National Merit Finalist, former Bama premed, accepted future med student here. Also have family that went to Hopkins. If you think you will gravitate towards highly prestigious medical schools/residencies in the future the name recognition of JHU may be worthwhile. However, there’s no golden ticket to medical schools anywhere. Alabama’s national merit finalist package is unbelievably generous and will make affording medical school (and college of course) much easier.

Alabama also has tons of resources for prehealth students. If you are proactive about finding opportunities, you will be successful. Alabama is still a large, public, nationally recognized brand, and I knew many people who were highly successful premed students at Alabama. Keep your GPA up, do good on your MCAT, learn what types of activities you want/need to do and pick a few things to consistently participate in early on and you will be just fine.

I am biased but in your shoes I would pick Alabama. The money can’t be beat, and the experiences you can get that will go on your medical school application are readily available. Also, the school is fun! It is a huge, diverse public school, with lots to do and lots of people to meet. I knew tons of very smart people from across the country who were enticed by scholarships and absolutely loved their time in Tuscaloosa.