UVA vs. Virginia Tech for Pre Med

Hello, I am currently debating whether to attend UVA or Virginia Tech for pre-med. If I attended tech I would major in chemical engineering, and if I attended UVA I would major in chemistry. I liked the atmosphere at both schools but was wondering which would be better to try and get into med school. My dream med school is Duke.

Why the different majors??

One isn’t better than the other. Go where you like. Both will be difficult.

Med schools won’t care a bit between those two schools.

As a VT alum, I’d give the nod there, but I might be a wee bit biased for other reasons… :wink:

Chem engineering will have a better job prospect, if you change your mind in premed. OTOH, Chem engineering is more difficult to get higher GPA.

School does not matter in med school application.

Agree with above- med schools won’t care where you went, certainly not between the two schools you are considering.

I know it was not your main concern OP but you said Duke is your dream med school. As a private med school that will be very expensive, well over $300K for four years, probably a bit more by the time you get there. If cost is no object then it won’t be a problem but if cost matters do yourself a favor and don’t get hung up on which med school you go to. As you may already know admission to med school is extremely competitive and you will be fortunate to get accepted to any med school.

Consider public med schools or any med school where you can go cheaply with less debt. If you are fortunate enough to gain admission to any med school then you have nothing to worry about- all US med schools are good and will teach you what you need to know to be a competent physician entering residency. The curriculum is the same. The important thing- do well in med school with good grades and letters of rec so you can choose the residency field of medicine/specialty you are interested in. Some (neurosurgery,ophthalmology, otolaryngology, dermatology, orthopedic surgery) are very competitive. It is in your chosen residency that you will really learn how to care for patients. And the quality of residencies varies considerably. Some will prepare you for your medical career much better than others.

If you calculate (tuition, fees, room, board)-(scholarships, grants) what are your results?

I am interested in chemistry, but I liked the chemical engineering program at tech more than chemistry. I liked the chemistry program more at UVA.

Estimated cost for four years at UVA: 122966
Estimated cost for four years at Tech: 105040

VTech wins then.

If you are really interested in medical school, majoring in chemical engineering may prove a bit tougher path than a more purely pre-med curriculum (biology, chemistry, etc.). You take more classes that don’t directly prepare you for the MCAT and it may be tougher to get a high GPA.

On the flip side, if you decide not to pursue medicine, engineers have better job prospects and pay, on average, at least at the start.

UVA…I feel like that is a no brainer, especially for med school.

@PrettyKary Can you explain why? It’s not a no brainer for me, esp for med school and when VT is 18K less expensive.

The no brainer to me would be to go to VT since med schools do not care where one goes to undergrad, esp between schools like these two.

(Had UVA been significantly cheaper, then I’d see it as a no brainer to pick that one even if it’s a rival school to my Alma mater.)

Won’t matter for medical schools, but if pre-med doesn’t interest you anymore or work out, UVA would provide more options.

@PettyKary

“Feel”?? Why??

Med schools won’t care at all.

That said, if I were the OP, I would carefully reconsider the Chem Eng’g path as a premed. Unless he’s certain that he has a strong foundation and an “engineering brain,” that path can be a GPA killer. Yes, i know it can be done; my own son did it but he lives and breathes this stuff. I’ve seen too many chemE premeds crash and burn GPA wise. And med schools won’t give the GPA a pass just because it was a very difficult major. But the major does provide a nice Plan B…

@WildestDream Can you explain how UVA would provide more options? That’s not obvious to me either. I think some of y’all aren’t very familiar with the school.

My impression is that UVA is a offers a more rich array of majors and curriculum outside STEM, whereas Va. Tech is STEM focused. Not saying you can’t get a quality education outside of STEM majors at Va Tech, but UVA offers more study options.

^^^ Have you looked at the oodles of majors offered at VT? It’s definitely NOT just a STEM school… but even if one looks at what the OP wants - chemistry or chemical engineering, both are excellent at VT - definitely on par (or better) than at UVA. A very quick google search on even US News (dubious source that it is) has VT ranked at #14 for Best Undergraduate Engineering vs #34 for UVA.

Question: why wouldn’t you major in something more along the life sciences route? Have your looked into VT’s Carilion Research Institute in Roanoke and their School of Medicine?

Majors at Virginia Tech . https://vt.edu/academics/majors.html. @WildestDream , There are plenty of majors there that are not “STEM focused.”

@WildestDream BYU, Penn State, MD, Oregon State and Minnesota have equal or higher STEM percentages than VT.