You have Pitt and Temple in the bag. Why ED anywhere else? Would any school you ED be an upgrade? Just RD any other schools.
Temple honors has their own new dorm. Honors can make a large school seem smaller.
Drexel, Syracuse, and Lafayette? Maybe Richmond. It probably would be a reach.
I don’t have the same experience that you do and agree that students can get discouraged in a school where they may be overmatched or even not at the top end of the class. However, it is more specifically with Pitt where I think the OPs stats put him at the top 25% for SAT and GPA for the Dietrich School, assuming his major.
Also especially with Med School as a goal I can see how being in the top 10-25% entering is good advice. The suggestions of La Salle and WJ put this student at the top 2-5% of the class entering according to the info I can find. Is there a point when it’s not in the best interest of a student to be under-matched?
There have been a couple who wistfully wished they had gone elsewhere and it’s usually due to the lack of research options available to them where they went. They chose where they went due to wanting to become doctors and are (very happily) doctors now, so it could be a trade off, for sure. The other “good” point for them is they have less debt (often none) prior to med school than if they had chosen a higher level school (families paid less as well). The two I’m thinking of had Case Western and Pitt as their “2nd choice” options.
Pitt is common to choose for pre-meds, so not a bad choice, but I’ve seen kids feel behind there too. My current resident had Pitt as his 2nd choice school (chose higher) and his stats were a bit above the OP’s. Because Pitt is often a safety for high stat kids (many of whom end up choosing them for their first choice), Pre-Med is quite competitive there.
It’s not a bad choice, just beware of the competition and fill in educational gaps quickly if one goes there.
I warn pre-meds now about my theory so if they feel overwhelmed they realize they’re just as smart, only having gaps to fill. Some have come back to thank me. It’s why I put my thoughts on here so readers can also consider their options.
Just throwing University of Scranton out there. My coworkers son turned down Cornell for UofS presidential scholarship and was accepted to a few med schools including Johns Hopkins but chose to go to one of the ones in Philly (Temple?IDK). He was impressed with the education offered and easy access to research and medical facilities. His wife also graduated from there and went the PHD/MD route also in Philly. Worth looking into. Save your money for med school, it’s expensive!
there is a cool one in miami
Thank you for the insight. I never considered this so this help out a lot.
Wow, that is very encouraging to hear. Will definitely look into! Thank you.
I have considered the several LACs everyone here has mentioned, and will take your advice. Thank you so much.
Keep us updated! Good luck and any school who gets you as a student will be lucky
Seconding Lafayette and UScranton, Haverford is a reachy ED2 but if you know enough about it and the NPC shows it’s roughly the same as Pitt then go for it.