<p>My college search has finally narrowed down to these two schools. I realize these schools are different in a lot of respects but I want to look past the location, size, and cost of the schools and focus more on the atmosphere and the programs. I'm interested in going pre-med and know that WashU has a phenomenal if very difficult program. How does Swarthmore's pre-med program compare and is the academic atmosphere at the school difficult yet cooperative and laid back like at WashU, or is it more cutthroat? Information about any other general perks about Swarthmore would also be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>I live in St Louis so know Wash U quite well. I also have 2 kids at Swat. If it’s pre-med you know you want, I’d definitely strongly consider Wash U over Swarthmore. Swarthmore’s science curriculum is very tough and course selection is relatively small. My D was pre-med at Swat for about a week, until Bio 1 changed her mind for her. It’s been said here before, that med school admissions is all about the numbers (GPA and MCAT scores), and I think pre-med experience at Wash U would be a more positive expereince and would do more for your med school application. FYI–many Swatties take an extra year after graduation to complete the pre-med science requirements at a different (easier!) institution before qpplying to med school. That is also an option I suppose.</p>
<p>I have a kid who graduated from Swarthmore, and a kid who is a sophomore at Wash U. Neither is/was premed, but both have friends who were/are.</p>
<p>Both are excellent schools. Both have strong premed programs with excellent record wrt medschool admissions. Both have much more cooperative and friendly environment than is usually expected in premed. But both will have plenty of students who will let go of their premed aspirations once they realize what it will take to be successful. The same will be true at most top schools.</p>
<p>Wash U is, obviously, significantly larger, and will provide a much more “mainstreem” college experience. Swarthmore has a distinct culture. If you fit in there, you will not find a better place. If you don’t, I think you might find it frustrating.</p>
<p>I have several friends who went to Swarthmore, did not get outstanding grades (were not in phi beta kappa) and go to TOP medical schools. Some did this by taking a few pre med courses, most commonly physics in the summer, or as post bac. One did it by working for a couple of years in extremely interesting and relevant jobs, and writing a very strong application. I also have friends from who went to large public schools, got all A’s, and do not get into the best med schools. If you play your cards right, graduating from swat with a 3.6 doesn’t preclude you from getting into any med school (it might preclude you from getting into MD/ PhD programs - the people who got into those tend to do pretty stellarly at swat)</p>
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<p>Philosophical question:</p>
<p>How can an 18 year old high school senior know that pre-med is their calling and that they have an aptitude for college level science before they’ve taken the first semester of college courses?</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of a college where pre-med isn’t considered to be “tough”. I’ve never heard of a school where more than 50% of the high school seniors who think the will go to med school actually end up completely a pre-med curriculum.</p>
<p>My recommendation would be to focus on the big picture (which school is the better fit for you, which school will motivate and inspire you?) rather than pre-med or predicting what your GPA will be four years from now. You would feel kind of stupid basing your college selection on which school would yield an easier pre-med GPA only to find out that your true calling is linquistics.</p>
<p>Statistically speaking, high school seniors have no clue what they will end up majoring in during college.</p>
<p>elrincon</p>
<p>Students are often misled by the concept that “research opportunities” at larger schools outweigh opportunities at a small LAC. </p>
<p>In reality, at large schools research opportunities are often out of reach for undergraduates. On the other hand, the contacts and bonds that a student can make with his/her professor at a smaller school, often will open doors for summer research opportunities or even lead to collaboration with those professors because there is no competition from graduate students. </p>
<p>So the remote possibility, that research opportunities may exist, should not be the overriding factor in this important decision. Concentrate on class size and access to the quality of the whole educational experience, even outside of class, and when doing so, make sure to consider the opportunity for real access to the professors themselves. Compare how large are the classes, check to see who actually runs the breakdown groups, labs? </p>
<p>At many large schools undergraduates only see a TA when interaction with the “professor” is required, and a student may not even have a “professor” teach his/her classes until junior or senior year. Teaching lower level courses is the job of the graduate students, who are given assistanships, to help defray their graduate education. </p>
<p>Will the “illustrious” professors/researchers intimately know you when references are needed for summer opportunities or even graduate/med school? These are some of the questions that you need to consider when comparing a prestigious LAC to a prestigious large research university.</p>
<p>You will have plenty of research opportunities at both schools.</p>
<p>Choose the one that fits your learning style and your personality better.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for all the advice. I was mostly just curious as to some of the basic facts that would go along with premed at Swarthmore but do not plan to use them as the core of my decision; I realize there’s no guarantee I will pursue this field in college and both colleges offer tremendous opportunities. I know a lot about WashU and have visited the schools multiple times whereas I will be visiting Swarthmore for the first time next week and was just looking for some pertinent info before the trip.</p>