Hey! I was just wondering if anyone could give me some insight on the pre med programs at these three schools? How cut throat are the programs/How good are their advising committees/Medical school acceptance rates, etc. I’ve been accepted to all three and I’m trying to make a decision. For me, Muhlenberg would cost around 15,000/yr while Lafayette and BC would both be around 25,000/yr. Are Lafayette and BC worth the extra expense or is the pre med program at Muhlenberg at the same level as the other two? Any advice would be appreciated.
Muhlenberg has a very strong pre med program and high acceptance rate to med schools. Part of it is because it does weed out weaker performers early. They also have 4-4 programs with Drexel and Temple. For pre med, Muhlenberg is the better choice and stronger program vs Lafayette.
Muhlenberg appears on an online list, “The Experts’ Choice: Colleges with Great Pre-med Programs,” should this be of interest to you.
I would not put all that much weight on the acceptance % to med schools without finding out the following:
—How many students drop pre-med while in the college (ex. weed out %).
–Does the acceptance % reflect all students who apply or just those students whose application is supported by teh college?
–Can students at the college apply to med school without the support of the college?
We looked at Muhlenberg and Lafayette (not BC). For full disclosure my D is a senior at Lafayette and absolutely loves the school. She is not pre-med but has taken I think 6 science courses. She has done a lot of research in her major with professors (even stayed on campus for 2 summers) and I think that helped her when it came to grad school applications. Lafayette is fairly STEM oriented especially since it has an engineering program.
My D was not excited by by our visit to Muhlenberg – we did have a lousy tour and the science facilities the guide grudgingly showed her were not as nice as her HS – but there could certainly be other facilities that we did not see. I thought Muhlenberg was fine but there were enough schools that my D liked that it was not worth fighting to keep any one school on her list. Anyway, I know Muhlenberg has a good reputation in the sciences
BC is a Jesuit school with I’m guessing a big liberal arts core curriculum that may or may not appeal to your D. BC also has big time sports, a larger student body etc.
I might try to re-visit the three schools for accepted student day and (assuming they are all affordable) let your D choose. If you want to save the $10K/year for medical school that would be a reasonable consideration as well.