Can't deicide where to go!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>As acceptances and scholarships are rolling in, I can't help but find myself trying to decide where I want to go, even though I know the official decision is months away. </p>

<p>I am planning to major in Biology with a pre-med track and I have acceptances from Baylor and Regis, both came back with similar scholarship offers and are fairly close in price. I am waiting to hear back from Lawrence University, but I am pretty sure I will get in. Small class sizes, a good biology program, and a good community have been the driving factors in my college search. </p>

<p>I live in Colorado now, and my parents are really pushing for Regis (in-state, private) so that I will be close to home for the support, even though I would be living on campus. They say that at Baylor (TX) or Lawrence (WI) I will be too far away for them to help me when things go wrong. But, I am fairly independent, and honestly feel that I will be better off than they think. Regis also offers a full tuition science scholarship that I could probably get. This isn't a bad school, but I know I can do better. </p>

<p>I feel that Baylor would be the best fit for me, although I am not very religious. I haven't been down to visit yet, but I have heard great things about their community and bio programs. And, I will have a little bit more distance from home, so that might be nice. I also think that a degree from Baylor would be a little more appealing to med/grad schools. Though they are a little big for me. </p>

<p>Lawrence is a very small school with 60% of classes with a student:teacher ratio of 1:1. They have no grad students, so all research goes to undergrads, but I am not sure if this is a good thing, or a bad thing (less learning opps?). And they also have a very strong bio program, but I'm afraid less options if I did change my mind. I am also not a fan of the snow/cold weather, so this could be a deal breaker for them. </p>

<p>So I really have no idea where I see myself going. This is kind of just a rough pro/con list, so any help or insight would be greatly appreciated.</p>

2

<p>seems like it’s time for a road trip, the sooner the better. offer to help pay your way. if you haven’t any money to offer, offer to shovel the snow, paint the basement, take out the garbage, whatever you have to give. set it up with the adcoms yourself: an overnight with a student, some class visits, a conversation with a professor in your field of interest. go for it.</p>

3

<p>Check the schools’ on-line class schedules to see what the actual class sizes are. Pre-med courses are often among the largest classes on any given campus.</p>

4

<p>Don’t let your parents pressure you to stay close. It isn’t great to pick college based on ‘if something goes wrong and you need your parents to drive over’. And sounds like you have better choices. My daughter went from West Coast to East Coast. I just visited once in a while and she came back sometimes. I did go out to stay with her when she was off campus and had her wisdom teeth out. But she could have done without me.</p>

<p>Laurence would be excellent for premed with all that attention you get. I don’t know much about Baylor but I bet they have larger weed-out type classes. They have a reputation for good sciences, esp Physics. They build research into your undergrad program which is a good thing.</p>

<p>Sounds like you prefer Baylor though, a visit sounds good.</p>