Northeastern honors [$36k] vs. Cornell [$32k] for potential premed?

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i’m leaning towards premed right now

at cornell, id major in human biology, health, + society at their college of human ecology.

at neu, id do neuroscience at cos.

cornell pros:

- more prestige​:face_with_spiral_eyes::face_with_spiral_eyes:, i know a couple people there

- if i were to hate it, id imagine it would be easier to transfer from here ? (not sure tho)

cornell cons:

- ithaca location = less clinical opportunities?

- traveling by bus to get home

- imposter syndrome and competition for research andd CLUBS

- grade deflation ?

- not sure many people go abroad (esp premeds)

- not sure abt the hum. ec. school’s reputation

northeastern pros:

- the john martinson honors program gave me $6k to coop/study abroad, and also fully funds a few weeks in the summer abroad (dialogue of civilizations) on top of that (i mean anyone can still travel later in life for vacation, but i thought studying abroad would be a unique experience)

- i think traveling by train is more convenient

- co-op=max out clinical hours

northeastern cons:

- competition with other boston school students for internships?

- gets dirted on

fortunately, distance and price arent an issue as they’re mostly the same:

cornell = ~32k a year

northeastern = 36k, but given co-ops and the merit aid/honors benefits, northeastern would be closer to 20k a year for me

please help me pick :folded_hands: thank youuu for any advice !!1!!

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OK - you have two FANTASTIC admits.

  1. If you hate Ithaca, that’s fair. It’s not Boston.
  2. Yes, you have to get there - so the bus
  3. Prestige doesn’t matter if you go to med school. But if you don’t, then what do you want to study?
  4. Just because a school is an Ivy, it doesn’t mean it’s easier to transfer from.
  5. People going abroad is not a con - and pre-med is an intention, not a major. You can do your shadowing, etc. in summers, etc.
  6. Does Cornell have grade deflation? I dunno - but Cornell is sure sending a lot of people to professional school - so why is this a concern?

So if you don’t go to med school or you take a gap year while applying, the Cornell major shows 36% working, 42% in more school, 12% seeking more school, 6% seeking a job, and 3% employed part time.

It’s funny - a con of Cornell is so many go abroad - but it’s a pro of Northeastern.

What does - gets dirted on mean?

So for NEU Behavioral Neuro, 71% are working and 27% are in grad school.

It’s clear - you want to go to Northeastern. But yes, many would choose Cornell because it’s Ivy. But that’s not you.

Go to NEU and be happy. Their career outcomes are great too - should med school not happen.

Here’s the reality - med school will be $400K on top of undergrad. You can only borrow $200K including undergrad. Can you afford med school and undergrad? So many today will effectively be shut out of med school if they rely on government loans.

Good luck.

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You can only borrow $200,000 in total in federally funded loans.

Put medical school aside. Pick the college where you think you will be happiest to be for all four years. Go with the intention of NOT transferring.

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I would put medical school to the side and choose the one you like better. I agree that you should not think about transferring. Which school do you think you prefer?

I understand imposter syndrome and the anxiety that comes with it. Why do you think you would have it at Cornell but not at Northeastern honors?

Students from both schools go to medical school and other graduate programs. Please note that it is very common to take time off to work, volunteer, etc before returning to school. You will also find volunteer opportunities at both schools.

Congrats on two great acceptances!

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Yes - and one shouldn’t borrow above. One should use the limits - they are there for a reason.

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In a perfect world that would be the case.

Without the ability to borrow more than the federally funded loans, students from families of lesser means will not be able to attend medical school or other health care programs.

We would live in a society where only those from wealthier families become doctors, physical therapists, etc. That is wrong, as we need diversity in health care.

Now I will stop as I am off topic.

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And they will be better off for it.

We will not be as a society (I agree) but for the individual students, especially those on high need (like paying $32K at Cornell).

These are assured loans. There is no assurance others will provide loans to these students. Obviously the schools will have to in order to stay in business - but loans have fees, interests and for most, will take away future choices they can make.

I’m looking at the student in this case, not talking about society.

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I would like to respond, but will not because it is off topic.

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Have you visited these two schools? I think with a difficult choice like this, a visit is essential (but of course it is already close to May 1!). Ithaca and Boston are both great locations. Which major do you prefer? That is another thing to look at.

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thank you so so much for the advice! i probably would feel imposter syndrome at both cornell and neu but i thought the honors advising at neu would better help me be a bigger fish in a decently big pond. thank you for the help, i think i’m leaning towards being one of the many fish at cornell since it might be more of a challenge?

