I am out of state for all of these, and I really want to go to a school that offers good merit based scholarship opportunities when applying.
I asked two doctors I know where the other students in their MD program had gotten their bachelor’s degrees. One said “all over the place”. The other said essentially the same thing (but not with quite as memorable of a quote).
I do not have any MDs in my immediate family. I do have multiple close relatives who either have or are currently getting a graduate degree in a biomedical field (master’s degrees, DVM, or PhD, plus a family friend who is a PA). Some are currently involved in patient care (whether human patients or non-human patients). One is currently involved in biomedical research. All of them have said essentially the same thing. Graduate students in biomedical programs come from a very wide range of undergraduate universities.
The University of South Carolina, U. of Maryland, and Texas A&M are all very good universities. All will prepare you well for applying to MD programs.
The vast majority of students who start university thinking “premed” end up doing something else. Some cannot maintain a medical-school-worthy GPA in very tough premed classes. Some just decide that they want to do something else. There are a lot of forms of “something else” to choose from, some of which are biomedical-related and some of which are not. The three universities that you mentioned all are very good for many forms of “something else”.
Medical school is insanely expensive. You should be making an effort to save as much as you can while getting your bachelor’s degree. It would be best if you can keep some $$$ in the college fund for graduate school. Of course this is not always possible for every student.
I do not know what state you are from. However, I think that you should also apply to your in-state public university or universities.
Then wait and see what sort of offers you get, and see what each school will cost you before you decide where to attend.
And if medical school is a realistic option, then you and your parents should be budgeting for a full 8 years of university.
1 Like
None of these are better for pre-med than the others. Maryland and South Carolina have better access to major teaching and research hospitals than A&M does for the purposes of shadowing, volunteering, etc - although these can be done after college graduation since most med school applicants take a year or two after college to do something else before applying to med school.
1 Like
Well if you check out top med schools - where did their residents go undergrad - it’s all over. At Vanderbilt, where I was a patient, they range from Murray State to Kansas State to N Illinois. Looking further I see Oklahoma State, Quinnipiac, Texas A&M and more. I’ll have to look up - Hopkins or Duke were similar, schools like SE Louisiana and Luther. So where won’t matter. Affordability matters.
So to your question, merit in and of itself doesn’t matter. Cost does. UF and FSU may be cheaper full pay, then A&M, even with merit potentially, as an example.
Unless you are a stud and earn the Brown at A&M or Banneker Key at UMD, U of SC will be most generous and lowest cost for an OOS student assuming strong credentials. They tell you on their website their likely merit and you can reduce it from the OOS cost.
Why these three ? Depending on your stats, you may be able to go cheaper at like flagships if low cost is what you are after.
Good luck
3 Likes
Which is better? The one that is most affordable.
Pre med isn’t a major. You pick any major that provides you with an opportunity to take the science and math prerequisites.
Merit-based scholarships are hard to find and are competitive. They may not cover your full costs.
Med school is running $100k per year. Can your parents afford that for 4 years? Most students are funded by their parents and loans but . . . . Government loans are disappearing and decreasing in amounts available. Scholarships are rare. So you need to go to the cheapest undergraduate program that accepts you.
8 Likes
Several of my older daughter’s closest friends are in various stages of their residencies. They came from a variety of undergraduate programs, and none were “pre-med”.
For all of them, what mattered most as far as getting into med school were MCAT scores and clinical hours. Not a single one jumped from undergrad directly into med school. Most took at least a year in between to build up clinical hours, participate in research and get advanced degrees in medical-related fields. One had to go through two rounds of applying before getting an acceptance despite doing undergrad at UNC-CH.
It’s a long, tough, expensive road. I agree with choosing the most affordable undergrad and going from there.
7 Likes
Then you’ll need to target schools that are a tier or two below “top-notch.” UMD isn’t one of those schools, so you shouldn’t expect to receive much (if any) merit aid from them.
You also haven’t shared your academic stats or budget. If you provide those details, posters can suggest schools that may be a better fit.
6 Likes
You can take the required courses for medical school applicants at just about every four year college in this country, arts conservatories excluded.
WRT merit money…how can we answer this question when we don’t know your SAT or ACT score, GPA, ECs, LOR.
These are all out of state universities and will likely be costly to you. Unless you are a tippy top student, I wouldn’t expect significant merit aid from any of them.
I would suggest you look into your own instate public universities also.
And if you want suggestions, do a chance me/match me thread.
5 Likes
To expand on my previous post about UMD, I would say “even if you are a tippy top student, I wouldn’t expect significant merit aid from UMD”
9 Likes
This^ thread focuses on merit aid. Scroll through it and take notes.
Wheaton Massachusetts (not Illinois) is known as a college that supports its premeds and has solid merit aid. Same for Juniata in PA or Hendrix in Arkansas. If you intend to get into med school, your stats should be competitive for these colleges.
In addition, there are lots of health-related professions: PA, Nurse, NP, Physical Therapist… What appeals to you among these and do you distinguish between these?
Generally, to be a successful premed/pre health student you need 1) to be in the top 20-25% applicants for that college 2) a college that is supportive rather than competitive.
As @thumper1 and @DadOfJerseyGirl said, for specific advice, go to the “chance me/match me” part of the website and fill out the form. You’ll get personalized advice with tiers of schools, etc.
2 Likes
Are you a national merit finalist?
1 Like
Interesting coincidence . . .
I recently went to a medical appointment with a specialist whom I see regularly. He is faculty at our state university med school. He was accompanied by a first year med student who was shadowing him.
I asked the med student what college she had attended as an undergrad. Her answer was . . . Wheaton College (MA).
2 Likes
Like others have mentioned, unless you are NMSF, there’s a needle in a haystack chance at getting OOS money at Texas A&M.
The Brown Scholarship is INCREDIBLE…BUT requires NMSF, acceptance to TAMU to even apply, and preferred application deadline by October 10. And it’s HIGHLY competitive.
2 Likes
Merit aid is not like a trophy you get for having done well. Merit aid is often a carrot that lower-ranked schools use to attract high-achieving students that ordinarily would choose a different school. Which, BTW, may not be a bad thing. One friend had acceptances to all the UCs including Cal. He was interested in becoming a doctor and purposely chose Riverside. He was a top student and today he’s a doctor.
7 Likes
All would work equally well. With med school in the plans, I’d suggest you consider your in-state flagship as well (unless paying for undergrad plus medical school is no problem for your family.)
Your post-graduation success will be dependent on what you accomplish during your college years rather than which one of these schools you choose to attend.
5 Likes
I would begin with your state schools. If you post a chance me thread you would get more information and suggestions.
2 Likes