<p>i'm planning on majoring in biology, probably combining it with english. on the pre-med track. things that are especially important to me are: intelligent students, good professors, and an overall "happiness" factor.. it would also be nice to have a strong orchestra. </p>
<ul>
<li>williams</li>
<li>dartmouth</li>
<li>johns hopkins </li>
<li>cornell </li>
<li>rice</li>
<li>case western (with ppsp, guaranteed spot into their med school)</li>
<li>umd college park (full tuition)</li>
</ul>
<p>i'm having a very difficult time deciding. all input is appreciated! :)</p>
<p>Well, I'm the Rice cheerleader here. They have a fantastic orchestra (according to my father, who used to teach at the Cleveland Institute of Music -a conservatory), great location in vibrant city on rail line to museums, across from huge park and zoo, great pre-med acceptance rate, very happy kids with lots of traditions, residential college system which encourages student bonding and puts on its own plays, musicals, silly and fun events like "willy week", and serves as teams for intermurals, etc. etc. Very supportive and non-cut-throat academics. 13 hospitals/med centers right across the street for meaningful internships, unlimited research opportunities. Happy and NICE kids. Shorts in December. PM me if you have any questions that a parent could answer. My liberal, non-sciency daughter loves it and has met many wonderful people, and has developed close ties with quite a few professors. Princeton Review also said something like "diverse people interact." Rez college system fosters strong sense of community.</p>
<p>People at Cornell, CWRU, and JHU don't have the "overall happiness factor" you are seeking. Also, Williams is a very weird school - if you don't know what that means then you must visit. I'd go to Rice.</p>
<p>In my (very indecisive) mind, I have it down to Dartmouth vs. CWRU. Dartmouth sounds like the perfect undergrad experience - yet Case practically guarantees me an M.D. with their program. I don't know if I could get into Case's med school if I chose Dartmouth..</p>
<p>seriously? that sucks. anyway, could anyone please justify their preference? personally i think it is between dartmouth and case ppsp (unless i happen to get into rice/baylor but that might be hoping for too much ;) )</p>
<p>that would have been the school I probably would have went too if I knew what you had to do to get into an ivy back in 9th grade, and put a bunch of effort into it. instead i'll settle on PSU,, </p>
<p>but you should just choose with your heart. </p>
<p>maybe pray about it or something. LOL, whatever you do DON'T CHOOSE THE WRONG ONE IT COULD RUIN YOUR LIFE. </p>
<p>just kidding,,, whatever place you go too you'll do fine.</p>
<p>These are all fantastic options, so I would go with whichever is cheapest for you. To me, that looks like UMD which is a great school. However, if money doesn't matter to you, I would go with:</p>
<p>hey i'm going premed too, applied and admitted to jhu, but i've heard from alot of people that the students there have absolutely no fun, i'm not going to sit here and pretend like I know a lot of info about the other universities you're considering, but i would def. choose dartmouth over case western, there was just something about case western that kept me from applying, didn't seem like a normal college experience, plus i'm pretty sure there med school isn't up there, at least not in the u.s. news rankings, so u could go somewhere else for med school</p>
<p>Guaranteed Med School Admission Programs are the bane of the earth... why commit so early?</p>
<p>Why stay in the same city for so long so early? Because it's predictable/honorable (only the most obvious reason). Because this isn't as advantageous as diversifying, I wouldn't recommend Case Western.</p>
<p>Dartmouth=good but hardcore extreme academics (I'm sure there are good people there).
Cornell=a bit more relaxed than all the Ivies... "Easiest to get into, hardest to get out of." Social, good party scene (if you want it).
Johns Hopkins=best science programs, interesting Mid-Atlantic/DC vibe.
Rice=completely awesome, a great undergrad experience. Good orchestra, happy students, exceptional but not cutthrout academics.
UMD=very good. It's not like your safety admit is a state school in TN or somewhere.</p>
<p>Go where you want! Just because I think some of these colleges are better than others, you should not go to college somewhere that you don't want to go. Remember to think for yourself; you might be happy at some of these schools even if americans don't hold them to the archetype.</p>
<p>As far as money...
-You're gonna be in college for a long long time, and UGrad doesn't matter as much as your Grad as long as you can still secure admission to your GradSchool of choice. Save up. Every thousand saved is a thousand earned.
-Money doesn't matter, you'll make it back. The weakness to this philosophy is that you'd better finish the med-track or win a lottery somwehere, because that debt will follow you until you relieve it--something that may or may not be hard to do.</p>