<p>I want to become a physician, so I'm wondering if a liberal arts college is right for me? Or is it better to stick to a university?</p>
<p>Either one, a LAC or a university, can help you prepare for medical school.</p>
<p>LAC graduates tend to have very good rates of acceptances into med, law, and grad school.</p>
<p>In my state the LACs have higher med school acceptance rates than the better known research U’s. This has been the case going back a few decades. Of course, this might reflect the kind of kid choosing an LAC rather than something that they got from the LAC. Having said that, I did get a lot from my LAC including small classes and Socratic & hands-on learning rather zone-out lectures in an auditorium.</p>
<p>Look up the numbers yourself for the schools you are considering and when you visit the schools corner some students and ask them how they judge the quality of undergraduate teaching at that school.</p>
<p>Liberal arts colleges are wonderful . . . but your priority should be to go to whatever school you can that will permit you to graduate (and start med school) with ZERO debt!</p>
<p>lac’s are a more supportive way to go! are their some jerks @lac’s sure…some lousy proffesors sure… some awesome people and proff. at even the biggest state schools …for sure! but I like to play the odds …and lac’s come out on top!</p>
<p>Holy Cross a top LAC has a fantastic med school acceptance rate.</p>
<p>^HC also expensive depending on your financials. Agree with aiming for the least debt situation.</p>
<p>thanks. what do you guys think of Bowdoin? Any of you know anything about it?</p>
<p>LAC’s are definitely fine! Pomona’s GREAT for pre-med students! Their med-school acceptance rate is above 90%, AND I believe 89?% get into their top choice med school, which is really great.</p>
<p>As for Bowdoin, I don’t know much about them (other than the fact that their dining is supposed to be amazing xD), but their med school acceptance rate is the 80%'s, which is good… Someone else can handle that question better though. =p</p>
<p>People who study these things generally warn to be suspicious of schools that brag about their med school acceptance rates. That’s because there are so many variables. I’m taking the liberty of copying a post by WayOutWestMom</p>
<p>"There are no published data on med school admission rates from various colleges. Any data a college or university might post to their website is pretty meaningless since there are so many different ways to calculate acceptance rates.</p>
<p>For example, do they count only MD admissions? Or do the numbers include students who matriculate at DO, Carribbean medical program and other foreign medical schools? </p>
<p>Do the numbers include only seniors who matriculate directly into med school from undergrad (i.e. applying after their junior year of college) or does the number include alumni as well? (Some schools count alumni in their stats who have graduated in the 5+ years prior to med school matriculation.)</p>
<p>Does the school use a committee letter process which prevents weaker applicants from getting their school’s endorsement and receiving the necessary LORs required for med school application?</p>
<p>Does the school restrict access to “pre-med” track classes to only the students who achieve certain academic benchmarks?</p>
<p>How does the college or university track the rates of acceptance? Do students voluntarily report application and acceptances or does the school have a formal tracking process in place?</p>
<p>Use huge caution when looking at any school which claims a very high acceptance rate. There are so many ways to massage the data–and there are no objective checks on their claims. As always GIGO applies."</p>
<p>See rest of the discussion here:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1371729-med-school.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1371729-med-school.html</a></p>
<p>Bottom line: pick a school where you feel you can succeed. But whether that’s an LAC or a big public is an individual decision.</p>