I’m wondering if someone could lend me some advice. I’m applying to college very soon and I’m trying to figure out if a rural setting would be a good fit for me or not. Colleges like Grinnell, Bucknell, Hamilton, Carleton and Swarthmore are all good schools but I don’t know if I would feel claustrophobic at schools with around 2,000-3,000 people that aren’t located near a big city. Are there any questions I should ask myself to narrow this down, I haven’t visited a small (2,000) person school before, so I don’t have perspective on that. Should I just apply to some and then decide once I get in? or is there a better route I should be taking?Also, I’m wanting to go pre-med but I’m worried that rural colleges won’t have the internships and resources that a school near a small or large city would have and I want to give myself the best chance of getting into medical school.
You may want to consider that colleges can be differently rural or small. Farm rural differs from wild, outing-club–type rural, for example. Beyond that, two of your potential choices can be classified as suburban:
Swarthmore offers the variety of consortium options and proximity to Philadelphia.
Hamilton was formerly two colleges of complementary characteristics and attributes and offers curricular range uncommon for its class, as well as access to both nearby suburban amenities and the Adirondacks.
The town of Northfield offers options in its own right.
Generally, aspects of these descriptions should appeal to you. Should they not, you may want to look further.
Regarding pre-med, your listed colleges could be excellent and perhaps ideal.
Only you can determine if you would feel comfortable or claustrophobic at a rural school. So you should visit some to see how you feel. A few other points:
(1) All of the schools that you are concerned with are located in small towns, but some of those small towns are neither rural nor far from a big city (as noted above). For example, Swarthmore PA is a suburb of Philadelphia, and is served by a commuter train line with a station near the college. Clinton NY (Hamilton) is located just outside Utica, which is one of the biggest cities in upstate New York.
(2) Grinnell IA, Lewisburg PA (Bucknell), and Northfield MN (Carleton) are farther from large cities. But all three of those towns are big enough to have hospitals. I expect the local hospitals would be happy to provide opportunities for any local premedical students who wanted to volunteer.
(3) Top liberal arts colleges, like the ones you mentioned, generally have strong medical school placement rates. They typically provide excellent opportunities for undergraduates to participate in biology or chemistry research, which looks great on a med school application. Schools like this don’t have graduate students or post-docs in sciences, so if the faculty need research assistants, they have no choice but to get help from the undergrads.
Carleton is in a smallish town, not too far from the Twin Cities. It didn’t feel rural at all. Swarthmore is in a suburban area. Hamilton is in a rural area, but the campus is sprawling and stunning, so I can’t imagine feeling clastrophobic. Haven’t seen Grinnell.
Thanks for the help here, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for good liberal arts pre-med colleges that aren’t in too rural of an area? thanks
University of Richmond is in suburban Richmond, about 10 minutes from downtown. It has good premed advising and placement, and excellent science programs . Richmond is a great area to live, lots of restaurants, museums, parks, and outdoor activities. It is also has an Amtrak stop a few miles from campus, so easy to travel to DC, NYC, Philly. UR has approximately. 3200 undergrads and a beautiful campus. Each student is guaranteed a $4k stipend for research or internship. I have a D who graduated from UR this year and another who is a junior. They had paid summer internships and have worked in a lab during the school year. They have a very good career services department also.
Tufts! Great pre-med, has a campus (so not an urban school that is fully integrated with the city), on Boston 's doorstep. You might take a look at Union in Schenectady as well. They have a BS/MD option, and while that may or may not appeal to you, it speaks to the opportunities the school can offer.
Small schools are NOT claustrophobic. Back in the day, I attended a small LAC, smaller than my HS. Remember, every year, 25% of the student body graduate and a new group of 25% start. You will not know all your classmates. I am amazed at the number of my classmates who are written about in our class notes in the alum. Magazine, and I dont remember who they are. Many students who attend school in/near a big city still spend much of their time on campus.