<p>Hi, so after all my college decisions have come out, I've become stuck with this predicament. I'm an ASIAN male and am PREMED.</p>
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<li>I mention that I'm Asian because Vanderbilt and Claremont McKenna have rather low Asian populations...which worries me due to social life issues that may arise and I have a feeling that I will feel uncomfortable at a low Asian population school like Vanderbilt or Claremont McKenna. </li>
</ol>
<p>So...other things I'd like you all to consider including comfortableness for an Asian male:
2. High grade inflation: As a premed the more the merrier.
3. Don't need to be in a frat to enjoy good social life: I don't want to join a frat.
4. Best research opportunities for anyone who wants it: I have a feeling the smaller the school the better for this so I guess Claremont McKenna wins out on this one?
5. Dating life for an Asian male: this kind of goes with #1, but I'd like a place where an Asian male can easily date (yes, I know if your good looking/have good personality you can date anywhere, but I've heard it's harder for Asians at Vanderbilt--don't shoot the messenger!)
5. Best quality of life in general: Yeah, I know that this is broad, but which school has the happiest/most satisfied students?
6. Alumni Network: I don't know how important this is for someone with medical field aspirations, but I'd still like a strong alumni network in case I end up NOT pursuing the medical field and end up in business or something.</p>
<p>THANKS IN ADVANCE! :)</p>
<p>High Grade Inflation
gradeinflation.com has limited data for Vanderbilt, but no data for the others.
Even if you can find a more comprehensive set of data, it’s doubtful you’d be comparing apples to apples since the degree of grade inflation might vary from department to department and year to year. But suppose, somewhere, a data set does exist that would allow definitive comparison of these 4 schools. In that case, don’t you think med schools would be aware of it and adjust accordingly? Advice: remove this factor from consideration.</p>
<p> Best quality of life in general
Google for “happiest students”, “best dorms”, etc. PrincetonReview maintains lists for such factors. Newsweek has done a top-25 “happiest student” ranking (<a href=“http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/features/college-rankings/2011/happiest.all.html);%5B/url%5D”>www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/features/college-rankings/2011/happiest.all.html);</a> USC and Vanderbilt show up on the 2011 edition. </p>
<p>Alumni Network
What exactly do you think this is, and how do you imagine it would benefit you? How would you measure the strength of an “alumni network”? I’ve asked similar questions on College Confidential a number of times and have yet to see a satisfactory answer. Advice: remove this factor from consideration unless somebody can tell you how to reliably differentiate these four schools on this basis.</p>
<p>What about cost? Is that not an issue, or is there no significant difference for you after aid (if any)?<br>
You’re looking at 4 good schools. If cost differences aren’t significant, I’d say you can safely choose based on any factors that are important to you. Dating opportunities? I guess that’s about as good a personal factor as any (weather, size, location, etc.)</p>