PLEASE HELP! What colleges should I apply to?

College Search & Selection
1

Hi,
So I have recently began the prosses of touring colleges and I am having trouble narrowing down what schools to apply to. First here is a little about myself.
GPA: 4.74 (Weighted) and 3.96 (Unweighted)
Sat: 2280 (2320 superscored )
EC: Varsity Track, Student Government, Started my own Medical related Club/Charity which organized a charity trip to Costa Rica, Did summer research at JHU, NHS, Math club, I run marathons and half marathons( I placed first for my age division in a recent race) etc.
Here is what I want in a school
-Academically prestigious ( Top 25)

  • Safe
  • Attached Hospital where I can intern
  • High percent of students accepted to Med school
  • Somewhere I can have a life (Don’t get me wrong, I know that the schools I am looking at will require a lot of work but I don’t want a place like U of Chicago where you are studying consistently)
  • I prefer a more rural setting because they tend to be safer but location is not a deal breaker by any means
  • Medium sized
  • Research opportunities
    I’ve toured several schools and for the most part liked them/thought they were fine but am yet to find one that I love. Here are the schools I have toured so far and my opinions of each
    -JHU My favorite so far but I heard its cut throughout
    -USC To close to home
    -UCLA To big
    -UC Davis Liked but not a fantastic pre med program
    -Cal to big
    -Stanford Liked but I would like to experience somewhere new (I am from CA)
    -Vandy Didn’t like location
    -U of M Too big
    -Notre Dame Liked but 25% of Students applying to Med School don’t get accepted to any Med School
    -Northwestern Didn’t like campus or location
    -U of Chicago Didn’t feel safe
    -Wash U St Louis Liked but not sure if I will be pushed enough academically
    Please give me suggestions on where to visit and apply, I would really appreciate it
    Also the cost of tuition has not impact my decision to attend
    Thank you!
2

Since Medical school will be very costly, you want to keep your undergarduate costs down, even though you can pay. What is your intended major?
Why not UC Davis? Fits your criteria and they have do very good majors for Pre-meds although it is in CA. You have access to UC Davis Medical Center and Sutter Memorial Hospital for interning/EC’s.
What was not to your liking? If you want access to “attached hospitals”, you are usually looking at large schools.
Since you are a CA resident, it would make sense to look to the UC’s and apply to Medical school out of state if you want a change.

3

University of Pennsylvania is affiliated with the Pennsylvania Hospital (oldest in US).

That 25% of medical school applicants from Notre Dame didn’t land any offer doesn’t seem high. Medical schools are very selective. Washington University St. Louis “average” grades are 3.4. the university has an exceptional reputation for its academics. Of the Ivies Brown has one of the highest (the highest?) “average” grades.