Davidson, Wake Forest, or Rhodes for Medical School?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I know I will be Pre Med in college, so a major in biology will probably be my choice. I have visited Rhodes College, Davidson College, Wake Forest University, and Duke University. I like the size of the first three, but decided that Duke is too big (some classes have 300 people in them – I want about 12). I know that GPAs really matter to Medical Schools, so should I go somewhere like Rhodes where there isn’t as much competition as Davidson (which I’ve heard is really stressful, not to mention a reach for someone with my stats)? I’ve considered applying early decision to the one I decide on to increase my chances of getting in. I like small liberal arts schools (not too far north, hate the cold) so what other schools are within reach? I don’t want to feel like I’m at the butt end of my class, but I also want a good preparatory school.
STATS:
I am a female Caucasian high school junior in a large Texas high school (almost 1,000 per graduating class) and I'm within the top 3%. </p>

<p>-GPA: 3.7 unweighted, 4.4 weighted
-PSAT score: 217 (The state cutoff for National Merit is usually 215)
-SAT: Composite: 2130 (670 Verbal, 700 Math, 760 Writing)
-ACT: 31 (33 Math, 33 English, 31 Reading, !!27 Science!! – I have never taken a prep class, and had never seen the format of science questions on the ACT. I mini-freaked out and re-read each passage and graph and ended up not finishing the last 7-8 questions. I always make As in my advanced science classes though!)
-In orchestra, received superior ratings in the area solo competition, first division rating at the state solo competition, and was in the all-district and all-region orchestras. I don’t necessarily want to pursue music in college, but if that becomes the make or break point I’ll continue (My tour guide at Wake Forest said that if a department really wants a specific person, it will tell the admissions office to pay extra attention to his or her application).
-National Honor Society
-Junior World Affairs Council (Learns about different cultures & world issues)
-Junior Statesmen of America (Discusses current events)
-I volunteer tutoring middle school children in math
-Volunteer at local CCA (Christian Community Action) Food Bank
-Received "Fantastic Farmer" awards both Sophomore and Junior years for Commitment To Excellence, Dedication, and Attitude (awards which teachers can only give to one student, and there are about 30 students selected from the whole grade level)...the Farmer is my mascot, if you were wondering; I'm not in 4-H or anything.
-I'll have good teacher recommendations (English teacher loves me)
-English is my strongest subject, so I'm counting on putting together a killer essay (low SAT verbal score I know, I’m just a really slow reader)
-My granddad was the head of the psychology department at Rhodes College before he passed away. Could I get anything for that? My mom attended Rhodes for free because she was his daughter.</p>

<p>Also, my dad is self-employed and the economy has been killer for about ten years; sometimes we can barely afford groceries. However, my grand mom has saved up about $100,000 for my schooling. This is absolutely all I have from my family to get me through college and medical school and will definitely not last, and my parents only make about $45,000 a year after taxes. Will this account keep me from receiving substantial scholarships/ financial aid? A family friend told us to remove my parents’ names from the account and just leave it in my grandmother’s name, but still use it for my family's Expected Family Contribution, about 4K. Could that get us in trouble?</p>

<p>Thanks so much for reading all of this!</p>

2

<p>Great schools! I’m very familiar with them and like all of them quite a lot. </p>

<p>I discourage an ED application to Wake Forest, given your circumstances. Its financial aid is not as good as its peers’, and although it is reasonably generous with merit scholarships, you can’t count on receiving one. </p>

<p>Between Davidson and Rhodes, I would give an edge to Davidson. It has better financial aid and is loan-free, something highly desirable since you’ll be accumulating a lot of loans for medical school. The sciences are excellent, and it has good placement into medical and graduate programs. Rhodes is great for the sciences, however, and the ability to intern/volunteer at St. Jude appeals to many pre-meds. Davidson is a very nice but rather sleepy town, and Memphis gets a significant nod in terms of off-campus life.</p>

<p>About class sizes…very few courses at Duke have 100+ students, and they are almost inevitably in the social sciences (econ, pub pol, poli sci). Some of the introductory biology and chemistry courses do have 80 or so students. Be aware that you will not completely escape large classes even at LACs, however; schools like Davidson and Rhodes will also have introductory courses with 70 or 80 students. Upper-level courses will be small at all of these schools (~15 students). </p>

