<p>Hello CC Community!
I looking for Liberal Arts colleges with the following criteria:
• Good Pre-Med program w/ advising
• Large city for lots of opportunities in research and volunteering - possibility a medical school nearby.
• College that will allow for a high GPA (no grade deflation/extremely strict grading)
• Good college towns. </p>
<p>I've looked into the college of Swarthmore and Haverford so far and have been told that their pre-med programs are pretty good. I've been on multiple threads already with posters saying that any top 50 LAC is fine. </p>
<p>Does anyone have any suggestions or go against my criteria?
I plan to major in a science with either a single or dual minor.
Mainly looking for comments from alumni, fathers, mothers, or current students of LACs. </p>
<p>Also, does anyone recommend a regular public/private university over a LAC? Thanks in advance! </p>
<p>@jkeil911, Here are a few of my stats.
31 ACT w/ 12 essay (Planning on retaking in Sept)
730 Math II and Chem on the SAT IIs. (Retaking)
VP FCCLA, Student Senate, and Medical Club.
Secretary of American Cancer Society Youth Ambassadors at HS
Over 600 Volunteer hours at a local hospital.
NHS member
4.45 weighted/3.97 Unweighted
Ranked 3 out of a class of nearly 300.
4 Year Varsity Swimming at HS.
Junior Year - All Ohioan for swimming.</p>
<p>I like the strategy of going after the meets-need schools. Some like Swat, Bowdoin, Amherst, Pomona, Vandy, WashU might be out of your reach these days, but check them out nonetheless. There are still a bunch of meets needs that you will have a good chance at: BC, Carroll, Holy Cross, Haverford, Mount Holyoke, Occidental, Oberlin, URichmond, Trinity C, Washington & Lee, and so forth.</p>
<p>Another upside is that med schools don’t care where you go to school, so if you don’t pull that ACT up your only real worry is whether or not you can afford a school. </p>
<p>You also could consider a moderately expensive medium size school that will reward you for your rank and GPA. Pitt comes to mind. Good in STEM, has a hospital, lots of research opps, honors program, generous. OR a medium size very expensive school like Tulane that has a lot of money and might be affordable to your family.</p>
<p>Run the net price calculators on these schools and see if your parents think they are affordable. If you bring up the ACT to a 33, all the better for money.</p>
<p>@jkeil911, Thank you for kind the reply. The schools of Swat, Amherst, Bowdoin, etc meet 100 of demonstrated need though. Do you mean out of my reach financially or academically? I will definitely check out the other schools you mentioned though. </p>
<p>Take a look at Davidson, which is pretty strong in the sciences and offers a terrific education. It meets full need and was the first LAC to eliminate loans for all students. Though not actually in a city, it is quite close to Charlotte (certainly a lot closer to a city than most of the schools above). Davidson is a small but lovely college town, and the locals absolutely love Davidson students (e.g. they’ve baked them cookies for finals week). </p>
<p>Rhodes would also be worth a look. Many pre-meds there volunteer at St. Jude. If you get the ACT up a bit, you’d have a great shot at a merit scholarship. </p>
<p>Loan-free colleges might be a place to start since you’re low income. Given the cost of med school, it’s wise to graduate college with little debt.</p>
<p>@warblersrule, Thank you! I did sign up for Questbridge but never got around to using it.
I will consider the colleges you have suggested.
I actually heard about Rhodes from another post and I will look into it as well as the other school you have been kind enough to suggest (Davidson).
