Would attending a liberal arts undergraduate college have a negative effect on getting into medical school or employability? I have heard that many people shy away from liberal arts colleges because they do not prepare students for employment and their degrees are worthless.
No. What you’ve heard is nonsense.
Agree it is nonsense. Many LACs have excellent med school and career placement. Are there particular LACs you are considering?
Ummm, maybe because some of the smartest people on the planet think it’s a good path - http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/26/4-things-to-study-if-you-want-a-high-paying-job-in-the-future.html
Every top LAC helps students with pre-professional planning if that’s a path the student wants to take; the good news is that they have enough people to provide personal attention - here’s one example - https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/study-what-you-love/advising/preprofessional-advising
Depends on the specific college (LAC or otherwise). For employability, your major may be more significant in terms of what major-related job prospects you may find, regardless of college (with the exception of some jobs which are major-agnostic but heavily focused on college prestige in recruiting).
When publications review colleges LACs often rate highly. Note that, in this example from Forbes, 5 of the 10 schools are LACs:
10 Expensive Colleges Worth Every Penny
- Amherst
- Dartmouth
- Williams
- UChicago
- Tufts
- Colgate
- UPenn
- Columbia
- Hamilton
- Vassar
https://m.forbes.com/sites/nataliesportelli/2017/04/26/10-expensive-colleges-worth-every-penny-2017/?c=1&s=OnCampus
However, if for whatever reason you are disinclined toward the LAC experience, you could nonetheless reach your goals from any number of larger institutions.
My kiddo graduated from an LAC and got accepted to 9 med schools, so no problem there.
@xxluvforeverxx As much as I’d like to promote the Forbes ranking because I’m a fan of many of the colleges, it should be noted that the ranking is #4 on the questionable list.
http://www.smithgroupjjrblog.com/the-five-most-questionable-college-and-university-rankings-of-2015-that-arent-u-s-news-and-world-reports/
Definitely not true. Many LACs have high medical school acceptance rates due to small class sizes, one-on-one mentoring, clinical preceptorships, research, etc.
What are your stats and what LACs are you thinking of?
Do people really spout this nonsense or is this a troll?
My nephew is a doctor. He went to Williams. Two of D1’s HS classmates are now doctors; they went to St. Olaf and Carleton. What you heard is BS. In fact, a LAC may be better for some students. They are less likely to have “weeder” classes for the pre-med prerequisites, and you may be able to get more personal help with coursework with fewer students vying for the professor’s attention.
My nephew is a doctor. He went to Williams. Two of D1’s HS classmates are now doctors; they went to St. Olaf and Carleton. What you heard is BS. In fact, a LAC may be better for some students. They are less likely to have “weeder” classes for the pre-med prerequisites, and you may be able to get more personal help with coursework with fewer students vying for the professor’s attention.
^^ Agree with intparent. My DS walked away from the Ivy League for Williams – a small elite LAC few know. And it was the right choice for him. While, yes, I am biased, my sense is that the American model of the small liberal arts college offers – generally speaking – the best undergraduate education on the planet. Small classes. Student focused. Talented teachers. Emphasis on writing, thinking, and speaking. Broad curricula.
For premed, probably better in lac. Too much competitions in top universities. Some times, even at State schools due to weed out classes.