Please help me choose which college to go to!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>So I'm having an incredibly difficult time figuring out where I want to go. Money isn't a factor. I didn't apply to many places, and I regret that, but I was accepted everywhere I applied.</p>

<p>I'm set on becoming a physician and I live in Long Island.</p>

<p>Choices:</p>

<p>University of Virginia (Echols Scholar)
Bowdoin College (Faculty Scholar)
Amherst College
Cornell CALS (Meinig Scholar)
Stony Brook University (Honors College)
Hofstra University (Honors College + B.S./M.D.)</p>

<p>I already ruled out NYIT B.S./D.O.</p>

<p>Hofstra is the most practical, considering the 8-year combined program, the medical school's affiliation with North Shore LIJ, which would most likely give me an edge when applying for residencies there. I want to stay on Long Island, and Hofstra would be my easiest path towards becoming a doctor. However, it's like 15 mins from my home, and I don't want to stay home for college, but I don't want to dorm 15 mins away. Plus, Hofstra isn't very prestigious, and although this doesn't really bother me that much, it's something to consider when I have options like Amherst, Bowdoin, and Cornell.</p>

<p>SB Honors would be good, too. I have guaranteed research opportunities as a member of the Honors College, and it's far enough to dorm without much complaint.</p>

<p>The problem is that I'm more into small liberal arts colleges than big research schools.</p>

<p>That's why I'm leaning towards Amherst, Bowdoin, and Hofstra over Cornell and Stony Brook.</p>

<p>Between Bowdoin and Amherst, I have no idea which one to pick. Amherst seems awesome, but Bowdoin is just so beautiful and it's like a hidden gem. Maine is great due to the distance from New York, but Amherst's academics and overall reputation are making me strongly consider it.</p>

<p>I'm probably going to rule out UVA since I wasn't selected to be a College Science Scholar (never did research in high school, so I'm not surprised), but it's got such a unique campus culture and Charlottesville is wonderful. Being an Echols Scholar gives me some benefits which are worth considering.</p>

<p>In other words, I'm totally lost. I don't know what to do. You guys seem to be go-to guys for all this college stuff, so I would really appreciate your input.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>Amherst seems like the best choice for you. The open curriculum is also a plus. Cornell is great (where I’m going) but for premed it has a lot of grade deflation.</p>

3

<p>My vote is for Bowdoin with Amherst a close second. Bowdoin has a long history of sending students to the best medical schools that continues to this day. I know since my primary care (Harvard Med.) and urologist (U. Penn Med.) both went to Bowdoin and are simply awesome physicians and wonderful individuals.</p>

4

<p>Are there hospitals and clinics nearby Bowdoin?</p>

<p>It seems to be in the middle of a forest.</p>

5

<p>AA</p>

<p>You say you’ve eliminated Va. Stony Brook is not really in the same class as Cornell, Amherst and Bowdoin.</p>

<p>Either is Hofstra, but the 4+4 must be enticing. I looked it up on the Hofstra site and saw the following:</p>

<p>Matriculation occurs upon completion of your undergraduate degree provided you maintain a minimum 3.6 overall GPA as well as a minimum 3.6 science GPA, while satisfying the pre-medical requirements, with a high level of professional behavior, without repeating a course, and with no grade lower than a B in any science course, and no grade less than a C in a non-science course. A minimum Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) score of 30 with 9 or better in each section is also required.</p>

<p>So, it’s not an absolute offer. FWIW 30MCAT is in the 75th-80th% ile nationally. Though it’s hard to not accept this – if you were my child, I’d probably encourage you to take a different option.</p>

<p>If you want a larger school – Cornell. If you want a smaller school, Amherst or Bowdoin – Amherst is a bit more prestigious, but not so much that one couldn’t justify Bowdoin on a better fit basis.</p>

6

<p>I don’t have any personal experience of either school, so this is just based on reading descriptions. If you don’t mind the rural setting, I’d be tempted to go with Amherst. As a member of the Five College consortium you’d have a very wide choice of classes. </p>

<p>If you really want the LAC experience, both Amherst and Bowdoin are of similar size (number of students) and also similar faculty to student ratios. Both are great schools - does one or the other offer more classes in your chosen major, or provide more in the way of research/internships on or off campus? Perhaps you can dig up information on which med schools each of your top choices feeds into, what percentage of students get into med school, etc. That should be easy to find, and might help you decide. </p>

<p>It doesn’t sound like you are totally lost - you have decided you like the strong LAC’s, so that narrows your choices to just two. Have you visited each? Do you have time for another quick trip to help make the decision? Or could you reach out to admissions or professors to get more of a feel for each school? You could ask your admissions counselor from each of these schools for more info on admissions to med schools, that could be a nice ice breaker.</p>

7

<p>There’s Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick, Central Maine Medical Center in nearby Lewiston and a major hospital, Maine Medical Center, in the great city of Portland, an easy 30 min. drive (or by train) from Brunswick. I’m sure there are other hospitals and/or health facilities close by, but those come to mind.</p>

8

<p>You would be insane to give up a combined program. I will be going to Stony Brook’s Engineering Scholars for Medicine Program next year and I’ll be at SBU for the next 8 years. Every combined program has stipulations for GPA and MCAT. If you know you want to be a doctor, push the idea of prestige aside and go to Hofstra. If you are that obsessed about prestige, go to Cornell and join the pool of everybody there trying to compete for a spot in medical school. You will face an uphill battle competing for a seat at Cornell, especially with their grade deflation, but if name is what matters, go for it. I think you should be between Cornell and Hofstra and push the others aside.</p>