My son has been accepted to both UNC Chapel Hill and Davidson College. He plans to study pre-med. UNC gave no financial aid, while Davidson gave enough so that it’s around $2k less per year than UNC. Which school would you attend and why?
Davidson is 24% student athletes. That would be a big turnoff for me.
UNC
@Bigchipper: ^I’ m afraid this is a joke (hipster irony perhaps??), since UNC is famously known for its D1 athletes and athlete-related scandals whereas Davidson is D3 and intramurals.
UNC will be the environment of a large, great public university and great socio-economic diversity. Excellent spectator sports.
Davidson is a top LAC. You’ll have geographical diversity, better resources, a tight-knit community, lots of opportunities to participate in class and in sports.
To state the obvious, these two great schools present very different environments/experiences – a large public v a LAC. The price differential is quite small so I’d let him go to whichever school he prefers.
IMO it is really a matter of personal preference – there is no right or wrong answer. For example my D is a senior at a LAC and absolutely loves it and she got into a top grad school. She thrives on close knit environments, loves the small classes, did research with professors etc. On the other hand we visited a LAC with my older S and he felt that it was too small for him – he had a great experience at a larger school and also got into a fantastic grad program. Bottom line is your S will probably do best in an environment that he feels comfortable with. He has two great options so I’d let him decide which is right for him. If he is unsure try to go back for accepted students day at both schools.
Congrats on your S having two great choices!
Davidson but I’m a fan of small LACs. Smaller classes, greater interaction with profs, more research opportunities.
@MYOS1634, Davidson is D1, not D3. I believe what @MaterS was trying to say is that 24% of the student body being D1 athletes is quite a large percentage, and would likely change the tenor of the school. UNC is nowhere near 24% student athletes. It’s a valid point.
@jcc: thanks, I didn’t realize that. Apologies to OP.
Still… it’s not the athletic powerhouse that is UNC-CH. 
At LACs, sports are mostly participation, not spectator sports, although I suppose it’s like at Lafayette and Colgate, a bit more spectator-sports-focused than most LACs.
First of all, congrats, your son has two great choices. This is tough. I am a huge fan of both schools.
But, if I had to choose, I think I’d lean towards Davidson. Davidson is, in my humble opinion, nearly the perfect school. It is everything you want a school to be except maybe being too small and that is an issue. I think the perfect size is between 9K and 12K or perhaps as big as 15K. As much as I love UNC, I simply think the education you’d get at Davidson would be better. If you can get a Davidson education for the cost, or slightly cheaper, than UNC, you absolutely have to take it. It is a better school and it is cheaper. Best of both worlds. Take it and don’t look back.
The only caveat is if Davidson’s tiny size, it is tiny, it is smaller than small, is a turn off. If it is, go to UNC and don’t look back.
Davidson suffers from Grade Deflation, which could impact your ability to maintain a high GPA.
I’d go UNC.
Good luck deciding!
What GPA does he need to maintain to keep that scholarship?
How big a difference for your family is that $2k each year?
Congrats on both acceptances. Some of the best advice we were given was to pick the school that you can grow into. Smaller schools can be great choices but make sure your not picking it because it feels ‘safe’ in terms of making friends and small classes. If pre-med doesn’t work out for whatever reason does the school offer choices your son might be interested in? How important is life outside the campus to your son- can you see him getting bored with dining and social options. Has your son gone to accepted student visits for either school - it can really help kids make a decision. Best of Luck!
Never heard about Davidson College until this thread. Looked it up. Sounds like it may have students of the same caliber as he could find at your flagship U. Medical schools do pay attention to the caliber of college attended and it looks like this school is academically competitive with the flagship. Therefore it becomes a matter of which school he feels most comfortable with and excited about attending. Which atmosphere does he like most?
