@gallentjill Medical school admission is about science GPA, overall GPA, MCAT scores and medically relevant ECs. As a physician, I can tell you it really does not matter where you get your undergraduate degree. My peers are all over the map in terms of academic “prestige.” The premed courses are one year of general chemistry, one year of organic chemistry, one year of biology and one year of physics. This can be algebra based physics. A few random colleges require math and/or statistics. I majored in political science. The MCAT only tests on the basics mentioned above. I only took the basic sciences and scored very high on the MCAT.
My advice to my own daughter (who attends a rigorous LAC) was that IF she decides she wants to be a doctor to come home and take her basic sciences at either our local community college or local state university after she has graduated. There is no reason to try and compete for an A in the sciences against her current, high achieving, peers. Also, I do not think that the basic sciences vary that much from one university to another. Organic chemistry is organic chemistry wherever you take it. You either have the aptitude for it or you don’t.
Also, I would not test out or try to take advanced classes her Freshman year. There is no point. The GPA does need to be cushioned and there is no benefit to testing into harder classes. The journey to becoming a physician is a marathon and needs to be treated as such.
Hofstra with little to no debt is a good decision. It is a great decision if that is where she wants to go and she feels she can be successful there.
Finally, since I work in mental health, I also work with psychologists, social workers, marriage & family therapists and nurse practitioners. I would tell any pre-med student to always keep all the health professions on their radar. Too many students are doctor or bust. And they miss out on other rewarding and meaningful professions.