I am a HS junior in CA. After some research, I have a list of LACs that can help me to get into med school on the west coast. But i was not familiar with east coast. Please give me a list(like 10 or so) good LACs that can help me to fulfill my dream!
FYI west coast list(some are not LAC)
Reed College
Pomona College
Pepperdine University
Claremont McKenna
Occidental College
Standford
UC’s–SD,LA,Berkeley,Irvine
*by “Standford” i meant Stanford
Muhlenberg, Franklin & Marshall, Bucknell, Bates, Colgate, Hamilton, Amherst.
Williams, College of the Holy Cross, Muhlenberg
Lewis and Clark, Whitman, Willamette
Holy Cross
Kenyon
Your original list goes not make a lot of sense. The same student is highly unlikely to be happy at Reed, and also st Pepperdine or CMC. You can get to med school from any school ranked in the top 60 or so among LACs. And with no stats to work with, we might as well just list all 60…
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges
The location of each college is indicated directly under the school name in the above list.
Many of the top 50 are in New England or the mid-Atlantic states.
Virtually all of those 50 (and more) are good LACs that could help you get into med school. That is, they offer all the pre-med courses you’d need, plus advising services, which is nearly all any college can do for you. You have to do the rest for yourself.
As others have said, any of the top 50+ LACs will do a good job of preparing you for med school. More important is the fit since small schools have distinct cultures (Reed AND Pepperdine? Really?) The real considerations are 1) avoiding debt because med school is expensive 2) finding a place that you are reasonably sure of being in the top 25% of your class academically (because your GPA is paramount) and 3) finding a place where you are happy because only 20% or so of the kids who start out as pre-med end up applying to med school. If you aren’t part of the 20%, are you going to be satisfied with your choice?
If you want suggestions that might meet the ‘fit’ criteria, spend some additional time thinking about the kind of culture that brings out the best in you academically and socially, then come back here for recs. By fit I mean where are you on the political spectrum, urban/suburban/college town, artsy/intellectual/granola/jock/frat/preppy/religious/quirky (name your adjectives of choice), etc…how about single sex colleges, geographic pref (weather?), any unusual ECs that matter a lot?
<<<< I have a list of LACs that can help me to get into med school on the west coast. >>>>
Undergrads don’t “help you get into med school.” Any decent school provides adequate premed prereqs. Getting into med school is up to you.
I wouldn’t count on getting into a West Coast med school. Be open to any US med school.
Any good school can prepared you well for med school. Some east coast LACs I might look into would be Lafayette, Bucknell, Union, Franklin & Marshall. I visited these schools in my D’s college hunt and felt that these were the more “STEM oriented” LACs of the schools we saw. I’m sure there are many other LACs that would be excellent as well.
Colleges that are good for premeds include Dickinson and St Olaf.
Reed and Pepperdine, really? How much have you actually researched the school on your list?
And do you realize that CMC is mostly Finance, Economics, Political Science…?
Thanks for all the replies!!!
I had to admit that i did relatively little research on my school list.
I initially post this question just to plan college visits…now the answers seem somewhat helpful(more college research, i think)
Basically,any top 50 LAC with pre-med would (most likely) help me do so, right?
Also, can anyone help me calculate my rough chance of getting into top 50 LACs for pre-med? really appreciate that
SAT 2210(R670+M800+W740)
SAT II Math2 800;Chem 800
ACT 33(E31,M35,R30,S35)
GPA(u/w):3.94;GPA(w):4.42 8 APs in soph+junior year combined
Asian; NOT a native English speaker(but a US citizen, lol)
Vice president of Chemistry club at school. Nationalist for Chem Olympiad (did not make into honors list, so probably wasn’t an unusual EC)
300+ Community service hours(150+ in library;100+ in hospital) and President of a community service club.
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Basically,any top 50 LAC with pre-med would (most likely) help me do so, right?
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Basically any LAC would be fine…ANY…top 100…top 200…top anything.
I don’t think you understand. There is no such thing as “with premed.” Premed courses are just REGULAR bio, chem, physics and math classes that other bio majors, chem majors, math majors and physics majors are taking. There is no “with premed.” It’s just regular classes. Nothing unique.
thanks for the clarification( which shows that i have no idea about college,courses or major…)
With those stats you’re likely to get into any of the top-50 LACs except the most selective (ie, under 25% acceptance rate), and you’d even have a shot at those.
OK, I think that it has been well established that any good LAC (probably you could go as deep as top 100) will provide you with the education you need to go to med school. The same could probably be said of any quality state university - flagship in most states, multiple options in CA.
The other posters have been trying to get you to think about the kind of undergraduate experience you want. Can you narrow your search parameters. For example, do you care about urban/suburban/rural, size of college, location, weather, vibe (nerdy/hipster/preppy/party), availability of internships and research opportunities, etc.
Most importantly, what are your parents willing to pay? Will you need merit scholarships? Do they qualify for need-based aid? Have you run any cost calculators to see if there is a discrepancy between what your parents’ EFC is and what they are willing to provide?
Your high stats will give you lots of options. If you can answer some of the questions I’ve outlined above, people will be able to help you in a more targeted way.
Mamaedemafia
I can strive in virtually any environment, as i have experience many different environment as a teenager.( elementary school in canada. MS in shanghai,china. HS in CA. )
But if the college has a more “nerdy” environment(i dont like party schools) yet the school is not extremely competitive, I would fit best in that. No preference on size or location.
My family income is lower than 40k/year, which should qualify me for many scholarships in colleges.
Take a look at Grinnell, a top 20 LAC with especially strong sciences, generous financial and merit aid and a supportive, non-competitive environment for pre-meds. In some parts of the midwest (Grinnell is in Iowa), Asians are URMs which also helps your application. The vibe is hardworking and quirky and the facility are palatial. But it is in a small town an hour from both Des Moines and Iowa City - nothing urban or suburban about it.
I suggested the top 50 LACs not because the top 100 won’t prepare you for medical school, but because only 20% or so of the students who start out pre-med, end up applying to med school. You want to choose a schools that will make you happy in case you decide med school isn’t in the cards after your first year or so. The top 50 (a random cut-off, I admit) have at least regional - and usually some national - name recognition at other grad schools (and some are as well known and respected as HYPMS). But not every top 50 (or 100) LAC is a good fit. You need to figure that part out for yourself.