Thank you for considering my financial limit too! I appreciate it! Take care.</p>
<p>Although it is a good strategy in theory to only consider “meets 100% need”, you need to understand that how colleges calculate your need AND how they meet it is extremely variable. Some are definitely more generous than others, some include significant loans for students and parents, etc. My D only applied to schools that “meet 100% need” and her packages (for the non-scholarship granting schools) varied by as much as 20K/year when we took loans into account. The calculation for each school definitely varies from student to student as well. Be sure you run the NPC and discuss the results with your parents but realize that they are not 100% accurate. Apply to enough schools that you have a financial choice as well as an academic choice. (By the way, the best package D received for a “meets full need” school not including merit scholarships was from Pomona.) </p>
<p>Well you want to be in an urban (or near-urban suburban) setting. So that rules out a lot of LACs.</p>
<p>Obviously you want to look for strong programs in Biology and Chemistry. Many schools offer strength in both.</p>
<p>Here are some ideas you might not have considered:</p>
<p>Macalester – in St. Paul, part of the Twin Cities. U of Minnesota and U of Wisconsin med schools are close by. Chicago and Iowa City are also nearby. Mayo Clinic is in Minnesota.</p>
<p>Carleton & St. Olaf – Both are 20-30 minutes from the Twin Cities. Carleton is generally considered to be a top-10 LAC.</p>
<p>Holy Cross – in the Boston area. Tons of med schools in the area.</p>
<p>I meant academically, OP. SAB might as well be ivies, regardless of their middle 50s. They’re looking for ECs of very high quality much of the time. As far as location goes, you can find volunteer opportunities anywhere without having to get in a car or on a bus. Research opps are not dependent on location but on school.</p>
<p>@Bamboolong, Thank you for your comment! I am actually a male so Bryn Mawr is out the question. It’s a great school nonetheless. I actually want to go out of state so I probably won’t bother looking at regional campuses/considering them for reach schools. Thank you though! In addition, I have heard great things about Rhodes. It’s rank being 54 - is that a bad thing? I know numerous factors go into rankings, etc and I’ve been told that med schools don’t really care which undergrad you go to, however, will that relatively low rank of 54 harm me? Should I not worry as it Rhodes will still provide excellent opportunities? I’m just a little skeptical. I might have just been looking at top schools my whole life and never bothered to see the smaller schools. </p>
<p>@upforfun, Thank you very much for this warning. I will be sure to do this for my top schools. I’ve heard great things about Pomona including its rank. Do you or your daughter have good things to say about it personally including opportunities, faculty, classroom aid, etc? Any first hand experience would be great! </p>
<p>@prezbucky, Thank you. Yes, my urban/suburban need does eliminate a lot of choices. I will check out your recommendations. I might have to dig deeper in to Occidental. I’m a big fan of Cali. jkeil911, however, might be right as opportunities are dependent on school rather than location. I guess I have to reformat my searching! </p>
<p>@jkeil911, Thank you for this. This is clear things up. I guess it’s still worth a shot to apply to some top liberal arts. My friend does keep telling me the schools of Williams and Amherst are up there with Ivies… Are tehre any ways to strengthen my resume to a point where I can match with schools like Haverford and Swarthmore? I’m a rising senior so it might be too late besides improving test scores. Thanks a lot though! :)</p>
<p>@ormdad, Thank you for that. I am trying to avoid in state schools. I really have a drive for adventure! Isn’t Kenyon known for a swimming school? I know it might be Division III. Can you explain how my EC as a swimmer will be useless to specific schools? Is it because their swim programs are not good, or…? That would be great if you could clear it up! THANKS! </p>
<p>@Kokko2k15 yes they are D3 but they win nationals every year. Like every year for the past 31 years. So they are good. In fact their best swimmers post times faster than many swimmers’ times on top D1 teams. Kenyon recruits and while there are not “official” scholarships they figure out how to make sure their recruits can afford the school.</p>
<p>So I guess I was just saying that while you sound like you are a great swimmer (and it qualifies as a great EC) it might not pull weight at Kenyon unless you are strong enough to be recruited.</p>
<p>However, looking at your stats, you are a decent match academically and it is a 100% need met school. And they seem to have a strong pre med program so I would give it a look, and forget about the swimming aspect.</p>
<p>Rhodes College in Memphis, TN! Known for a great premed program and internships with St. Jude! Definitely look into not to mention beautiful campus!</p>
<p>@ormdad, Thank you. I understand what you’re saying now. However, I never dove too deeply into Kenyon. The various schools in Ohio (my home state) are great, but I seem to rather want to leave my state haha… Thank you for the input though! </p>
<p>@dancinglawyer, Quite a few people are telling my Rhodes! Thanks! I will consider it! I see that you’re a New Member! Welcome to CC! I hope you have a great time. Continue to help people like you’ve done here Take care. </p>
<p>Might look at Holy Cross-top25 LAC with great pre-med program and HC meets 100% of demonstrated financial aid. HC has fantastic medical alumni network, Nobel Prize winner, med school deans etc.</p>
jkeil911, however, might be right as opportunities are dependent on school rather than location. I guess I have to reformat my searching! </p>
Are tehre any ways to strengthen my resume to a point where I can match with schools like Haverford and Swarthmore? I’m a rising senior so it might be too late besides improving test scores. Thanks a lot though! :)</p>