OK. I have become obsessed with looking up med schools and summer internships. Sounds normal for a pre-med college student, but this is new to me. Med school always seemed so far away, and mind you after 3 years of school, it's still 2 years away but now it feels closer. Now all my friends are applying and getting interviews and waiting to hear back. And now I'm obsessed with rankings. Rankings of med schools, admission requirements and tuition. Did you know it costs more to go to Creighton than Harvard!? Insane, and I think you'd be insane to pay that much for an education that's pretty far down in the rankings. Also, Baylor tuition is less than UNMC and UT Southwestern's tuition is almost half the price (out-of-state at UTS is only $1000 more than instate at UNMC). Both of which are ranked higher. UT Southwestern is my dream school. Ranked number 20 in the nation and number 1 for TX schools, and to me, mildly attainable. Mind you their incoming class from this year had more than 3 students (each) from schools like Rice, Columbia, Stanford, Duke, and Yale. But, they also have students from UTA of all places (hello bad education!) so I figure there's gotta be hope for me. My second choice would have to be Baylor, ranked just below UTS, and then probably UNT, while lower in rankings it's VERY attainable and it offers a D.O. program which I may be leaning towards. Can I please start med school in January?
Also, my seester got a job! Now I suppose I'll have to get it together and make a trip to the post office.
5 comments:
UTA doesn't give a bad education... at least in my experience. It actually has one of the best and most contemporary English departments in the state. So it's not bad all around, maybe just in the medical division?
You're kind of right. Not every aspect of UTA's education is bad, and they're actually OK in their sciences, but the Spanish department sucks. And that was my point because I'm only taking Spanish classes there (I can't talk about the English department because I haven't experienced it). But coming from another University and being able to compare the two just made me realize how behind UTA really is. My Spanish classes were a JOKE. I was supposed to be in a 300 level class and my books were literally the same ones we have at UNL for our beginning 200 level classes... The assignments were so easy and I didn't feel challenged at all. I didn't learn anything. In my opinion the professors were sup-par. And not to bash your home institution but there is a reality that UTA as an overall school just can't give the quality of education that other schools can (like the big 12, the big 10, or an Ivy league school). There's just not enough funding to bring in top professors, perform cutting edge research, have the best technologies available to students, ect. Those are my feelings on UTA, and like I said before, my frustration really comes from the Spanish department and if that department is so behind, it makes me wonder about other departments.
I agree with you about the Spanish department. I had HORRIBLE Spanish teachers all 14 hours I had to take. And our Modern Language department is REALLY lacking. But then again it goes back to my argument about UTA - the neglect the Liberal Arts and the Humanities to spend their money on their Nursing, Engineering, and Science departments. UTA actually has the best nursing school in the state. And most of their departments are actually ranked higher than UT. I do think they have their priorities backwards as an institution, but the education there as a whole isn't any worse than UNT or even UT. But it all goes back to money. I do wish UTA had more money to pour back into the students, but I guess maybe that just comes with time.
It really just depends on what you're going to school for and what your future ambitions are. You and I are in school in complete opposite fields. For me, UT and especially UNT's science programs aren't very good so the fact that UTA is ranked higher in nursing, doesn't really say much (but once again that in no way affects the quality of the humanities and liberal arts). For example, at UNL anatomy and physiology are taught separately for a combined total of 9 hrs (5 hrs of anatomy, 4 hrs of physiology) and the course work is designed to be difficult enough that a certain percentage will fail the class. UTA's a&p classes are combined and taught as a sequence for a total of 6 hrs. Going to UTA would mean missing out on 3 hrs of intense coursework pertinent for my career. I don't think of myself as an educational snob or someone who's smart enough to be incredibly picky about what schools they attend, but I do my research before I attend schools, and in my field where you get your degree from really does matter. I mean good luck getting into John Hopkins med school with a degree from some school like Stephen F Austin.... Luckily for me I will never have to return to UTA again because I'm finishing in Lincoln. Which is awesome because academically UNL switches to the big ten conference in June so my degree will be worth more. I hope you don't take offense to my hatred for UTA. I know nothing about their language department but I know you're smart enough to think about the school you attend before you just sign up and go. So I'm sure it's a good school for you, just not for me... :)
Lol. Absolutely! I agree with you. I got really lucky - I did just sign up and go to UTA, but it turns out, we have to of the leading theorists in feminist and environmental criticism. And those two theorists happen to be my mentors so... score one for Kandice!! Haha. So having their names on the faculty list makes my degree worth more than an English degree from UT. Weird how that works out. =/ But that's super exciting about UNL being part of the Big 10! That's so awesome!! And I think it's amazing that you find A&P interesting and that you are glad to take 3 more hours of it. Lol. I think I would kill myself if I had to take that class. You're going to make a great doctor one day. =)
(also, I don't take offense to your hatred, because I, too, hate it. haha)
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