Ga Tech vs. UGA for Pre-Med

[coldfusion34]

Hello,
I'm a high school senior getting close to making my decision for college. I really wish to pursue a career as a doctor by attending Medical College of Georgia. I'm salutatorian and star student of my class, and I recently was accepted into Ga Tech and UGA. I've done a fair amount of research on which one to select, but I can't seem to decide which one is my best option. If I attend Georgia Tech, then I could major in Biomedical Engineering confirming myself as an BMED engineer just in case I don't receive admission to medical school. This method will allow me to have a back up plan as BMED is my second career choice. Also, Georgia Tech's website states that 80% of Pre-Med students receive admission into medical school. However, from my research, I've found that many students state that getting a high GPA is very difficult at Tech but students tend to do much better on their MCAT. If I attend UGA, I would major in Biology. And, I have found from my research that UGA is more lenient on their grading scale than Tech. My first choice is Medical College of Georgia, but I wouldn't mind applying elsewhere if I don't get accepted there. Which college provides me the safer route to medical college? Thank you very much for your time and advice.

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[I'm No Superman]

Which one is cheaper?

The "stats" that you posted do not apply to a single person. You won't do better on the MCAT because you went to GA-tech. The classes may be more difficult then UGA, but adcoms won't care. A 4.0 from UGA is better than a 3.6 from Georgia Tech. Also, you probably already know this, but just because you want to be a doctor doesn't mean that you have to major in Bio/Biomed Engineering. You could major in dance and still go to med school.

Hope this helps.

Edit: I've also heard that majoring in engineering tends to kill your gpa. You might do well, but it will involve a lot more work than the guy/girl who majored in biology/business, and the adcoms will not care about the difficulty of your major.

 

[Obnoxious Dad]

Hello,
I'm a high school senior getting close to making my decision for college. I really wish to pursue a career as a doctor by attending Medical College of Georgia. I'm salutatorian and star student of my class, and I recently was accepted into Ga Tech and UGA. I've done a fair amount of research on which one to select, but I can't seem to decide which one is my best option. If I attend Georgia Tech, then I could major in Biomedical Engineering confirming myself as an BMED engineer just in case I don't receive admission to medical school. This method will allow me to have a back up plan as BMED is my second career choice. Also, Georgia Tech's website states that 80% of Pre-Med students receive admission into medical school. However, from my research, I've found that many students state that getting a high GPA is very difficult at Tech but students tend to do much better on their MCAT. If I attend UGA, I would major in Biology. And, I have found from my research that UGA is more lenient on their grading scale than Tech. My first choice is Medical College of Georgia, but I wouldn't mind applying elsewhere if I don't get accepted there. Which college provides me the safer route to medical college? Thank you very much for your time and advice.

Here's the unvarnished truth. Medical school admissions offices do not normalize transcripts to account for the rigor of the undregraduate college, major or course load. One third of the people admitted to medical school today did not major in the sciences.

Georgia Tech is a great institution but it will inhibit, not facilitate, your efforts to get into medical school. You will end up taking four or five semesters of calculus, calculus based physics and a boat load of other brutal classes. You will be graded by professors who do not understand that you need a 3.6 to get into Mercer let alone a 3.8 to get into MCG.

When you see these statistics about the percentage of applicants who get into medical school from various colleges, the marketing people at the colleges conveniently ignore the number of people who started out as premeds. My daughter started out at a rigorous liberal arts college where approximately 120 freshmen wanted to go to med school but only 15 eventually applied because the other 105 had already given up because their GPAs were trashed. I'm sure the admissions people at her college will happily tell prospective applicants that 90% of all applicants got in, but they won't tell anybody about the 105 who threw in the towel.

Go to Athens. Stay sober. Major in biology. Flunk your placement exams. Start with introductory math, foreign language, chemistry and biology. Take algebra based physics. Get an "A" in everything. Participate in medically related research and extracurriculars. If you bust your hump, you'll get into med school.

 

[sirenomelia]

If you want a superior engineering education than go to GaTech.
If you want to be around smarter caliber students than go to GaTech.
If you want to be in a redneck college town than go to Athens.
The above statements about GPA's and degrees are FALSE. A GT student with a 3.5 in engineering is a superior candidate to a UGA guy with a 3.7 biology. They know certain degrees are harder and the gpa threshold is lower for them.
Atlanta also has many more opportunities for volunteer or research activity and Emory is right there so GaTech is a better professional option but it will be much more expensive.
Other tangible considerations:
UGA coeds>>>> GT nerd coeds
SEC basketball is laughable but football expereience is unparallel.

 

[SavoirFaire]

It's true; ADCOMs seem to not care much about where you went to school if your GPA suffers greatly as a result. A 4.0 at a small, private school translates to lots of med school interviews. Someone with a 2.6 from GA Tech isn't going anywhere (except for maybe the Caribbean but they might not even get in there, lol).

