I am a female student who is struggling with making my final college choice. I plan to major in engineering or a biological science with the intentions of medical school. I did not participate in ROTC in HS and my parents do not have any military background. I’m afraid this would put me at a disadvantage. Also is it as miserable as everyone says it is. With Alabama I do not know if the type of education I am looking for is there, I have heard mixed reviews. Another thought I have is will going to Alabama affect my chances of getting into medical school?
Any info/suggestions are helpful!
That’s two very different schools. Are you committed to a military career and the regimented lifestyle at the academy? I’m not saying it’s bad (I was a military officer) but some people are just not cut out for that. If you ask this question on the University of Alabama board (or search the discussions about pre-med), you will find that UA pre-meds have no problem getting into medical schools. For pre-med, it’s all about the student and what her GPA and MCAT scores are.
Two VERY different experiences! USMA is not the “traditional” college experience. You will be quite restricted in your freshman year, with increasing freedom as you progress through school, but there’s no full-out partying and sororities and such things at a place like USMA. Do you want the military-style education? It doesn’t matter whether no one in your family has done it; it really only matters whether YOU want to do that. It won’t be harder or easier for you because of your lack of family in the military. What do you want out of college? Do you want a more stereotypical experience (that Alabama will provide) or the discipline and pride at USMA? Do you want to be a military officer for at least four years?
One thing to note is that when you go to a service academy, you are committing to four years of active duty as a military officer immediately after college. It is possible to get a release to attend graduate or medical school right after, but it is difficult and very competitive. So if you really want to go to medical school after college, you would most likely need to serve your four years in the military and then go to medical school after that. (The upside is that your service would make you eligible for the GI Bill, which could significantly cut your costs for medical school.) If you are dead-set on going to medical school directly after college, or within 2-3 years of college, then the USMA is not for you - you’ll want to go to a traditional university.
No, going to Alabama won’t negative affect your chances of going to medical school. It’s a great university that sends many students to med school each year.
While the previous comments on here bring up valid points, the general statements they are using to describe UAH are worrying me so I will just clarify to make sure. The University of Alabama is a system with 3 universities all run by a single board of trustees. It seems to me(although I may be mistaken) that the previous comments on here are geared towards the flagship campus in Tuscaloosa AL as that is the more traditional college campus of the system and largely seen as the Crown Jewel (so to speak) of the system. The other campuses in the U of A system are UAB (in Birmingham, Alabama’s largest city, a very urban campus with fair sized commuter population although the campus itself is becoming more traditional, mainly local students for undergrad and postgrad contains an elite medical school) and UAH (the smallest of the campuses, located in Huntsville AL in the North of the state, a city of 115k that has a large Aerospace industry which by no coincidence is the college’s main focus. The population of this campus is the smallest and most commuter based of them all, although the majority of the students still live on and around campus). Sorry for such a long comment but I just wanted to make sure everyone got the full picture, UA is the traditional flagship in West Alabama, UAB is an Urban campus in central Alabama with a Medical focus, and UAH is an engineering focused smaller campus in north Alabama.
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With Alabama I do not know if the type of education I am looking for is there, I have heard mixed reviews. Another thought I have is will going to Alabama affect my chances of getting into medical school?
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UAH is not “Alabama”. UA is Alabama.
That said, UAH has very good engineering and biological science majors. What is your concern?
Going to UAH would not hurt your chances for med school…not at all. Why would it? It has very sound bio and eng’g courses.
Why are the only choices UAH or the military???
If the OP has gained acceptance to USMA and is not already excited and committed to it, then I fear she may not have the commitment needed to survive the first year.
I agree with @NoVADad99 – nobody should attend USMA unless they are totally thrilled at the opportunity. Plus, they should understand that attending medical school directly after graduation is not at all guaranteed. See this from the West Point website:
http://www.usma.edu/chemistry/sitepages/medical%20school%20option.aspx
Also the service obligation is five years, not four as stated by @julliet
Really, are there no other options? Anybody who can get into USMA should have gotten some outstanding scholarships from other colleges besides UAH.
By the way, my sister is an M.D. and got her undergraduate degree from UAH.
USMA is extremely demanding, and is intended to be. It is designed to develop your ability to manage stress (and time!). Some cadets thrive there, while others gripe about it. Some who gripe are serious, while others are just joking about it but love USMA nonetheless.
Not having done ROTC in high school will not put you at a disadvantage.