It’s about time that most students finalize their college choices, and I certainly need to wrap mine up. I was accepted several schools, from which I have narrowed down to these two: Earlham College and Temple University
I want to do pre-med in college, with a major in Biology, so there are quite a few things that I am concerned about in choosing where to attend. I want to go to a place where there are multiple research opportunities open to undergraduates. I also seek volunteering, and shadowing opportunities while in college. At the same time, I am also concerned about the quality of the pre-med advisors where I’m going to.
Temple is in a large city, which means there are plenty of shadowing and volunteering opportunities. I would also enjoy living in the city, partly because I am from a city myself. However, it is quite big (37K students) compared to the other two. Would the size affect my overall college experience? I’m actually quite social as a person, and I would love to make new friends. I did not get accepted to Temple Honors though (because of some very ridiculous reasons with my grades at school), but I will apply for the program after 1st semester of college if I go there.
Earlham is apparently quite reputed for its Biology and Pre-med programs. It is located in Richmond, IN, a town of roughly 30K citizens. The size of the town is pretty fine, but I am concerned about the volunteering and shadowing opportunities there. Also, the school is a bit too small (1K students); I’m afraid I’ll get bored after a year.
It sounds like you really need to visit each school to get the feel of them, if possible. Or perhaps you can at least talk with students and faculty in the Bio and Pre-med majors/program. Your admissions contact should be pretty receptive to helping you out with that.
Earlham is a better choice than temple non honors. You’ll get better advising - crucial for premeds - and a more rigorous education. It’s also very supportive and professors are terrific, another element that matters to a premed.
If you want a big city, you can try the Philadelphia semester and even add a health related study abroad program .
@MomofM you see, I am an international student, so visiting would not be a very viable choice here @MYOS1634 One thing I’m concerned about Earlham is that because it is in a small city, volunteering (especially in a hospital) and shadowing opportunities would be less available compared to Temple. Do you think volunteering and shadowing will be an issue at Earlham?
Email the biochemistry dept (a major of choice for premeds) : are there volunteering opportunities in town - clinic, Doctors who work with the college’s premeds ? ,hat about emt certification, is it arranged through the College or is there a way to gain it ?
However if you’re an international student it changes things, in that most American med schools simply don’t admit internationals. They train doctors for us practice, although clearly other countries would benefit from our cutting edge knowledge, especially in developing countries.
Do you understand how incredibly difficult it is for an int’l to get accepted to a US MD school? Also…if you were lucky to get in, are your parents prepared to put up $300k+ upfront to the med school?
@MYOS1634@mom2collegekids Although med school admission is tough, it cannot be a reason for me to give up even before I try, right?
Besides, there’s the Duke-NUS Graduate School of Medicine in Singapore, an American style school of medicine which is very fond of students who are from Asia.
Philadelphia is a world-class city for medicine. Earlham is a very good, small, liberal arts college - if that is what you want - but Temple will offer more opportunities. If finances are a concern, choose the less-expensive option: you can satisfy all pre-med requirements at either college, and you want to save as much as possible for medical school.
Philly has so many college students trying to get internships and experiences it could actually be more difficult to arrange something. Why not ask the premed advisor?
You may have opportunities to do research with professors at Earlham.
And please do take @mom2collegekids advice about the difficulty/expense of an international student at US medical schools to heart.
@mom2collegekids yes I do agree that Bio is a risky choice for a major. My goal is med school; but I’ll probably get an MPH if med doesn’t work out for me. Law school is also something I’m looking at. @happy1 The accessibility of Earlham professors is actually one of the things that attract me to Earlham. At Temple, it would probably be harder to get close to a professor.
Please contact Earlham directly. They are well known for the accessibility and helpfulness of faculty. They also have great med school placements. It’s a very friendly place. They can give you info on internships. They have lots of foreign students.
@MYOS1634 Yes, they do accept non-nationals educated in the States. Their criteria are similar to those presented by US Medical Schools.
I plan to major in Bio instead of Biochem because I think I would enjoy Bio more. Also, I struggled quite a bit in the Biochem section of AP Biology, which made me kind of paranoid… I just think that if I’m already struggling with the very basics of Biochem, I would mess up very hard trying to learn the more advanced contents… @gardenstategal Yes, I have already emailed them. Earlham will probably get back to me on Monday.
For the record, you won’t have a choice in avoiding biochemistry . Premed pre-reqs include 2 semesters of biology, 2 semesters of inorganic chemistry, 2 semesters of organic chemistry, 1 semester of biochemistry (+ the rest: English, Sociology, Psychology, Physics).
However, if you find biology more interesting, no problem.
. Premed pre-reqs include 2 semesters of biology, 2 semesters of inorganic chemistry, 2 semesters of organic chemistry, 1 semester of biochemistry (+ the rest: English, Sociology, Psychology, Physics).