<p>Hey, I am wondering, out of these schools, which seems like the best fit for me. I realize that I should really visit these schools, but the truth is that I probably won't be able to visit all of them. Anyways, here are my interests and what I want out of my undergraduate experience:
-great pre-medical program (good advising to really help me get an edge into medical school admissions, challenging but not impossible courses, competitive but not a super cutthroat environment, great place for research and summer internships)
-location in or close to a large city (not just any large city, but one where I can experience numerous different things like great shows, restaurants, sports teams, maybe even museums idk for sure but hopefully you understand somewhat what i'm talking about)
-really nice campus vibe (where the school is generally pretty close-knit and there is large involvement in school spirit and pride)
-pretty respectable status (high rank and a school where medical school admissions would be impressed if I even got just like a 3.5 or 3.6)
-nice people (I kind of already mentioned this, but i don't want a school where everyone is SUPER competitive... instead I want a school where people are pretty laid-back and nice with each other)</p>
<p>Penn and NW seems to fit you the best. You should visit them to make your final decision if they both accept you.</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard, I would have to agree with the previous poster^</p>
<p>Where do you live? That would help in determining the relative value in visiting each school. Also, Washington and Northwestern both have combined med programs, but I don’t know if this helps or hurts their regular med school advising, just something to think about.</p>
<p>WashU also pretty much satisfies all the criteria, smaller city but a city nonetheless with all the things you want. You did not have preference for the size of the school but Michigan is distinct from the rest for being large public university in a decent sized college town but not necessary a large city, however, if you want school spirit and sports, this might fit the bill better. These are all great schools, and I don’t think you can cross anything from the list easily from what you listed. Sometimes it is hard to really know what you want until you visit a few to really hone in on what factor is really important to you.</p>
<p>Basically only Michigan doesn’t fit your criteria. I’d say they’re all fairly close in consideration in terms of med school preparation (all three have fabulous medical schools). In terms of the city, I’d say Chicago or Penn would be best. St. Louis is much smaller, although still culturally vibrant. One plus about Northwestern is that you have a really beautiful, secluded campus, but you’re still in such close proximity to Chicago. While that was important to me too, I still chose Penn over Northwestern in the end (didn’t apply to WashU) mainly because of Northwestern’s quarter system. But you should keep in mind that the other academic programs at these schools are extremely important as well because (just based on statistics) you’re not likely to keep up the pre-med track as most people are “weeded” out over time. So don’t pick SOLELY for the pre-med preparation…look at other departments as well. That’s a big reason I chose Penn…they have so many amazing departments and the whole “one university policy” so you can take classes in engineering, wharton, nursing, the college, whatever and you can even minor in another school or get a dual degree if you oh so desired.</p>
<p>^^^Ann Arbor is relatively close to Detroit. Even if you hate Detroit it does have, “numerous different things like great shows, restaurants, sports teams, maybe even museums.” So while you might not think it’s true, Michigan does offer all the criteria the OP was asking for.</p>