"Master's University" vs. "Comprehensive College"?

Question

I am getting ready to go to college this fall. I have two prospective colleges in my area that I am interested in. The schools have to be in my area as I have a family and can't move.
Both offer a Pre-Medical program and are very good schools. In my research to help decide which school to attend I came accross USNews.com that had one school ranked high in a classification called "Master's Universities" and one that ranked high in "Comprehensive College's". Aside from this and the fact that one is in an urban setting and the other is in a suburban setting they are almost identical, tuition, affiliation, selectivity, ect.
I have tried to research which would be the better path between them from a medical standpoint, but can't find anything.
Any help would be appreciated.

And if it helps they are:
Gannon University
and
Mercyhurst College

Answer 1

A master's university offers degrees up through the master's level while a comprehensive university also offers doctorates.

There are pros and cons with each.

Comprehensive universities tend to have more "big name" professors -- but they work mostly with the Ph.D. candidates. You might get lucky and get a seminar or research lab with one of these "name" professors, but many of your classes are going to be taught primarily by graduate student Teacher's Assistants (TAs) who teach for the stipend it gives them.

Master's Universities are less likely to have the "name" professors and research facilities that their comprehensive counterparts have. They also can be (but not always are) a little less prestigious. Regular professors will teach most all of your classes and if you want to do research, you should have no problem finding a professor to sponsor your research.

There are basically 5 variables in getting into med school with the first two: gpa and mcat scores being the most important. The other three: reputation of undergraduate school, letters of recommendation, and research experience can be affected by where you go undergrad.

Call up the pre-med advisory committee (usually located in the Biology or Biochemistry department) and find out who writes the letters of recommendation (it may be a committee), what research opportunities there are for undergraduates, and how many students were recommended for medical school vs. how many got in. That should give you a good idea about which school to choose.