<p>Hello everyone, I need some help with making my decision! I want to be a doctor working abroad with epidemiology and then teaching in neurobiology and behavior. Ideally I would work in South America for several years. I've always been in gifted programs with classes of 25 or less and I don't do well in large lecture classes so I want to avoid that. If you can comment on intro-science class sizes, housing quality/availability for 4 years, study abroad policies, undergrad research opportunities, dining hall quality, local cost of living, how LGBTQ are treated, competition among undergrad, and the social scene that would be great! Thanks so much! :)</p>
<p>Washington & Lee University (Johnson Scholar = full ride + $7000 summer fund) Neuroscience major, Classics and/or Poverty and Human Capability Studies minor.</p>
<p>Tufts University (Paying 10k a year) Biopsychology & Biomedical Engineering Science double major [not an engineering degree...similar courses], Greek Civilization. minor. </p>
<p>Emory University (Paying 10k a year) Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology major, Classical Civilization and/or Global Healthy, Culture & Society and/or Spanish minor.</p>
<p>Of the schools you list, I can only speak to W&L, and since you were there for the Johnson competition, I’m not sure any of this is news to you. Have you visited Emory & Tufts?</p>
<p>First year science classes are small <30 students. Students are driven, but atmosphere is collegial. Honor system helps with this. Undergrad research opportunities are plentiful.</p>
<p>Housing is available on-campus all four years for those desiring (most students move into Greek-affiliated housing sophomore year and off campus junior & senior years). Renovations beginning this summer will improve dorms, some of which are unairconditioned.</p>
<p>Study abroad is very common and encouraged. 4-4-1 calendar means many students who might not otherwise be able to spend a semester abroad can spend the four-week May term (aka “spring term”) abroad (although financial aid is generally not available for spring term abroad programs). St. Andrew’s program is a semester designed to meet pre-med requirements. Credit is usually given for non-W&L programs if rigor is comparable, although grades from non-W&L courses do not figure into GPA. </p>
<p>Food is good but tends to get repetitive after a while. Few on-campus options other than main dining hall. Most Lexington restaurants are within walking distance of campus. As far as cost of living goes, there’s not much to spend money on in a town of 7,000. </p>
<p>LGBTQ community is small but has occasional events with LGBTQ students at other Virginia schools. I know one frat that has members who are out; don’t know of any openly LGBTQ sorority members. Lee’s rule that every student be a gentleman is still observed to the extent that students are polite; the extent to which LGBTQ students have friends beyond that community depends on the individuals involved. Lexington tends to be a conservative small town, so you’re not going to find Gay Pride parades there.</p>
<p>Social scene is 80% Greek. There are some campus social events that are not tied to Greek system, but social life for the majority revolves around frat parties. Few local bars, only one movie theatre in town (I would think Tufts and Emory offer much more options here). </p>
<p>Given your plans for med school, I’d take the Johnson and save the $40K.</p>
<p>From what my D gleaned from her research, Tufts is tops for a number of items on your list: study abroad (one of the best in the nation), intro size classes, LGBTQ friendliness, research opportunities (a plentitude, I’ve heard), dining hall quality (again, considered one of the best), competition among undergrad (supposedly less cutthroat than other schools?), and social scene (opportunities for partying if desired, but no social pressure, apparently; no single “culture” seems to dominate, and this is why the comments on Tufts’ social scene are all over the map on CC).</p>
<p>As for local cost of living, this is the Boston area, so… </p>
<p>Tufts interdisciplinary bent, given your interests in Biomedical and Greek Civilization studies, might be just what you’re looking for.</p>
<p>I’ve gotten my financial aid back from Tufts which surprised me only costing $3800/year. I identify as gay and that’s one factor that’s influencing my choice right now. Boston’s more liberal environment is more appealing where I can be myself but I’m sacrificing small class sizes (capped at 20) for intro-science classes. Meanwhile at W&L I’m in a overwhelmingly conservative environment but I get a $7000 stipend for my summers which would help with medical school experience as well as very small intro-science classes which I do best in. </p>
<p>Can anyone comment on any of the above and/or about pre-health advising at Tufts or W&L? I’ve been able to eliminate Emory at this point because the $40k price tag isn’t worth it for undergrad for my family.</p>
I honestly don’t think having larger classes for the most common intro subjects like Psychology is such a big deal as long as there are small recitation sections and labs of course, and the professors are accessible to students. That never seemed like a big deal to me. I remember have a great large intro class like Art History and then going straight to a Spanish Literature course that had 12 students in it. But to each his own.
Tufts is extremely gay-friendly. Pre-med advising has always been strong at Tufts, and there are lots of grad programs including the medical, dental, nutrition, and veterinary schools.</p>
<p>Here is the info on Tufts program in South America. Financial aid does cover this and other programs run by Tufts, but not programs that are run by other companies/universities</p>
<p>Tufts is a very small research university, with a med school, a dental school, a vet school and one of the top nutrition schools in the world. It is located in the #1 Biotech region world- wide with Tufts, Harvard, MIT, BU a ton of hospitals, research labs, and biotech companies. </p>
<p>The cognitive and brain sciences major is also world class.</p>
<p>Tufts has one of the top international relations schools in the world. </p>
<p>The combination of these opens up opportunities in the area of global health that cannot be matched by W&L.</p>
<p>What makes you more comfortable, a more LBGH friendly environment with extremely strong programs in your areas of interest as well as lots of opportunities and people who share your interests in global health . or smaller introductory science classes? </p>
<p>I guess it comes down to how much more comfortable smaller intro classes will make you vs. how much more comfortable sharing an environment with people more like yourself will make you. </p>