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Both of these schools will be a very significant challenge. Both will have tough courses, tons of homework, strong professors, a lot of very strong students in your classes, and tough exams.

The large majority of students who start university thinking “premed” end up doing something else. Some cannot maintain a medical-school-worthy GPA in the tough premed classes. However, quite a few just find something else that they would rather do.

There are of course a number of majors that overlap with premed classes. As two examples, one daughter was pre-vet (she is a veterinarian now). The required premed and required pre-vet classes are the same classes. My other daughter is currently doing biomedical research as a PhD candidate. Both therefore took a lot of the normal premed classes without being premed students. At least some of these classes can be very challenging at pretty much any university.

I saw in your post what these schools will cost you. There is one thing that I did not see: Your budget. Can your family afford these schools without taking on debt? If so, would this leave any money to help pay for medical school?

You are comparing two excellent schools. If you look at the various medical students in highly ranked MD and DO programs, or if you look at the various graduate students in highly ranked biomedical graduate programs, or in DVM programs, then you will find that they come from a huge range of undergraduate colleges and universities, many or more likely most of which will be ranked lower than either NEU or Cornell, but ranking really does not matter.

Also, when you are doing problem sets, or when you are studying for or taking your first midterm exam in a premed class, “prestige” is not going to do the work for you. Getting the work done will matter. Getting the work done, and doing well in tough exams, and getting great experience in medical environments, (or in research environments if you go for a biomedical PhD instead), and getting great letters of reference from professors and people you worked with when getting appropriate experience, will matter. “Prestige” will not.

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To add onto this, when you look at residents at top hospitals, like Vanderbilt - residents come from schools such as these below (I put Vandy and Johns Hopkins). It seemed to me you preferred Northeastern. If you prefer Cornell, great - go and good luck - but don’t let the med school chances from one are better than the other sway you - because if it was Colorado State or North Dakota instead of Cornell or Northeastern, your odds would likely be similar. Good luck.

Vandy Hospital Residents Undergrad Colleges

Alabama

Auburn

Dayton

Florida State

GW

Miami U

Southwestern U (small LAC in Texas)

U Tennessee

VCU

And I just went through the letter C - and yes, a lot of top colleges are represented too.

Residents at Johns Hopkins went to

Bridgewater College

Florida Gulf Coast

SUNY Albany

UMBC

Towson

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Both of these schools will be a challenge. Don’t fooled because one is an Ivy, because it doesn’t matter. As noted above, both will have tough classes and very strong students.

What do you like better- Boston or Ithaca? Do you have a preference? Have you visited?

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Here is some recent news from Cornell about their career development support:

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thank you for this resource! i’m lucky to have my parents able to support me financially, but they do not have much input for this decision, so I’m really grateful for these outside opinions. I love the city but I also thought Ithaca was surprisingly pretty; since i’d probably never ever live in a rural area in the future, I think I’m leaning towards Cornell now? I thought that the northeastern honors program would help spoon-feed opportunities to me, but I agree that i’d get imposter syndrome at both, so maybe I might as well choose a school with more hustle culture. I think that missing out on neu’s opportunities abroad would be unfortunate too but I see that any school I choose won’t be perfect

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You can study abroad at Cornell - and if you were not worthy, these two schools would not have accepted you. You obviously belong.

You say your parents can afford both but you did receive significant need aid - so you might double check. On the other hand, the delta is not far.

You might also look at off campus housing costs - unless either provides for four years. I don’t know the local landscape - but no doubt Boston would cost a fortune.

And yes, Ithaca is gorgeous.

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First - congratulations on having two great acceptances and a great problem to have.

If these are the real actual costs, and your parents will find it easier to pay $16K a year less to be helpful, I would recommend Northeastern

Stop right now. Both of these world renown, top tier programs want YOU. They both chose you and you are now being asked to choose between them. Did YOU write your essays? Did YOU get the excellent grades at high school? Did YOU engage in the impressive ECs? If your answers to these questions are “Yes”, that means that you’re more than good enough to succeed there.

Except the essay, you were able to keep up hard work for four years. I promise you that it is more difficult to trick dozens of teachers and other people for four years than it is to simply do the work.

For this reason alone I would recommend that you attend Cornell.

However, the only question that you need to ask yourself is: what would you like to do, if you don’t go to medical school?

Choose the college that is better for that particular trajectory. Both places are excellent for pre-med, so you will be able to do that if you do decide to go to medical school.

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