Hi, I am a senior and my stats are as follows SAT :1320
GPA: 3.955 And I recently got accepted to Temple University and Villanova University (I was waitlisted first but got into later) and I am a premed majoring in Neuroscience.
Temple University is offering me quite good money and I have not heard back from Villanova University for any scholarships or aid yet. I am really do not know which one to pick and by my research I found out that even though Villanova has more prestige to its name than Temple, it does not have a good record for premed and is more of a business school than premed and Temple does have a good impression for premed and also good research opportunities than Villanova (according to people on online forums). But my end goal is to get into a T10 med school (eg: HMS or Hopkins) and from what I have heard that for med schools prestige of the college also plays a role. Also I have heard that Temple reserves seats for their students from College of Science and Technology in the Lewis Kaitz (Temple Med School) is this true or just a hoax?
So this whole thing can be summed up as following
Should I attend Temple as it is cheap, and also prepares and gives good guidance for premed (again deduced from the online forums) or should I attend Villanova just for the prestige and risk the premed prep and guidance (again haven’t heard good reviews online)?
Absolutely choose Temple.
Forget about prestige. You need to save money and have highest GPA possible, then to get to a medical school and be a top student there with best exam scores. Only then you can get to best residency in speciality you are interested.
So you understand… Top or not medical school does not matter. If you are last at the top medical school…and cannot secure residency, then what is the point?
You can be MD or DO. Residency is by specialty. Students are matched to residency from all types of medical schools…
You are trying to think too far…
See this is why love online forums. I was stressing over med schools already but I didn’t take account for this point. This is so true, but thanks for reminding me
My daughter got into Villanova honors with higher stats, got zero merit or FA, went to an oos public with great merit in a health science major, is now at BU and happy we couldn’t afford Villanova.
Agree that a T-10 medical school is not important.
Wait to compare the final price at Villanova. If the final price is equal or close to equal, then choose whichever you like best (don’t overthink it.) But if one or the other is substantially less expensive choose the less expensive one.
Did you get into Honors at Temple? Because that guarantees personal advising and on-campus housing, which saves a lot if time for a busy premed. Plus, Temple is ideally situated for volunteer experiences that matter A LOT to med schools.
Btw when the first cut for med school is made, it’s automated and name of college is not even on the list of criteria.
Wait till you hear back from Villanova wrt FA, though. I wouldn’t be too hopeful though.
Have you been able to visit both?
The biggest issue for a premed student who is serious about keeping open the option of attending medical school is the cost. By the time that you get there, medical school could cost well over $100,000 per year. Even doctors have trouble paying off the resulting debt after graduating from medical school. It would be best to avoid debt for your bachelor’s degree if you can. Even better would be to keep some $$$ in a college fund or in a bank to help with medical school expenses in case you succeed in getting there.
A second issue is that there are a very large number of universities that have very good premed programs. You can be very well prepared for medical school at any one of more than 100 and probably more than 150 different colleges and universities. Two doctors that I have discussed this with have both said that the other students in their MD program had gotten their bachelor’s degree at a very wide range of universities (“All over the place” is an exact quote from one doctor). One daughter is currently getting a DVM (veterinary medicine) and she has noticed the same thing.
Premed classes are academically very challenging. Both daughters had majors that overlapped quite a bit with premed classes so I have heard many stories about the demanding classes. These classes will be demanding and full of very strong students again at any one of at least 150 different universities and colleges.
Most students who start off university intending to be premed students end up doing something else. In some cases the “something else” is in a medical related field. In some cases it is not in a medical related field. Attending a university that would be good for whatever “something else” you might consider is also useful. However, many, many universities are very good for a wide range of majors.
Temple is a very good university. So is Villanova.
You might want to wait if you are expecting to hear about financial aid from Villanova, although it also makes sense to think about the comparison to be ready to make a decision when the time comes. You also probably should talk to your parents about finances. I do know at least a small number of people who would be fine paying $350,000+ for their child’s bachelor’s degree and another $400,000 or even $500,000 for an MD. However, these people are quite rare and I do not know very many of them. Most of us have to consider the cost of education.
Another issue of course is which university you would be comfortable attending.
I would be concerned about fit and finances. When comparing two very good universities I would not be concerned about “prestige”.
