My son is finishing his sophomore year and is considering both Ursinus and Muhlenberg for biology/pre-med. He is a very strong student with 4.0 GPA and first in his class and scored 98% on PSAT as a sopohmore and will be taking SAT this May.
He loved both schools. They are both the size he is looking for and for us financially Ursinus is a bit better with potential merit aide.
Please share your thoughts on Ursinus compared with Muhlenberg. I would appreciate it. Thanks.
I would visit both next year with your S and see what he thinks. In touring LACs with my D we found that each school had its own personality or vibe and fit is very important.
I think they probably draw similar students. Muhlenberg May have a few more from the NYC area. I really liked the tour at muhlenberg and I agree with the above poster that visits to both may show you which vibe you prefer. Both are pretty good for pre med.
Yes that is the vibe that we got when we visited. We felt they were both very similar. They both seemed to take a real interest in their students succeeding and doing well. They both seemed to have very fun, interesting , and yet academically orientated students. Both seemed to have alot of clubs and student activities avialble and planned to promote a unity of their students. The diversity may be a bit more at Muhlenberg but not by much. Both seem to rate very highly for pre-med biology and both seem to have a lot of support to help their students get accepted to med-school. Both seemed to have a lot of opportunities for internships and research in the surrounding areas of Allentown and Collegeville/Philadelphia. Ursinus as a parent seems to give a bit more merit aide. Thanks for your thoughts.
Both Ursinus and Muhlenberg offer merit. Often Muhlenberg ties it to a GPA. Both excellent schools. Both will good support for pre-med. Muhlenberg draws more heavily from the NYC/NJ area and has a student body that’s a bit more affluent. Ursinus has a “common intellectual experience” which is very interesting I hear. More similarities than differences.
You might also want to consider in PA:
Franklin and Marshall
Gettysburg
Dickinson
Allegheny
The first three are harder to get into than either Ursinus or Muhlenberg, but are excellent schools. Allegheny offers excellent merit aid and is very strong in biology/pre-med and is more along the lines of Ursinus and Muhlenberg in terms of selectivity.
Full disclosure, my son got accepted to Muhlenberg and Allegheny, but not Franklin and Marshall. 
My grandfather who was a HS music teacher from PA (and Ursinus Class of '23) always said that there was no better college song than “Put on your old grey bonnet with Muhlenberg upon it…”.
Thank you for your replies. He has I think really narrowed it down to Ursinus or Muhlenberg.
F and M does not give any aide and is above our budget.
Allegheny is a very good school but not quite the location he is looking towards. Dickinson and Gettysburg may be just above our price range even with the merit aide.
He is studying very hard for the SAT and will take them for the first time this May.
Thanks for your help.
@d87d87 Some other schools that offer good merit aid:
St. Lawrence (upstate NY),
Ithaca College (Ithaca NY)
Juniata (far out in PA)
I’d look at Allegheny again. If you can make the trek out there, its impressive.
My daughter is probably going to apply to Ursinus (she’s a Junior in HS now).
–Alan