card. What does matter for MD/PhD applicants is your research and how it fit swithin the context of the host residency program. Your personality fit within the residency. (Programs are made up of people and many are quite small…) Your STEP scores, your clinical grades, your MSPE, any honors like AOA of Gold Humanism award. Whether you’ve done an away rotation at the hospital program and your performance during that away, your ECs during med school, etc.
You could try taking a look at this site to see what residency PD’s value in candidates
Your undergrad matters not at all for residency and your med school only somewhat.
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This makes sense, and is compatible with what I have heard and what I saw at a different highly ranked university that is known for its rigor.
I love Cornell – I think it’s a great school that is strong in a plethora of majors – but if money were important to me, I would have a hard time justifying spending ~$80k more than at CMU or ~$100k more than at UNC… which are both also fine schools.
How will you earn $7-15,000 a year? Do you qualify for FA/work study? There are many, many paid work study positions in labs.
My daughter worked in admissions for her last 2 years (not work study). I think she worked about 12 hours a week.
She had one paid summer position on campus as part of her research (maybe $2000?) and had another summer position in a research hospital (out of state) where she had a $4500 stipend, paid housing, and transportation.
I think it will be hard to make that much money right away as a freshman. Also- work study has a limit, which is usually around $3500. Some students work part time at the local businesses.
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I did not mean to reply to MYOS LOL. I meant to reply to the OP! There seems to be a problem…at least for me (now I seem to be responding to myself).
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No has mentioned it yet, so I will… Doing a dual major in neuro and engineering will be really hard. I’d advise you to major in one, and just take electives or a minor in the other. The neuro major will be “easier” than the BME major, especially for doing med school prereqs. But the BME degree will be more employable than the neuro degree should you decide against grad/med school.
Similarly, I’m an academic neuroscientist and I see a lot of undergrads who want to do an MD/PhD, but can’t really articulate good reasons why the combo program is better for them than one or the other. The most common reasons they give are that the MD/PhD costs less than an MD, and that they like the prestige factor (hint, neither of those are good reasons). I’d be interested to hear your reasoning, and I’d also be curious to hear why you’re aiming for a dual major. It’s so much more work for both, for already overworked students!
I’m seeing that I commented on your recent post. It looks like your decision to commit to a dual major is a recent one? And your financial situation has changed since then?
You were admitted to CALS Public and Global Health Sciences at Cornell; Neuroscience + CS Dual Degree at CMU; and you don’t mention what major you were admitted to at UNC.
Are you sure you can do neuro and/or BME at each of these schools? You’ll need to check on that very carefully, since that should be a huge factor for you.
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I agree that neuro and bme together will be very hard, and for premed neuro will be the “easier” major. I would not double major with BME.
BME is a tough major. I have a family member who graduated from UNC with this degree. It is not a major that premeds typically choose.
I also have a family member who is in an MD/PhD program and I have to question how you know, as a HS student, that this is what you want to do. No offense intended- as you may know. This is a long…long, grueling haul…filled with a lot of stress (my daughter knows people who almost dropped out). You have time to decide if this is the path for you. My daughter considered this for quite some time at UNC, but changed her mind after speaking to MD/PhDs as well as PhDs. You may decide to do it, but you may change your mind. Personally, I feel you are getting way ahead of yourself.
My family member (BME) had multiple job offers early on. Neuro is less employable….as mentioned. You will get a job but will likely end up in grad/med school….and that is very expensive.
Given you are choosing between CMU and UNC (less costly options appear to have been eliminated) I would choose UNC.
Just remember, as I mentioned above, that earning $7-15,000 a year, especially at the beginning, might be challenging. It might not sound like a lot of money…until you have to go out and earn it as a new college student. The lab jobs that are paid are generally saved for those getting work study.
You are guaranteed a spot in a research lab, which is great! But…if it is not a paid position how will you do this…and a job? It could be hard to do both, time wise.
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My S19, a Pitt Honors College grad with a BS in Neuroscience and a BA in Philosophy had 98% of his classes had 20 or fewer students.
With regards to you wanting a “techy” school, you honestly need to do a deep dive into why you are interested in medical school and be able to defend that in the medical school interviews. You might find that patient-facing work is not for you. You should absolutely get into a hospital for clinic volunteer hours immediately to find out.
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Thanks for the response!
I’m currently an EMT and love it… so I’m quite sure I want to pursue clinical work.
My dream right now is taking on a teaching/researching position at an academic institution while pursuing some clinical work at the university (like PennMed, Dartmouth Med, etc)
The relatively cost-free attendance of MD-PhD is great yes, but I personally prefer a path which opens up the opportunity for teaching AND practicing.
Thanks for the questions
I was not admitted into a particular major at UNC.
Is your guaranteed research a paid position? If not, you will be working in a lab x number of hours a week, plus working an additional x hours a week to earn $7-15,000 a year x 4 years. That’s a lot, imo, for a freshman…. who also has to study, attend classes, make friends, clubs, adjust etc.
Ask if there are paid research lab positions for students who are not on work study. Or maybe in the library.
I’m assuming the position is guaranteed but OP has to find it. Perhaps OP will be able to find a paid position?
I doubt 1st years would be paid though because they’re still at the stage of proving themselves to the PI but due to being in Honors OP gets special perks - definitelysth worth investigating.
Earning $7,000 a year sounds enormous- it’s twice what a typical work study award would entail.
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I have the opportunity to choose the program. Generally the ones I have seen pay between ~12-16
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Is there a maximum number of hours you can work at these labs?
The amount of money you need to earn is a lot… and can be hard to do as a student.
Also keep in mind that UNC raises tuition every year. Do you qualify for any FA?
I have great news for you! You can do all of that with just an MD. I’ve had many such MDs as colleagues. You don’t need the PhD. You will need to actively seek out research opportunities and research training while you’re doing your medical training, but it’s totally do-able.
PLEASE don’t do MD/PhD just for the cost savings. The opportunity cost of the PhD is huge, and if you decide you want to drop it, you often have to pay back any savings you were awarded. I know several MD/PhDs that really regret doing the program and felt trapped due to finances. It messed them up pretty badly and they got so burned by research that they all just decided to become clinicians anyway.
Only a very specific, very unique group of people are well-suited for the MD/PhD, and even those people need to continually evaluate that decision during undergrad by taking advice from people that have been there before.
I know you don’t want to go to Temple, but you enjoyed your research work there, and it’s FREE. Your parents’ savings could then pay for much of medical school for you.
How does declaring a major at UNC work?
I employ undergraduates (including premeds) in my neuro research lab. Some PIs don’t pay undergrads, but my lab does. Your estimate of 12-16K is way too high. You should plan on something more like 5-10K, and all of that is contingent on the position(s) being available to you year-round. If you get more, great, but that’s not the norm.
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NEVER choose a college based on “premed prestige.” That’s a guaranteed fast track to 4 years of complete misery. Of all of the “premed” hopefuls coming out of high school, very few actually decide to go to medical school. College is a maturation process where you find your real passion as you explore. If I were to help you choose a school, I would say “none of the above.” Go to an in-state school and save the money. If you do, you’ll have a lot of money left over for medical school or graduate school (if you choose a different career path.) Don’t waste it all on a bachelors degree. Your grades and accomplishments will determine your graduate path, not the prestige.
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Ha! I had a long draft saying essentially this. I think anyone who is concerned about a pressure-cooker environment should think twice before signing up for a dual degree (one of them engineering) as a pre-med.
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