@billcsho parents don’t pay for gas, car, etc for me to get around and will not pay for any of my college. Took every AP that my school offers and spent MANY hours last summer studying to go from 28-33! Just not that smart, haha.
@Pheebers very interesting. I visited Alabama, and I loved it. The campus is beautiful and they do have some really interesting programs. Looks like my only options to get myself out of Michigan! I really do love it there. However, I’m a bit worried that I won’t be able to get into a respectable med school even with a great MCAT/GPA coming from Alabama :(.
@john7807 Obviously don’t just take my word for it – but I really have heard that undergrad school name is not critical to get into med school. One of my daughters, a senior in HS right now, has planned on going to med school her entire life, so I’ve looked into it a bit. She did an amazing internship at Hopkins and has several hooks there, so was strongly considering applying, but she was terrified she wouldn’t get good enough grades to get into med school surrounded by all of those incredible brains.
Given your financial constraints, specifically that your parents won’t contribute anything, Alabama honors seems like a very good choice. With no help from your parents even Michigan will be un-affordable without scholarships. Alabama would only cost you housing, books, and transportation. I’d run the NPC at some of the Ivy’s to see if it works. I recall Stanford has a 100% need for students with parental incomes around 100K.
You can take the shuttle to Birmingham (a Southwest hub) from Tuscaloosa , so transportation isn’t too awful without a car. RT on Southwest is around $300-320
I doubt your UG school will make much of a difference, both are excellent schools. Your GPA may end up being higher at Alabama, I don’t think they have the same weeder classes (like organic chem) that Michigan LSA loves so much.
I don’t understand why you would say that @TooOld4School
Do you really think that medical students from UA take easier courses than the ones offered at schools ranked higher on USNWR? Newsflash: The students from UA who are admitted to medical school are just as well educated as their peers from Michigan (or anywhere else). Have you even looked at the course offerings in their Chemistry department? http://chemistry.ua.edu/academics/undergraduate-programs/
I have absolutely no connection to UA whatsoever but it really bugs me when people assume that state flagship universities ranked below the top 50 don’t teach challenging classes at the same level as the more ‘elite’ (however you may define elite) schools.
You should be commended for working 30 hours a week to support many of your costs while still doing so well academically. If you can swing Michigan you won’t regret it. Else Bama sounds like a good option if it is full room and board.
Joblue, Personally, I don’t think it’s that the state flagship universities teach core classes at a lower level, or that their undergrads are any less prepared. What I DO think is that peers are of a different caliber, and many professors scale grades and create tests appropriate to the majority of the class. Given the same curriculum and same professor, it’s almost definitely easier to get a better grade when you’re one of the brightest and/or most driven in the class.