<p>hi everyone! first time poster, long time reader. i'm very confused about what college is right for me. i ultimately want to go on to med school after undergrad, but am confused about the best way to go about doing this. i've read alot about upenn's reputation as an awesome school to make students competitive for elite med school admissions, but then i still torn about combined ba/md programs and other well known schools. i ultimately want in a undergrad a school that is good for pre-med applicants, quality undergraduate education, good pre-med advising, not cutthroat/overly competitive, in a large city with existent social life/atmostphere, friendly happy students...i am pretty picky lol. upenn seems to fit most of these (except fitting in as a white catholic with large jewish and asian pop?) and i also have legacy there (for ED). but would going to any other of my choices be better: Hopkins, Swarthmore, Williams, Drexel ba/md, Lehigh ba/md, upitt ba/md? I really want to find that perfect school for me that fits all those characteristics i described...any opinions appreciated!! thanks.</p>
<p>anyone?.....</p>
<p>i'd say Hopkins is really good for pre-med, but then again its up to you. and yale offers really good pre-med career options too..</p>
<p>I can't speak for all schools, but Penn should be in any discussion of non LACs for premeds. The biomedical field here is massive. At Penn there is HUP, CHOP, and Presbyterian as three hospitals on/near campus. There are hundreds of labs in many different buildings for you to do research in. There are EMT classes and you can be an EMT on campus. There is an amazing premed advising team and Penn sends a good number of kids to med schools each year.</p>
<p>There are only two downsides. 1. Penn has no accelerated BA/MD program. If you are a PA resident going to PSU or Pitt for those programs might end up costing less than 4 years at Penn and you get your MD sooner with less stress about MCATs and college GPA. 2. Penn is fairly competitive at premed. Premed here is not easy. The classes are tougher than at some of the schools you mentioned and you're graded on a curve against some of the brightest people in the world. Some very smart kids end up with a few Cs after their first year here because they couldn't handle intro Chem or intro math.</p>
<p>About you fitting in with the jews and asians, I have several Catholic friends and they all seem to be happy. There is a Catholic center (Newman?) if you want to be involved with that sort of stuff. They also seem to adjust pretty well to the whole jews and asians thing too. Don't worry about it, and if you are, go to Notre Dame.</p>