Another, huge, factor is that perhaps only around 1 in 3 students who express an interest in medical school will attend one. He needs to figure out possible majors and have a plan B. He should look at the course offerings and requirements for majors of interest to him. Davidson lists premed on its website (an intention, not a major, btw) so consider that there may be many all taking the same science classes and competing to get the A’s. Check to see how many different options there are for various sciences- eg Chemistry. Do all students take the same general chemistry course, or would majors take a different course?
Will the high percentage of competitive athletes appeal to him? Would he become bored with a small campus? Perhaps being able to take a wide variety of classes instead of the standard fare is appealing. Or the chance to experience research and see what grad students do.
My biggest question for him would be what if he changes his plans for medical school? Which school will give him the education he wants for another goal?
It will be interesting for you to discuss the pros and cons he sees with each of the two schools- and to see which he chooses.
Congratulations to your son for two excellent choices.
What does he think? If he hadn’t done an overnight visit, have him visit. What I think doesn’t matter. Just as my child reminded me last year, I’m not the one attending the school. It really comes down to a matter of personal choice and style.
This is like choosing between an excellent Japanese restaurant and an excellent Italian restaurant for dinner. They’re both great choices, but they’re very different.
I would let your son decide. He can’t go wrong.
There few things that are important for the pre-med. The college should match the student as much as possible to decrease the level of adjustment and to insure the highest possible GPA. The other is a good pre-med committee which will make a difference for the medical school application cycle. The third consideration is that college should be as cheap as possible to save the family resources for the medical school. Medical schools do not care much about the name of the UG. The important factors are very high college GPA (3.6+), decent MCAT score and medical ECs. All 3 depend only on a student and not the college that he is attending. The opportunities for the medical ECs are absolutely everywhere, one just needs to make sure to take advantage of them.
I believe that “only around 1 in 3 students” is way overstated. As far as I know only about 15% of initial pre-meds will ever apply to medical school and about 40% fo those who applied will be accepted to at least one. So, it makes it much lower than 1 in 3. My D. is a first year resident and various facts are still fresh in my head, although they change from year to year. But so far the trend has been towards more competition, not the other way.
Thanks for all the replies. My son is pretty torn atm…he realizes the vast differences between the schools and has yet to decide which he prefers. We do have a few more schools to hear back from in the next few days, so I guess that may impact his ultimate decision. I’ve been nudging him towards Davidson, as it’s a bit closer to home and I read that they have an extremely high med school acceptance rate (I want to say somewhere near 90%). Stressful times.
Wait, he still has other schools to hear from? Wait until your son hears from ALL of them, not just two. It’s going to be hard, but for now, just forget about colleges. Enjoy the spring. Spend this little bit of time NOT thinking about colleges.
Another aspect: Many many students start as pre-med…not all finish. If he doesn’t end up in medical school, what opportunities will he have at either school?
Have him go on admitted student’s days.
When you read about 90% med school acceptance rates…make sure to understand what that means.
First there are all the kids who say they are pre-med freshman year.
Then you lose the ones who can’t quite make it though Bio class.
Then you lose the ones who can’t quite makeit through Organic Chemistry.
Then you lose the ones who didn’t do enough volunteering and shadowing.
Then you lose the ones who got terrible scores on their MCATs and didn’t apply.
Then you have what is left that go in front of the Pre-Health Committee to get a letter of recommendation…of those 90% get in.
Be very leery of a school’s posted med school acceptance rate. Schools manipulate med school acceptance rates. This rate certainly does not mean that of the premeds who set foot on campus on day one, 90% were accepted. As referenced above the vast majority of premeds who set foot on campus on day one will never see the inside of a med school and will change career pathways along the way because of poor grades, O-chem, realization that it’ll be at least 11 years (including college, med school, residency) before their MD careers begin, etc. Getting into med school is not because of some magical fairy dust a school possesses but is a result of a student’s individual efforts not so much related to where they graduate from.
Classic excellent big public school vs excellent private LAC choice! I think a good overnight, talking to other students, sitting in on a couple of classes would help.