How do I Find out which school has the best opportunities and research

College Search & Selection
1

My daughter has a few good choices for school. She wants to do pre-med so going in as either human sciences or biology. Where do I even start. Money is a big factor but wondering if the extra $5k for a certain school would be worth in the long run. So far these are her choices. Still waiting for a few. The top two are the best fits financially.

Monmouth University
University of Scranton
Quinnipiac
University of New Hampshire
UCONN
Seton Hall
NCState
University of South Carolina

2

This database may help you
https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=rankingBySource&ds=herd

3

She should look at the websites, and follow the links to the specific professors. What are they up to? Is it interesting to her? How recently have they published?

She also should contact the departments and ask what undergraduates need to do to join research teams.

4

Any college in the country offers the lower-division science and math needed by premeds. Whether a kid works for good grades, get to know some profs so they get strong recs, take part in appropriate ECs, and develop compelling essays is up to them. There are some things kids need to do outside of class to be a strong candidate, exposure to health care thru paid/volunteer work is one of them and for the past few decades research is not. This info is readily available on websites such as https://www.rhodes.edu/sites/default/files/PreMed_Essentials.pdf and in books on premed, no need to look for schools where the advisors know the “secrets”.

So where I suggest to start is working with her to explore why she has decided on becoming a doctor.

When a lot of HS kids think of a career in medicine it becomes “I’m pre-med!” and happily embark on a track that will take 11+ years of school/training plus enormous debt. Doctors are far from the only ones in the health field that help people. Physical therapists, radiology techs, nurses, speech pathologists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, to name but just a few. as you can see on http://explorehealthcareers.org Unless she’s carefully considered the alternatives and have spent time actually working in a health care setting it’s better to think of her as interested in exploring a career as a doctor rather than someone who has already made the decision.