ok well today it became official that got into all the universities that i wanted to go to. but the main problem is that i dont know which one to choose. im goin for medicine. my top 3 are loyola, uic, isu. northwestern is just too expenive as it is so yea thats out the door. and loyola is really expensive too. i was thinkin about goin to Uic or ISU for pre med. then transferig to loyola or northwestern later on. what do you guys think i should do? any advice would be helpful.
thanks everyone
~cory

 

If you are going for Med School...cost isn't going to be a huge factor. They may not be the same price, but in the big picture are they really that much different?

Another thing to factor in is cost of living, convenience, time away from Family (this can be good or bad, you judge the value of it), community, climate, etc.

I'm not familiar with any of these schools but I am currently in the same boat with my Wife. She applied to a few different schools to be a Physician's Assistant. (Master's in Allied Health).

Two of the three schools required a 36 month class. Both of these schools were over $50K and had a pass rate in the low 90% area.

One of the other schools was a 27 month class. It cost ~$25K and had a 99% pass rate. HOWEVER, it is 5hrs away from home.

We decided to take the 5hr away from home school (Texas Tech University Health Science Center in Midland, TX). WHY? Well, we are 24yrs old and would like to have kids before we are 30 (or at least 1). With this school, it is a full year shorter which will give us a year or two worth of working to pay off loans PRIOR to having children. This probably isn't in your plans right now, but it just gives yo an idea on how to look at things. Some schools may seem better because they are close, and cheap - but it may be worth it to travel a bit.

Also, check out the forum here - it's one of the best. There ar a lot of folks who shoot straight and tell it like it is when regarding the difficulty of med school and all that goes along with the profession. SO, if you truly want to practice medicine...don't let them scare you out of becoming a doctor.

http://www.studentdoctor.net/?new=studentdoctor

SQ

 

18 & a crossfire !! sounds familiar!

i'm actually going to apply to med school later also, to be a radiologist. right now i'm studying computer engineering.

as far as cost goes, yeah, it won't really matter much. i believe the average medical student is in debt over 100,000$ by the time they graduate.. i'm a firm believer that at that point, money isn't really a big factor anymore, as it already is a huge amount of debt.

visit the schools, campus, and maybe sit in classes (a lot of colleges will let you do this.)

in the end, choose the best university that you think you will excel at.

 

Are you an undergrad? If you can get into HPME, Northwestern might be your cheapest alternative!!!

Most of my friends who went to NU for undergrad in 1994/1995 did HPME.

I believe UIC has GPPA. Either way, you're asking the wrong question. The question should be "which guaranteed professional program can I get into".

Otherwise, your choice of school is moot. Any of the schools would be good enough, the problem is how good will your GPA be, how good will your recommendations be, and how high will your MCAT scores be??

If you're still having second thoughts, read this instruction manual from UIC's GPPA pre-med program:
http://www.uic.edu/depts/oaa/spec_pr...cine7-9-07.pdf

Pay attention to the parts about waiving AMCAS fees, having UIC-COM pay a $12k scholarships a year, and getting admitted with MCAT scores under 30 (by attending a special "training camp"). This is about as much of "free ride" as you can get in the medical school world...

I did my graduate degree in a similar way, ended up going to a "big name" school, got paid a research stipend and full $41,000 a year tuition for the 4 years I was there...

 

Hmmmm, My daughter has been accepted at Nova SE University (NSU), Fl Gulf Coast (FGCU) and Fl Atlantic (FAU). Her counselor told her to go where she got the biggest bang for her buck. Why? Because undergrad for pre-med does not really make that big of a difference.(Unless you want to go to Harvard ect.) In FL she has what is called Bright Futures Scholorship which pays 75-100% of her tuition. Becuse she wants to pay for her college herself, and wants to go away to college she has decided to run cross country and track to offset room and board.

