Short version: Liberal arts colleges work to educate you in history, literature, writing, art/music, as well as science and math. You then add in your major, such as biology. That is different than an “Arts” school, or “…school of the arts”. They make sure you understand all areas of education a little, with an emphasis on communicating your knowledge through discussion, and writing, which they help you learn (long sentence)
So you are still a sophomore? Best advice I can give you is to study for the PSAT for the fall of your junior year and/or study for the SAT. That is the basis of whether or not you qualify for National Merit scholarships - some schools are very generous if you make NMF.
I will put my opinion on this list. I would first like to mention that I’ve seen some of these schools for my personal college search adventures, and will give advice (I’m also going into pre-med; I live in state of Michigan):
John’s Hopkins - X
Princeton - X
Yale - Y
Northwestern - Y
Matches:
NYU - X
UMich Ann Arbor - Y
UC Berkeley - X
UCLA - X
Safeties:
University of Arizona - X
University of Oregon - X
Rutgers - X
All the “X” I won’t comment on: I don’t know much about these universities. The ones with “Y” I will.
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Yale - didn’t visit university, and hardly looked through their website, but I will probably apply for fun. Based on personal advice, I’ve heard that Yale is more famous for it’s law program and school. Surely, I wouldn’t know much about this since I’m also going into pre-med, and since I haven’t seen Yale (I’ll be applying to Harvard for their medicine program and medical school). However, it IS an Ivy League school, so if you attend an Ivy League school, people will be more willing to accepting your applications for medical school. Lol sorry this advice is dumb, and too lazy to erase haha.
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Northwestern - LOVE THIS SCHOOL. I don’t know if you’ve toured it but ‘omg’ because this campus is GORGEOUS. It is an Ivy League-level school, so their incoming freshman class is a bit bigger than Harvard’s. However, it is a smaller, private school, so there is less options for, example, study abroad and whatnot… and other science classes. Personally, it’s up to you on whether you want to go to a big public university or a small private one. I haven’t heard anything – when I was there for a tour – about their medicine at all whatsoever. I should have asked… but didn’t. Oh well. I do know that they are known for their largest completely student-run Broadway-like performances in their theater program.
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UMICH - “My future University (hopefully)”… Honestly, I love everything about this university. It’s a big one, but it’s most famous for it’s Musical Theater (Fun fact: New York Broadway shows first look at musical theater applicants from UMICH and Cornell before going to any other university applicants!) and it’s pre-med/medical school. I could talk all day about this university. It IS a quite big school, but you are in the drivers seat of your education. It would be prime if you would be “that” student (like me) who would sit in front of the class, go to after-class professor’s office hours, etc. to make your education and learning experience worthwhile. Their program for medicine, however, is truly known across the nation and they are also known by many people, even outside of the state of Michigan.
Remember that private schools will probably – most likely – give more/higher-priced scholarships due to their endowments that they receive, as opposed to public universities. Thus, you don’t want to be in debt during your undergrad years, let alone start medical school with loans that exceed even $10k. You DO want to make a decision that SURELY factors in the costs of attending the school and whatnot.
Sorry haha I don’t know if this reply I made is even useful :))
If you want more info about NW or UMICH let me know in a private message. I got notes of information about each!
Yes you can get a good biology education and degree at a liberal arts college (LAC).
Helpful book to have or borrow for college search. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0804126305/ref=s9_simh_gw_g14_i2_r?ie=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=0FRRDCQ4C6C9FY8H6HDQ&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2437869742&pf_rd_i=desktop
And a good book for you or your parents on how to play the game of college admissions is: http://www.amazon.com/What-Colleges-Dont-Other-Parents/dp/0452288541/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
Here is an excellent description of what a liberal arts college is and how it began in classical times. http://www.topuniversities.com/blog/what-liberal-arts-education
In the same town as Carlton is St. Olaf’s also a good school. In Pennsylvania Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore (Swarthmore tough to get in but great.)