<p>What is much more significant than class sizes, I think, is the focus of the colleges. Duke is very strongly focused on undergraduates, to be sure, but you are always aware you’re at a research-intensive university. Schools like Davidson are by default centered on undergraduates, as that is their primary function.</p>

3

<p>Thanks so much! You seem to really know a lot about each of these schools. That Davidson does cover in grants what a student’s family is unable to pay really does make me favor it.
When I complained about the size of Duke, I was remembering something in particular that my tour guide told me: One of his classes was a 30+ minute walk to his next one. The campus also did just seem too spread out and confusing… there is literally an acre of land for each undergraduate student, haha.
Ahh, now it seems I’m stuck between Rhodes and Davidson (which is closer to my decision than I was before). Thanks for your opinion; sometimes I just need someone to help me talk things through :)</p>

4

<p>Your school list is a great one. One you may want to consider is Furman University. I have read and heard it has fabulous medical school entrance rates. Twice the national average. Look at their science department funding, I recall being told it is 4th in the nation behind some very respected schools. I would think you could snag one of their full ride or full COA scholarships. </p>

<p>Your grandmother should keep the account in her name only. </p>

<p>Good luck to you. :)</p>

5

<p>Thanks! I’ll definitely add Furman to my list, though it feels like I’m taking a step backward in my decision process rather than forward, haha. There are just so many choices out there! Hopefully time will help me to develop a more broad perspective because right now I sort of feel swept up in it all.</p>

6

<p>The advantage of Wake is that it has a medical school attached, but that might just be a psychological advantage - - but I’d check out the research opps for undergraduates.</p>

<p>Davidson has notoriously rigorous grading, but their financial aid is a strong program and fairly generous. Your numbers are solid there…don’t discount yourself. Good med school placement there, too.</p>

<p>Rhodes has really good med school placement numbers and good reputation for pre med. As one responder said, working at St Jude’s is great…and it’s a little closer to home. You may well be offered merit money there.</p>

<p>If you are concerned about your ACT, science reasoning is the toughest part of that exam because it’s a lot of questions fast…you can prep for that and familiarity with what to expect will help.</p>

<p>So I guess…all things considered, I’d give the nudge to Rhodes. You can’t go wrong, frankly!</p>

7

<p>There’s somebody’s D here on CC who turned down Yale to go to Rhodes and now at Yale med school, if I recall correctly. But, really, you can’t go wrong with any of these three as far as pre-med goes. And, since these are southern schools, maybe you should consider U of Richmond as well? They have very high rate of med school placement, in the 80% range.</p>

8

<p>OP, jvtDad is correct. There is a parent poster on the premed forum [Pre-Med</a> Topics - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/]Pre-Med”>Pre-Med Topics - College Confidential Forums) that has a daughter that turned down Yale for Rhodes and is now at Yale med! You should post your question over there and get more perspective, although the general consensus is to do your UG at a school you love, pursue any major you want (doesn’t have to be science) and minimize your debt to save for med school.</p>

9

<p>Thanks, I’ll try my question over there!</p>

10

<p>New poster here as I have a S who is beginning the process, HS class 2013. Much easier in my day. As a student member of a midwestern med school admissions committee back in the day, I read through more than a few med school applications. Lots of science majors and 3.7 GPA’s. After a few hours of review these applications all began to look alike.</p>

<p>I see you have a talent for music. Ever considered a conservatory? Oberlin and the less selective(than Oberlin) Lawrence University come to mind. Your application will stand out.</p>

<p>I know, a bit off topic from Davidson or Rhodes. But if you love to play…</p>

<p>I have no knowledge of money available at any conservatory and that could be a major obstacle, but if you want to maximize your nest egg for med/grad school and can’t count on a full ride merit based scholly then maybe Austin is the place you should be for UG.</p>

11

<p>William & Mary is very similar to Davidson and Wake Forest. It has the best med school acceptance rate of any school in VA. It is also public so it has a different feel cla$$-wise than private schools. Something to consider.</p>