help me decide! Rice v. Grinnell v. Macalester premed

Hello everyone! I would like to major in either English or Anthropology and pursue a career in medicine. If anyone has any insight into premed acceptance rates, volunteer/research opportunities, how hard it is to obtain a 3.7+ GPA, and the overall experience at these schools, that would be great! Here are some of my current thoughts:

Rice: I have just gotten off their waitlist and have until May 8th to commit. Throughout the process, it has been my first choice (although I never thought it would ever actually be an option). However, there are a few caveats. First of all, I won’t know what my aid package will be until after the deadline due to some complications my family had when filing. I am a bit afraid that I won’t get a good deal since my parents’ salary is over $200,000 (the cutoff for the Rice Investment). Plus, a huge reason why I am even getting aid is because a) my older sister will be a senior in college next year, and b) my father’s salary was lowered significantly last year since he decided to pursue more training (which he has just finished). I am worried that the next three years will cost 70k. Secondly, it is pretty far from where I live (though there is a direct flight).However, given the times, drivability has become a little more important to me.

Macalester: I know they have a lot of nearby opportunities for premed students which is good. Plus, it is a drivable distance from where I live which gives my family less anxiety. We had requested for more aid, and they were able to give us an additional $15,000 per year. This, combined with the $22,000 DeWitt scholarship means I am guaranteed a solid amount of aid every year, which is comforting. The cost of attendance for me would be about $34,500 next year. However, I would like to learn more about the overall student vibe and whether I would fit it. On a darker note, I am concerned about the number of recent suicides that have occurred in a relatively short amount of time. How caring is Macalester, especially in regards to mental illness? Is the campus safe?

Grinnell: From what I can discern, I really love the vibe of the students here! I have already made a friend from the Facebook group who I text/call regularly now. It is also a drivable distance from where I live. Financially, I was able to get enough aid for the first year so that the cost of attendance would be $27,300 at most. However, the only money I am guaranteed to get every year is a $28,000 merit scholarship which means that it might end up costing $44,000+ in subsequent years. I am a bit concerned about the workload. I consistently see Grinnell ranked highly in lists like “colleges where students study the most”. I am not afraid of rigorous academics; however, I am someone who functions very poorly without at least 8.5 hours of sleep per night. I am worried that at Grinnell I will not be able to do so with extracurriculars. Plus, it seems like Grinnell has a lower proportion of students who make the dean’s list when compared to Macalester (both require a GPA>3.75). Why is this?

I’m sorry that this post was so long, thanks for making it through.

I would say Macalaster seems like the best fit for you. The vibe is slightly quirky, academic/intellectual but not overwhelmingly so, and smart nice kids. The campus is extremely safe. I would definitely reach out to your AO and ask more questions about mental health resources/ what the college does to promote good mental health, I’m sure they’d be happy to help! Grinnell is also an excellent choice!

I would not pay 10K more per year for Grinnell over Mac, though I like both schools . I also would worry more about Rice being difficult academically, not Grinnell, which will have a TON of student support.

I never know what to say about student suicides, except that they are very sad situations, and often has more to do with the student and the family much more so than the school. I certainly don’t think of Mac when I think of students being driven to take their own lives because of social or academic pressures. Not an expert at all in the field, so take my opinion FWIW.

Every school will have intelligent, dedicated, goal oriented students, so it’s best to determine cost-medical school is prohibitively expensive-and “fit”, since students do best where they are most comfortable.