<p>I really don’t know which one to choose. I want to do pre-med but want to major in something totally un-related. Opinions and experiences Please.</p>
<p>These were my 2 first choices after I visited colleges in the fall. But, after visiting again, I knew that Amherst was the perfect school for me and applied ED (and got in). I thought that Georgetown was great, especially for subjects like political science. I liked the enthusiasm of the campus. BUT, it is bigger, in a city that will dilute the "on campus" experience, is D1, so athletics are out and, ultimately does not have the academic reputation that Amherst has now and always has had. Georgetown's popularity is recent, and probably more based on #'s of kids trying to get in. Amherst has been in the top tier forever. As to pre-med, both my parents are doctors and they tell me that it is really just GPA and MCAT that matter. I am sure everybody who does well at Amherst gets into med school. Also Amherst has a small, close campus but the advantage of the 5 colleges for both academic and social choices. I'll bet that Georgetown, being a Catholic school, is ultimately more conservative socially.....</p>
<p>How are the dorms, food, etc.</p>
<p>I understand a significant number of pre-med students at Amherst take five years before they are ready to enter med school. My son has found that there are "issues" that arise in scheduling of classes needed for testing and admission that hinder the ability to complete the requirements in 4 years. On the other hand, how many kids start out pre-med and drift into other areas because of interest (my son) or the inability to handle some of the pre-requisites at a sufficiently high academic level.</p>
<p>I haven't heard of many people taking 5 years to finish requirements for med school, but I'm not a pre-med person so I'm fairly ignorant of the whole process.</p>
<p>You only need 4 classes to get into med school, inorganic and organic chem, physics and calc. (Oh, and also English). So why would scheduling be a problem?</p>
<p>oops, and also a bio course.....</p>
<p>From an article about course scheduling in this week's student newspaper:</p>
<p>"Although most departments do not coordinate with each other, Chair of Chemistry Professor Joseph Kushick explained that the physics, chemistry, biology and math departments have a alternating system of time slots for the premed classes such that they are never given at the exact same time."</p>
<p>Given the fact that there are no required courses at Amherst (beyond a first year seminar), it seems that taking pre-med courses while majoring in something completely different would be much easier at Amherst than almost anywhere else.</p>