<p>I know I've asked this question similar to this quite a few times, but I want to ask again just because I recently got my ACT score, and was trying to re-look at some of my options.</p>
<p>What I like in a college:
-Don't really care about size as long as profs are accessible
-Love sports. Would like to have a good Football and Basketball team. (doesn't have to be like USC or UNC at fball and/or bball, but teams that are at least top 30 or so that don't lose all the time). Division 1 is obviously preferred but a good division 3 works as well
-I'd perfer west coast or southern, but its not THAT big of a deal to me. I'm from the NW so I'm pretty used to cold weather.
-Good science departments especially in BME would be great.
-Not too expensive (unless its private because I know they generally don't go for less than 45k)
-Collaborative Environment...I don't want people telling me how to do things the wrong way just so that they score better than me on a test.
-Would perfer to be close to a big city, but not too picky about it. Also a beautiful campus would be great.</p>
<p>I'm thinking about applying to 8-10 colleges (lower the better) and am certain I will apply to:
-University of Oregon
-University of Washington</p>
<p>I'm strongly considering:
-University of So Cal
-University of Michigan
-University of North Carolina
-Duke University
-Johns Hopkins University
-Northwestern University
-Washington University in St. Louis
-UCLA and UCSD
-Cornell
-University of Virginia
-Georgetown
-Rice</p>
<p>I'm considering
-Stanford University (my dream school but Im not sure I want to waste $80 to get rejected especially since they don't look at frosh year in which I got a 4.0)
-Brown University
-Harvard (hahahahahahahahahahaha)
-Emory
-Notre Dame</p>
<p>Realistically, I think I can only get into UW, UO, and I know I'd be pretty happy at UW (not UO), so its okay to have more reaches than normal, but I'd still like a few (2-3 schools) that I have a chance of getting into</p>
<p>Congratulations on your outstanding achievements!!! In my humble opinion, if you really want to go to medical school I would absolutely lean toward an academically strong smaller liberal arts college. The schools you have listed are excellent if you want to go right out into the job market, or if you want to go on to graduate school or become involved in research. For pre-med, it's my opinion that you cannot beat a small liberal arts college that has a strong track record of success in getting its students into med school</p>
<p>My rationale is this: First of all, you must have a high GPA in order to be admitted to med school. The more "intense" the academic environment you are in at the undergraduate level, the greater the likelihood that your gpa will be lower. If you come out of a "solid" liberal arts college with an impressive GPA, do well on the MCAT's, and have solid extracurriculars, you'll be in good shape.</p>
<p>I have seen too many pre-meds at super-selective colleges fall by the wayside by the end of their freshman year because of the intense competiton and lower-than-expected grades. Simply put, they got discouraged. Of course, this does not always hold true.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I have seen students with similar backgrounds attend small liberal arts colleges, where they are standouts and where they excel. For example: A "nobody" at a super-selective college who just blends in with the crowd, might be a "superstar" at a small liberal arts college, and be asked by a professor to conduct research. It's much easier to build up an impressive resume at a smaller liberal arts college where opportunities abound.</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that medical schools look for a diverse student body when they admit applicants. So, incoming first-year medical schools come from a wide variety of undergraduate colleges.</p>
<p>100% of pre-med students I have known over the years who were "Ivy material" but chose to go to a solid liberal arts college, have gotten into medical school. One girl I know was "Ivy material" but chose to go to a no-name state college. She was accepted at FIVE medical schools and is now a very successful physician.</p>
<p>I think the school you're looking for is called "Davidson."</p>
<ul>
<li>One of the Top LAC</li>
<li>Strong athletics </li>
<li>Great in the sciences</li>
<li>In the South</li>
<li>Great with scholarships if grades are stellar</li>
</ul>
<p>Might want to look at Holy Cross-top30 LAC with strong pre-med program. HC has announced plans for $65 million expansion of its science buildings. HC has one of the best sports programs among selective LAC'S. THE campus is nice with good school spirit and only 1 hour from Boston.</p>
<p>Top LAC I would reccomend. If you are pre med, I would look for a LAC that has some UG research, close ties to faculty, a degree of grade inflation (GPA matters highly for med schools!), and schools that focus on individual attention and teaching.</p>
<p>By BME, do you mean you are looking for a school w/ biomedical engineering program? If so, a few options I would throw out that haven't been mentioned are Case, Tulane, BU, Utah and Pitt (and I second your Vandy addition). Your stats are likely good enough for scholarship $ from all of those as well, with the possible exception of Vandy. Case and BU wouldn't have much in the way of athletics themselves, but are located in major cities with plenty of opportunities for watching pro & other college sports. It looks like you have plenty of choices on the reach to match end, those are a few safer options that might interest you.</p>
<p>Edit: Let me also throw Bucknell into the mix, a smaller school (actually classified as an LAC) with an excellent engineering dept. and pretty good D1 athletics, particularly basketball. They have BME at Bucknell now, and I would imagine the opportunities for research and personal interaction, critical for obtaining recs from profs, are far better than at huge state Unis. Bucknell is super expensive, but your stats are competitive there and you never know with FA awards.</p>
<p>definitely not for everybody but worth considering (if women's basketball is good enough). LACs are great for sure, but going to a public school has the same potential at a considerable decrease in cost. And with your stats you might be able to get a Regents to the lower end UC system, making your overall UG cost ~50k w/o any aid whatsoever. The reason being that whichever med school you go to is what matters; nobody gives a **** where u did your UG.</p>
<p>You would get into the honors program at University of Oregon. UO has one of the best honors programs in the country. I strongly advise you to visit the school. The school is beautiful and Eugene is a great college town. Sports at UO are huge. The basketball team is ranked and the football team has the 9th best recruiting ranking going into next year. Portland is about 2 hours away.</p>
<p>I am from Southern California and will likely attend the school next year.</p>
<p>Small,Southern,beautiful campus,sports are big,nice financial perks in honors program,one of America's oldest colleges,very traditional,three HSC grads became president of Davidson back in the day,Patrick Henry sent six of his sons to HSC,small classes,the new library should be finished this spring</p>
<p>Wisconsin-Madison. Top biosciences programs and sports (football 12-1, bball 24-4 #3, ice hockey NCAA champs last year. Top 5 in number of students sent to med schools. Great town and campus. Not cut-throat.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Collaborative Environment...I don't want people telling me how to do things the wrong way just so that they score better than me on a test.
[/quote]
Get rid of JHU, then. Kids there can be really competitive and not collaboritive, esp. in the sciences.</p>