<p>@Bamboolong I actually did not know that Emory had a pre-med major! Just goes to show how much I know about the college search, hm? 
I’m thinking that if I don’t get into a BS/MD program, I’m going to go the traditional track and do biology with either a psychology double major or minor. Hope they don’t weed me out still…</p>
<p>I actually skipped out on looking at liberals arts colleges completely. I guess I kind of assumed they didn’t offer merit scholarships at all because they’re such small, private colleges. I’ll look in Bryn Mawr, but is there a difference between a liberal arts pre-med education and a non-lib arts? (okay that question sounded really dumb but eh)</p>
<p>Pre-med is not a major in any school. The school will offer advising for the pre-med students (those who want to go to medical school) on what courses to take etc. </p>
<p>You will find a lot of pre-med students at any college, including the LACs. Some students prefer the LAC learning environment (smaller class, close contact with professors and peers). Many selective LACs have very good placement for medical schools though grade inflation never exists in those schools. Rhodes College is also a good choice for pre-med, close to St. Jude. It offers big scholarships/fellowships (<a href=“http://www.rhodes.edu/finaid/455.asp”>http://www.rhodes.edu/finaid/455.asp</a>). The top-ranked LACs will meet financial need but hardly offer merit scholarships, but many good LACs do offer merit scholarships. However, most of them are not in the city, except a few like Macalester and Rhodes.</p>
<p>There is no disadvantage for LAC’s pre-med education since all the required courses for pre-med are available in LACs. Some think LAC pre-med education even has advantages over the pre-med at the big universities in terms of research opportunities, quality of learning, strong LORs (the professors know the student better), etc. It’s all up personal preferences/priorities when you choose what kind of college to attend. </p>
<p>I know a Northwestern graduate who is studying in the so-called 2nd or 3rd tier medical school and a LAC graduate studying in the medical school of Northwestern. Both are doing well. Well, the parent who paid the full price for Northwestern chose to send the younger sibling to the state school even though they can afford any private one plus medical school. There must be a reason behind it (both siblings are top students). I also know a few other medical school students who attended not-so-famous undergraduate schools but now are working at places like Duke, Harvard, Yale as doctors/professors after attending their state medical schools. </p>