<p>I wanted to get a few comments in UVA forum about decision between PSU (room and board only) or full OOS tuition room and board at UVA. 10k vs 50k. I plan on med school. We have enough $ for UVA --but no money left over for med school. Or PSU plus at least 3 years of med school dollars available. Comments on the faults and merits of either scenario?</p>
<p>As wonderful as UVA is, my son loves it, I would say take the money. You are going to need it for Med school. </p>
<p>I’m at PSU U-Park for pre-med and I’ve spent a ton of time (trust me - a TON) at UVa so I’m hoping I can give you a good answer. </p>
<p>For Pre-Med, I’m sure you’ve heard that undergraduate school prestige means little on the application, so the “name” of the school really won’t mean much to you as an applicant. However, the overall difficulty will. I can tell you that the med-school prerequisites at PSU are about the same difficulty if not harder than that at UVa. I’m basing this on the exams I’ve helped UVa students with in Biochem, Orgo, Biology, Physics, and Gen Chem as well as my experiences in the class. The material is more or less the same but the grading at UVa and exam questions seemed a good deal easier. With that being said, in theory, your science GPA could be higher at UVa, a much more prestigious school. </p>
<p>BUT, the courses overall at PSU are easier than those at UVa. For example, introductory sociology would be much more difficult at UVa as well as say… inorganic chemistry or something.</p>
<p>The lab courses at UVa are significantly better than those at Penn State. The gen chem labs are the same amount of time for twice the amount of credit (I’m 90% sure on the time thing but don’t quote me on that) and the orgo labs aren’t anywhere near as awful, although they still SUCK, there’s really no getting around that. </p>
<p>The campuses (grounds so that the UVa people don’t yell at me) are both great. PSU is huge and it can take a while to get from class to class while UVa is a lot smaller. Both are beautiful although I think UVa definitely wins this one. Football, greek life, and a lot of the social events are much better at PSU but they’re still definitely great at UVa, not to mention the incredible basketball program they’ve created, although tickets are hard to come by.</p>
<p>Here’s my biggest problem with PSU though - they will nickle and dime you as hard as they possibly can. Like, trust me they will bleed you dry. I could go on for days about how hard they scam their students it’s disgusting at times to say the least. When people talk about how amazing PSU is, they’re talking about the student body, definitely not the administration. It takes a real crook to charge $4 for a student to get a 500 mL water bottle during THON, with no other way of drinking any water aside from a 40 minute wait at a water fountain. (If you don’t know what THON is, it’s another point in favor of Penn State, you should look it up.) You’ll find yourself jealous of all of your friends that don’t have to pay for _______.</p>
<p>Anyway the reason I bring this up is because I think at PSU you’ll probably end up paying a lot more with side fees and such than you would at UVa. Granted, I doubt this will amount to an extra 40k a year, but it’s still worth noting.</p>
<p>Okay bottom line. My recommendation would be PSU but that’s solely because of the cost. $40,000 is a TON of money. I think you’ll get an amazing education with either school and you’ll have an amazing four years. There’s something magical about both PSU and UVa though, and I would take the time and visit them if I were you, you won’t regret it. </p>
<p>Sorry if this was all incoherent and jumbled, I was kind of just typing up my thoughts and I never really reread anything. Also, take this with a grain of salt a lot of it is just my opinion, including the deal with the course difficulties. I’ve obviously never taken a class at UVa nor have I taken every single class PSU has to offer. Visit, visit, visit!</p>
<p>Best of luck with your choice!</p>
<p>PS. Both of them have really high medical school acceptance rates, well above the national average. Just throwing that one out there.</p>
<p>Thanks mrdrryansir. Can I ask what your major is?? What do you know if anything about bbh major at PSU?</p>
<p>I assume that you would be a Scheyer Honors College student at Penn State. I believe that makes a big difference as far as class sizes and housing quality and location, and also opens up some opportunities to get funding for studies abroad, etc. </p>
<p>I’m double majoring in Psychology and Biology. I don’t know much about the BBH major itself, but it is very widely regarded here as a “joke” in that it’s incredibly easy and used by undergraduates to get into medical schools without much difficulty. Again I have no experience with it, just relaying what I’ve been told by people.</p>
<p>Are students successful from that major getting into programs? If so - I would suggest it is a smart play-- no?</p>
<p>It’s probably fine for med schools, but I’ve heard students applying to PA schools have difficulties getting in with the BBH major. I’m not an expert so I’d talk to an advisor, ask about whether or not the BBH major is frowned upon by medical schools and stuff, I would imagine the answer is no but I’m not 100% sure.</p>
<p>So what you are really asking is this: Is a UVa bachelors worth $175,000 more (plus interest) than a Penn State Scheyers bachelors? If the price difference was smaller, I could put up a rational argument for UVa, but that is a huge difference. That amount,of money would be extremely helpful in moderating your med school debt.</p>
<p>Thanks for replies. Helpful</p>