Since I know many GA Tech students / alumni, I will tell you that the average GPA's at Tech are LOW. Many 3.9-4.0 students in high school become 2.0 students at GA Tech. It's not that Tech is "harder"; it's that they often have poor psychometrics and intentionally try to create "difficulty" in order to create an image of prestige. "Our students are failing, we must be difficult and therefore a good school!!"

You will be tested on things that were not taught, tested in ways that does not make it easy to apply what you have learned, etc. I have seen my friends tests, homework, course outlines, etc. I do not like what goes on at this school, as I have seen intelligent people on academic probation, spending 7 years of their life getting their Bachelor's degree. Another thing... a lot of Tech students are strange (and socially inept) to say the least. And the ratio of guys to girls is not good at Tech.

I say UGA hands down. Athens is fun, the grading system is normal, and there are a lot of beautiful girls.

 

[Obnoxious Dad]

If you want a superior engineering education than go to GaTech.
If you want to be around smarter caliber students than go to GaTech.
If you want to be in a redneck college town than go to Athens.
The above statements about GPA's and degrees are FALSE. A GT student with a 3.5 in engineering is a superior candidate to a UGA guy with a 3.7 biology. They know certain degrees are harder and the gpa threshold is lower for them.
Atlanta also has many more opportunities for volunteer or research activity and Emory is right there so GaTech is a better professional option but it will be much more expensive.
Other tangible considerations:
UGA coeds>>>> GT nerd coeds
SEC basketball is laughable but football expereience is unparallel.

Doctor, would it be too much trouble for you to spell correctly?

In the eyes of a few admissions committees, such as Emory's, you might have a better chance as a engineer from Tech with a 3.5 than you would as a biology major from UGA with a 3.7. However, the likelihood that you'll have a 3.5 in engineering from Tech is just about zero. On the other hand if you have a 28 or 29 on the ACT or a 2000 on the SAT, a 3.7 from UGA in biology is quite feasible. If you do everything you can to avoid challenges such as honors courses, calculus based physics, etc., it's almost easy.

The woods are full of failed premeds who thought that a prestigious undergrad would pave the way into med school. They can be found at U of Chicago, MIT, Harvey Mudd and Cal Tech. Don't be a fool. Take the easy path.

 

[penguinophile]

Go wherever you will be happier. Tech is in Atlanta, has lots of nearby attractions. UGA is in Athens, seems more tightly knit (even though a large school). You are what matters, the school doesn't matter at all. If you can get Hope, you can maintain it at UGA more easily (probably), but no matter what, just be happy. The road is long, rough, and too much of a PITA to not be as happy as possible.

 

[jwk]

GT cum laude/magna cum laude/summa cum laude = 3.15/3.35/3.55.
At UGA those numbers are 3.5/3.7/3.9.

BMED at GT is one of the most difficult majors, AND will require more than 140 semester hours to complete, because in addition to all the engineering classes, you have to fit in biology, physiology, chem, and organic.

The other biggie - physics at GT is an absolute bitch. The department policy is no curve, and everyone takes the same test regardless of professor and regardless of your professor's command of the English language or lack thereof. Many engineering majors take physics twice or more just to get the required C to stay in engineering.

UGA is tough to get into, but cake once you get there. Not so with GT, particularly in BMED.

 

[coldfusion34]

I was auto-admitted into UGA's Honors Program. They have a 96% medical school acceptance rate. Would you guys recommend that over UGA's normal program or GT as well?

 

[austinblnd]

Go wherever you will be happier. Tech is in Atlanta, has lots of nearby attractions. UGA is in Athens, seems more tightly knit (even though a large school). You are what matters, the school doesn't matter at all. If you can get Hope, you can maintain it at UGA more easily (probably), but no matter what, just be happy. The road is long, rough, and too much of a PITA to not be as happy as possible.

Potential GPA should be extremely low on your list of deciding factors. Thinking you will get a 3.5 at a certain college instead of a 3.7 at a different college should not affect your decision. In all reality, you can say you are a "star student" in high school, but you have no idea how you will adjust to college and what your GPA will be. Pick the college you want to go to and do well there. You have the ability to get into medical school from both colleges, it all just depends on the work you are willing to put in.

 

[MCG Graduate]

I read with great interest relative to your article as to whether to go to GA Tech or the University of Georgia if your goal is to go to medical school at GA Health Sciences University (MCG previous name). Incidentally I am a 1978 graduate of MCG's School of Dentistry.

I can speak with quite a bit of authority on this subject as I hold three (yes 3) degrees from GA Tech. After dental school at MCG I went on for residency training at the University of IL in Chicago.

To begin with GA Tech is Georgia's flagship University. It is without question the most difficult academic institution in the State of Georgia. The UGA crowd will not agree with me but it is what it is. In my classes at GA Tech the other students usually were just as intelligent as I was and many were more intelligent than I.

