<p>I will be Bio/Chem major and apply med school, which is better pre-med for me ?</p>
<p>whichever is less expensive</p>
<p>tution are the same not much difference</p>
<p>BC has an excellent Chemistry department and a growing Biology field. However Swarthmore is obviously at the top of the LAC totem pole. </p>
<p>For pre-med, I believe it would be wise for you to also consider the severity of grade deflation at each college. Swarthmore is well known for their rigorous grading practices, whereas average GPAs at BC tend to be higher.</p>
<p>Swarthmore much more prestigious.</p>
<p>If you want to get into med school from Swarthmore you will likely need to get into their honors program and have top grades. Many Swatties take several years of lab work after undergrad before applying to med school. You should check specifically with each school about med schools admissions %, etc. if that’s what you want to do.</p>
<p>Swarthmore is a much nicer campus than BC.</p>
<p>“If you want to get into med school from Swarthmore you will likely need to get into their honors program and have top grades”</p>
<p>As if NOT doing an honors major at Swat isn’t good enough. LOL</p>
<p>If you decide not to do premed, would you be happier at BC or Swarthmore?</p>
<p>Swarthmore is Elite. Boston college is just a good top institution.</p>
<p>If you are planning to apply to med school, you should attend the undergrad program that gives you the best change for the highest GPA.</p>
<p>@LakeClouds, I just write an e mail to Swarthmore to get more information about med school admissions %. Many Swatties not apply med school right after graducated form Swarthmore ?
@FlyMeToTheMoon best highest GPA, how about UCLA ? Colgate ? Brandies ? Cal ? BU ? BC ? Swarthmore ? which school you think will easy to get highest GPA ?</p>
<p>OP: I think you are getting bad advice on Swat. It is well know as one of the nation’s premier LAC’s. Don’t believe some tale that you can’t just go directly to med school out of Swat. Also don’t believe the highest GPA tale. There are plenty of successful pre-meds from MIT, but they could have gotten higher GPA’s from Kansas State. I would contact Swarthmore for further information and talk to Swat students. If you are a little scared of making the necessary grades at Swat, Colgate might be another good option. Most of your other choices involve institutions that use much larger class sizes and grad students as lab TA’s. In terms of educational quality, they are not as much bang for the buck. Whether you like the feel of an institution is also important.</p>
<p>Swat also grades P/F for the first term.</p>
<p>Thanks @rhg3rd</p>
<p>I would prefer BC due to location but I agree that you should pick the least expensive option so that you can afford graduate school.</p>
<p>I, personally, would prefer Swarthmore because it’s not a religious school and doesn’t require any sort of religious eduction/does not force its students to comply with certain Church teachings. </p>
<p>Both are good schools, but Swarthmore has the upper hand - it is an academically better school and you will get more personal interaction time with professors than you would at BC (aka professors will know you better and therefore will be able to write better letters of rec).</p>
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<p>These “tales” are based on information from the placement office. The OP should ask for this information as well. They issue a report indicating where graduates went after school and it’s easy enough to count those who went to a medical program directly.</p>
<p>@LakeClouds It would be better to look at information as to how many people get accepted directly from undergrad to med school, not how many people do not go straight into medical school.</p>
<p>It’s inaccurate to assume that because a potentially large number of students do not apply directly to medical school from Swarthmore that somehow Swarthmore students are at some sort of distinct disadvantage - there are numerous unknowable factors to be considered as to why students may not apply directly from UG to medical school. Speculation simply is not helpful.</p>
<p>Swarthmore is a fantastic school. Boston College is great, too, but Swarthmore is one of the top LACs. And personally, as an alumna of an LAC I am really a fan of the LAC learning environment. And I know personally a lot of my classmates who went to med school straight from my LAC, which is lower-ranked than Swarthmore, so I can’t imagine why a Swarthmore graduate couldn’t go straight to med school.</p>
<p>Have you visited both schools? It might help you decide better</p>
<p>BC is great but I would not turn down Swarthmore to go there. It is a phenomenal place!</p>