<p>hey guys, i have a list of the following colleges that i want to apply to. i want to do premed, and ive read through many parts of the forum about how i should pick a college that would maximize my chances of getting into med school, but i find it really hard to find specifics on some colleges on my list. therefore im turning you all to help me narrow my list. i need to eliminate 4 or 5:</p>
<p>WashU
Brown
Rice
UPenn
Northwestern
Emory
Duke
Cornell
Dartmouth
Middlebury
Amherst
Williams</p>
<p>how do these colleges compare in terms of premed and the percentage of their students that get into med schools? any comments are appreciated. much thanks.</p>
<p>you should post your stats so we know your chances of getting into those schools. </p>
<p>regardless of your stats, NONE of those schools (except maybe middlebury and emory) are really safeties for anyone...don't assume ud get into any of them...</p>
<p>in terms of premed, most top schools are going to be fine. it seems like some schools have premed programs that stand out above the rest, but you'll really get a good premed education at any top college; it all comes down to how well you work with the subject matter and, especially, how well you prepare yourself for the mcats. I think you have to do outside classes/tutoring for the mcat anyway, so its not like, say, Cornell, teaches you how to get a perfect score.</p>
<p>SAT: 1510-2240 (M: 790, V: 720, W:730)
SAT IIs: US Hist-730, Math 2C-680 (yea im retaking that, i kinda messed up that test...)
ACT: 32 (11/12 on writing)
PSAT: National Merit Semifinalist</p>
<p>my leadership and EC's are pretty good. nothing fabulous, but debate is my biggest ec, although i know it is common for applicants to top schools.</p>
<p>I personally applied to 11 universities. What's wrong with that? Looks like a great deal of your colleges use the common app anyhow. Although I know Duke, Northwestern, and Rice have two suppl essays each. Btw it looks like the vast majority of colleges on your list are reaches. You have great stats and you look very competitive at all the schools you've listed, but at a the top level it can sometimes be a cr*pshoot. Anyhow, I know that Rice, Duke, and Northwestern all have great med placement, but I haven't researched the other schools in great depth. Rice also has the Baylor program (although super highly competitive) that guarantees med school placement. You might want to check it out.</p>
<p>Np88, At most of these schools there is no premed program per se. Unless you're in a specific medical school track program, like Brown's PLME, you will major in whatever is of interest to you. What will get you into medical school will be your grades, your scores, your internship experience and most importantly your recommendations. </p>
<p>So what you need to focus on is not which schools are best in general, but whioh schools FIT YOU. I.e., your chances of success are best at the school that suits your academic and social needs. </p>
<p>These are all great schools and all have a high success rate of placing their kids in professional and graduate schools. Most will look very critically at the whole person -- your Essays, ECs and recommendations will be VERY important. Your grades, scores and rank will get your foot in the door, but your intangibles will be what gets you in.</p>
<p>If debate is your main accomplishment then you should be thinking about how to best present what you've done and how you can contribute to the campus community. I'm sure you're being modest but this is not the time for understatement. </p>
<p>im not looking to in depth into combined programs because theyre way too competitive.</p>
<p>i do, however, have 3 safeties. St. Louis U, Mizzou, and University of Missouri Kansas City 6-year med program (i live in missouri). Also, SLU and MU have scholars programs with guaranteed acceptance into med school. </p>
<p>peter, i have other colleges on my list that i know for sure im applying to, and thats why i didnt post them. so thats why im in a position with 16 or 17 colleges and i really need to eliminate some of the ones i posted above.</p>
<p>momrath, i have taken a lot of time thinking about what i want to convey about myself to colleges, which im hoping i can do via my recs, essay, and interviews. im fairly confident about my ability to do that, and thats why i have so many reach schools on my list. however, as you can see i have a bit too many, and thats why im looking for whatever info you guys can give me.</p>
<p>oh and btw, i hope im not coming off as a jerk or anything. i really appreciate your guys taking the time to comment. but if you have any more info or any way to help me eliminate some of those colleges please do share.</p>
<p>NP88, My personal feeling is that it's okay to have more rather than fewer reach schools as admissionscan be unpredictable. As long as 1. you are sincerely satisfied with your safeties (meaning that you wouldn't be severely disappointed if you ended up there) and 2. You have the energy to submit thorough applications, then I would say that having 12 reaches is an acceptable strategy.</p>
<p>Your list seems to have a reasonable degree of coherence -- there's nothing that sticks out as out of place in that group.</p>
<p>I'm sure you'd knock out a few if you were to visit them all. Is that possible?</p>
<p>WashU and Emory are both excellent at premed, enormous research opportunities, happy students, etc. You could say that these 2 "specialize" in premed.</p>
<p>Brown, Northwestern, Duke, Dartmouth are great schools with happy students without premed emphasis.</p>
<p>LACs in general typically will not have as many research opportunities, but you will get great education there anyway (Middlebury, Amherst, Williams).</p>
<p>Cornell, UPenn, Rice - I would be somewhat concerned about from grade deflation perspective - though these are great schools</p>
<p>How is Amherst/Williams redundant? That is assuming the OP will be accepted to both schools, firstly, but they're entirely different schools. It is no more redundant than Dartmouth/Williams. Perhaps the fact that the OP listed so many LAC-like schools means that they are genuinely attracted to LAC environments and ought to keep BOTH. </p>
<p>OP, it will come down to personal preference. Bigger school/smaller school, New England/Texas/Midwest, etc. Only you can decide which of these things you want.</p>
<p>It's actually GOOD to apply to redundant schools as reaches, if that is the type of school you are looking for. It increases your chances of getting into one of them. I mean what's the advantage of applying to a wide variety of schools if you already have a decent idea of what type you want?</p>