My undergraduate in Biology was a 3.4 and my DAT scores were 5 academic and 5 perceptual motor ability. In those days the test scale was -1 to 9. In organic chemistry I made 8/9. Later in graduate school in biology my GPA was 3.1 (I did slack off a little). My area of study was cardiovascular physiology and my Master's Thesis was in that area of endeavor. When I matriculated at MCG 5 to 10 of us were allowed to take the physiology exemption exam. I was the only one in my class that exempted physiology as I made 70 on the exam!! So, it WAS NOT an easy exam.

My advice is the following:

a) GA Tech will give by far the best education but the grades are very hard to come by. It is light years more difficult than UGA. But, you WILL do better on the MCAT or DAT.

b) It might be better to go to a much easier school because they really don't give you points for going to GA Tech. And too, there is a lot of prejudice against Tech in the State of Georgia. When I was at MCG I asked a professor of mine where he thought the best students came from? He said Augusta College. I asked him if he had lost his mind as this was ridiculous!!

c) Apply to as many medical schools as you can, go to the easiest school you can find that's accredited and be sure to say you want to practice in a small town in South Georgia. Most individuals want to go to Atlanta, Savannah, Augusta, Macon, or Columbus in reality. Study hard for the MCAT, take the Kaplan Course and generally practice for it as much as you can.

d) Work in a hospital, medical clinic or in health care in general as this is very important.

e) The medical admission process is not necessarily objective. Use any possible pull that you can muster. Also remember that admissions committee members tend to select those that they perceive to be like themselves. Also, keep applying and don't give up if it takes several years to get in. DO NOT just apply to MCG!!

 

[PetPony]

Someone thinks he's awesome.. I don't understand the need to show off about what you did. Also, seeing as you only went to Georgia Tech, I don't understand how you know about the difficulty in comparison.

Go to the one you're comfortable at. That's what's gonna give you better grades. If you end up hating Tech, your grades might show that. And then that "better" school isn't gonna do anything for you.

 

[soggydog]

Is this thread for real? You want to go to Georgia, have a life, and come out with stories and experiences you can wow adcoms with. You go to Tech bury your nose in a book and have a horrible college experience. Go to Georgia have some fun and enjoy. Life's too short to worry about that stuff now anyway. Also, Dr. Langford is well known with MCG or GSHS or whatever it's called now and that gives you an edge. Also, there's an Athens campus now. Don't get me wrong I live Atlanta, but do you wanna be a honeybee or a dawg? You can't beat UGA! GO DAWGS!

 

[collegestud2013]

OP, just wondering which school you decided on?

And for any future GA HS premeds reading this, only choose UGA if you're content with only going to MCG for undergrad. The two schools definitely have connections with each other, hence the preference for admitting UGA students. But if you're like most SDN members, you probably have much higher ambitions that just getting into your state med school, in which case UGA is really a bad choice. Med school admissions has been very competitive these days to the point where at higher-ranked schools, a high GPA isn't going to cut it with the adcoms if you just took the minimum, easiest courseload. Its also these types of people that tend to do a lot worse on the MCAT then their GPA suggests due to the last rigorous academic preparation (e.g. 3.8 and a 29), which will hurt you a lot more when getting into higher ranked med schools since high MCAT scores (34+) are crucial. The combination of high GPA and low MCAT is a clear indicator of lack of rigor in your undergrad curriculum. A lower GPA from a institution known for its rigor combined with a high MCAT (e.g. 3.6 and 35) will fare much better. Also, I can almost guarantee that the 96% of UGA Honors students getting into med school statistic is tweaked to only include a subset of the premeds in UGA Honors. Even Princeton premeds only get into med school at an overall rate of 90%, so the 96% probably means 96% of only the students with above a certain GPA and MCAT (maybe 3.7/32) instead of 96% overall, so it's definitely a biased statistic.

I was admitted into UGA Honors at first, but then declined in and was deciding between GA Tech and Emory after I got into those two schools. I ultimately chose Emory because it would provide the most opportunities for pre-meds since it has its own med school and lots of affiliated hospitals (Emory Healthcare is the largest healthcare system in GA).

Point is, step up to the challenge and go to the school that academically interests you more and where you can get a more rigorous education. Taking the mediocre route means you'll likely end up at a mediocre med school.

 

[jwk]

I was admitted into UGA Honors at first, but then declined in and was deciding between GA Tech and Emory after I got into those two schools. I ultimately chose Emory because it would provide the most opportunities for pre-meds since it has its own med school and lots of affiliated hospitals (Emory Healthcare is the largest healthcare system in GA).

Largest healthcare system in Georgia? Who cares?

I'm not sure I'd be advertising Emory quite so highly considering the news out of there this week.

 

[MCG Graduate]

Largest healthcare system in Georgia? Who cares?

I'm not sure I'd be advertising Emory quite so highly considering the news out of there this week.

 

[MCG Graduate]

I have been on the medical staff at Emory Healthcare since 1988. I regularly do cases in the operating room at Emory University Hospital Midtown. Emory is a great institution. It is the best system in the Southeast USA.