NSU has offered her 26k, but tuition is 30k since it is private and primarily for post undergrad, ie med, law pharm ,dentistry. Their dorms suc in her opinion. 3 girls to one room and no closet space. She said her shoes would not fit in the closet. If they will put her in the fast track program for med school they are an option

FAU has a great CC and track, but have 5 returning CC that all have better times then her. Great coach but I don't they want to offer her much assistance monitarily.

FGCU is only 10 yo. The campus is really nice and the dorm rooms are awesome. Waiting to hear what they will offer. We met with the assistant coach who said she would be in the top 5 right now and based on her track times he thinks that she wouls be able to get into the low 18's for the 5k.

Anyways enough rambling. This should give you a good idea of what others are going through. Also I am hesitant to let her take her SRT to FAU or NSU.

She is edging towards FGCU. The only place she was not initially accepted was UF which is a crapshoot at best. 30000 applicants for 5000 spots.

Good luck on your decision.

 

I feel ya on that...my Wife didn't get in our 'local' school because of that. 5500 applicants and 32 spots. She has a 4.0 GPA and 6yrs of LVN nursing behind her also...the only thing she didn't have is spanish and that is BIG down here. That's the only thing I can think of that kept her out of it.

Good luck to your daughter!

SQ

 

[...the only thing she didn't have is spanish and that is BIG down here. That's the only thing I can think of that kept her out of it.

Good luck to your daughter!

SQ[/quote]
Thanks

Ashley will do fine. She is extra motivated right now with track season just getting started. Her times will make the difference.

The spanish I am sure played a big part of their decision making

PS.... You think you have a large population of spanish speakers. 70% of those living in Miami are hispanic. You can live your life here and never speak a word of English. I am just the token gringo here in la la land. And poor Ashley with her blond hair really sticks in a crowd down here. LOL

 

My brother is a doctor, he went to a state school 1st (to save money), then he went to the medical school he wanted afterwards. Best of luck!

 

Congratulation! For a job well done.

I don't know if my experience fit as an advice that applies to your situation.


More or less similar to what I would suggest.

When I got my Diploma in Mechanical Engineering. It was simply straight forward. When I decided to continue with Degree, that was when I was like you ....7 years ago. In my home country, we only have one uni. NUS. The criteria of admission were and still are tough. I have to worked for top 5% result just so I will be in DUA(Direct Uni. Admission) program. I have had option of overseas uni. studies with length of studies shortened by 9 months to a whole year. But like earlier being said, the cost of living etc etc may round up to 100K+. I know my family can afford but so what. When out of some thousand students, you are selected into the local uni. You know where you stand. I also received scholarship of full course grant. It was a huge saving and I don't have to pay back. However, not the cons but the hardwork: To maintain 10% of the highest attained results throughout the 3 years or I would be pulled out of the grant scheme.

Here, monthly income of working individual is deducted 20% to be channelled to a so call Central Provident Fund (CPF). For child education, there are scheme to "sort of" loan the full amount of the course fee from the fund. When the child started working, the govt will advise installment payment plan to be deducted from the paycheck and put back into the parent CPF. Still, we can opt out and made personal arrangement with our parents.

Now and perhaps in your country as well, there are educational loan through bank? Perhaps with your result you can apply? If its not full course; take one year at a time loan. Meantime IF there is time to take up job, part time or so... your 2nd year and so on shouldn't be your worry.
Payback - once you are a Doctor? or Medical specialist?... you can make arrangment of how to pay the loan.

Which means you should choose the uni. that you know you can excel in. Sounds familiar. Should you have to travel or not. If you have to have accommodation other than home, which means extra monetaries issue.

Other advice which is as important - Your mindset to focus in your study. Thinking ahead of 3 or 4 years when you get there is pretty exciting. Good career = job + income. But to get there is 3 or 4 or how many years x 365 days. Take life one day at a time but put your mind to it. (I've got my mind set ...on...you)

I am confident since you have gone this far, you CAN go further and successfully.

All the best in your future undertaking.