<p>Hey all. I've been looking at liberal arts colleges and have a couple questions. First off, I'm planning on being pre-med, but I don't know if I want to major in the sciences. My strengths are in the humanities, but I'm interested in neuroscience as well. </p>
<p>Though I know the quality of teaching at LACs is amazing, and that they often have great medical school acceptance rates, I'm wondering how pre-med students at the LACs make up for the lack of medically-related ECs that would otherwise be available at a large school . For example, at Grinnell, how is one supposed to be able to shadow doctors if there isn't a hospital nearby? </p>
<p>Basically, are the pre-med opportunities limited at smaller schools?</p>
<p>Hey, I applied Grinnell ED and possibly interested in Neurosciene, but strengths are in the Humanities aswell. In response to the question of medical ECs...when i visited they told me that there is a lot of research that occurs on campus. Most of the time its one on one work with the prof. I've also heard of people from grinnell, neuroscience majors and others, who do internships their final year at the University of Iowa hospital. Don't know if this helps at all</p>
<p>Kids who major in a diverse range of subjects (or even double major) and then go on to study medicine are a fairly common occurence at Williams. The system is set up to provide support, guidance and internship opportunities. My guess is that other LACs with excellent med school placements offer the same kind of programs.</p>
<p>Thanks guys! I've been looking into grinnell. I'm interested in their pre-med program (though i know it's not a major). One thing about the LACs that worries me is the small size. My brother went to a small LAC (Occidental College) and didn't how the school was quite cliquey, and also the fact that it's a dry campus, so basically all the kids went into their rooms and locked their doors and drank privately. Sad. What scares me most though, is that Occidental gets the same great reviews that Grinnell and the other colleges have, which makes me fear that I could end up going to a small LAC and be disappointed like my brother. Can anyone reassure me? How's the drinking/social scene at the small, isolated LACs?</p>
<p>LAC administrations strive for a certain environment on their campuses, sort of like resorts. You should visit Grinnell, do overnights and visit classes and see if it seems like a good environment to you.</p>