<p>I am a high school student and a very good softball player. I do very well academically and my aspiration is to become a surgeon. I have been researching the top pre med schools with a softball team and I have come up with Stanford, Princeton, Brown, Northwestern, and Washington University. Even though these may be big dreams, I need some opinions on what you think about these schools. Thank you.</p>
<p>They all stink. I don’t think that any of them are in the US News top 20 rankings. </p>
<p>Seriously, what specifically are you asking? Obviously, the opinion will be that they are all top schools.</p>
<p>*I have been researching the top pre med schools *</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>There’s no such list. There’s no such thing as “the top pre med schools”.</p>
<p>If your goal is to get into med school, then you need to go where you’ll have a top GPA (while also doing your sport).</p>
<p>Athletes do go to med school. However, I think many do a “Glide Year”…apply after they graduate. That way the app season ( apps, interviews, “second looks”, etc) won’t interfere with the demands of their sport.</p>
<p>Also…keep in mind that some of your listed schools do not give sports scholarships. And, I don’t know if the ones that do give partial heads…they might.</p>
<p>Why not take a look at D3 programs which balance academics & athletics?..There is a thread just started about LACS and % of science majors that you should check out.</p>
<p>Pre med is not a true “major” so to speak. All you have to do is take the necessary 5 or 6 classes and apply to a GRADUATE MED PROGRAM. Many surgeons study english or something to get an easy courseload and get a good GPA to get into med school. Then you have to take the MCAT and do great on that too.
Just because you get into one of those schools for undergrad, it doesn’t mean you will get to their grad school, which is more important to a person wanting to become a doctor. Go to the best school you can for undergrad and work your butt of their to have a shot at a med school. A majority of people who apply to med school get rejected from every single one they apply to, it will be a tough field to get into and you have to do really good in undergrad college to get in.</p>
<p>Might add Holy Cross which has one of the better pre-med programs and Division 1 softball team. HC has very nice campus 1 hour from Boston. HC has a January 15th application due date and a great alumni network. Holy Cross is easier to get into than Stanford, Princeton and Brown.</p>
<p>WashU would be a great choice; talk with the coach and see how they balance practices and lab sciences and so forth - they have an excellent record of their athletes going on to med school. Northwestern and Stanford would be much more hardcore with the athletics and I would ask the coaches about their track record with pre med and your sport - In my child’s sport it simply would not work. Brown and the open curriculum would allow you to chart your own course of study, while you do the premed courses. Williams and Amherst are examples of D3 schools that are very serious about sports and academics. In each case speak with the coaches about your academic goals and see how that fits with their plan for you. In the future, should the demands of your sport hurt your chance of success in the classroom, you could always take a year off at an Ivy or LAC like Williams or Amherst and it would not affect your financial aid as their awards are entirely need based. Good luck!</p>