I was accepted into both of these colleges. In USF I got in there bs/md program which doesn’t guarantee admission but does guarantee interview with Morsani. However, I believe I would have a better college experience at UVA.I have heard UVA premed classes are harder and it’s harder to get opportunities. USF also guaranteed me a full ride while UVA is 45k per year. My parents currently only have 50K saved for college but they make around 250k combined per year. Do you guys have any input or advice.
Medical school is expensive. One’s GPA is important for admission to medical schools. Guaranteed interview is great !
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Talk to your parents about what they can contribute towards undergrad and potentially med school above what they have saved. That may answer your question.
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So one costs $180K and the other is free.
hmmmmm
why would your experience bet better at UVA?
In the end, where will they come up with $130K for UVA?
If you don’t go to med school, then you have - what - a bio degree?
Their average annual salary in 2023 was under $41K. You cannot live on that. Was that then worth the UVA tuition? Of course, you might change your major to something else but at USF you have to study that I believe.
Just something to think about.
In the end, it’s up to your parents - if they say go for it - then great.
If you are going to be a doctor, then USF makes sense - but I understand at 17 you don’t really know.
Good luck.
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The required courses for medical school applicants are hard at every college. There is no easy college version of organic chemistry, for example. You will find the courses challenging no matter where you enroll.
It doesn’t sound like your parents want to pay additional money for you to attend UVA. Is that correct?
Just remember, medical school will cost $100,000 a year or more IF you get there.
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I would sit down with your parents and discuss finances, keeping in mind that medical school or some type of professional school is very costly. Are you in-state or OOS for UVA? What would make it a better college experience?
USF will not prevent you from having a successful career in the event that you decide against medical school. I have a family member who attended and now has a very successful career in health care- they got into a very good graduate program. Congrats on the offer!
As far as biology goes…I would not think of it as either going to medical school…or….working forever with a BS in biology. Many get jobs with their biology degree- teaching, research coordinator, and then move on to another career- grad school etc. Some do not apply to med school due to gpa, while others do not apply because they develop other interests.
My daughter was a biology major. She had a job with a decent salary (able to live in an expensive city without help from me) and they offered to pay for an MPH if she stayed (she didn’t).
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My advice is: take the free ride.
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