Hello! I am happy to say I have come out of this admissions process with a choice to make.
Bowdoin will cost me only about 4k/year and Emory will cost me about 2.5k/year (Including what the college puts for books/personal expenses/transportation) So I am really happy theses schools are affordable. I am probably choosing between them unless by a miracle I get accepted to a few of the ivies I applied to or if anyone can convince me that Macalester (5k/year) , University of Richmond (4k/year), or Emory’s Oxford campus(2k/year) are a better fit for me.
So at Bowdoin I would major in neuroscience and at Emory I would major in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology. I am also looking to minor in Japanese.
I know at Emory I would have more research opportunities but I know they won’t be non-existant at Bowdoin. I talked to a neurophysiology professor at Bowdoin and she said she had freshmen in her lab. While Emory is a relatively smaller school compared to many out there (7k~ undergrad, 7k~grad) Bowdoin is really small with like 1800 and I like how close I could possibly be with the school (Classmates and professors) Conversely, I am afraid that Bowdoin may be too small and maybe Emory is more in that sweet spot? Also, even though Emory may have more research, wouldn’t many of the positions go to Grad students? Ugh when I was deciding on where to apply to I couldn’t decide between LAC and Universities. I was kinda hoping I would just have a clear choice based on where I was accepted at but rip nope I have to make a choice. (Super happy to though!)
One thing I am worried about with Emory is that they only have like a 50~% med school acceptance rate, while Bowdoin is at like 80~%. Also, I know there is a crazy amount of pre-med students at Emory, wouldn’t that make it tougher to get opportunities? Although I heard that few classes at Emory curve (and when they do its usually a curve up?) so it shouldn’t be too competitive right?
Where do students at Bowdoin volunteer at? Is there some hospitals that they usually use near by? I know Brunswick is really small.
I LOVE that Emory is right next door to the CDC and they have a med school on campus and multiple hospitals nearby and a primate center and a biomedical research building. It seems they have so many opportunities, but will I even be able to take advantage of that as an undergraduate? And if Bowdoin students are accepted to med school more do I even need these opportunities?
Also, I have visited Bowdoin (fly-in) but not Emory. I already know I like the Bowdoin campus, people, and classes. While I do kind of wish there was more hub-bub going on on campus, I am still happy with it. But I haven’t visited Emory and I can’t afford to (please don’t suggest that I try to visit campus, it really isn’t an option for me). But I have looked at the virtual tour stuff and it looks really nice!
Also, regarding location, I know Bowdoin is WAY colder and I prefer Emory weather. I am from the Pacific Nort-West so both places are really far. But I have a family friend in Atlanta and a lot of family in Florida close by. But I am kinda hesitant about the political vibe in the south, but I doubt that would be an issue on campus.
Also, If I decide not to pursue med school (Which I know a lot of students change their minds on) I like that Emory has a computational Neuroscience fellowship program that upperclassmen can apply for. I would probably try to go to grad school since you can’t do much with a neuroscience undergrad.
Also, Bowdoin food is really good lol. I heard food at the Duc at Emory is pretty bad. I know this shouldn’t really be a factor, but it’s in my mind lol.
I realize this got pretty long, just trying to lay out my thoughts. Any opinions on where I should go?