My son narrowed down to the above three admitted schools. He wants to go to pre-med track.
He likes all three but is showing most interest to WashU so far…He likes their academics but I believe he is also attracted by their name and their living environment (great food and dorm in beautiful campus). Yes, he is only 17 and I totally understand this:)
I know that WashU is a great school in many ways and he will be lucky to go to the school, but this school has too many pre-med students in my opinion and I’m thinking that competition may be too outrageous. I am a little worried if he can even make it through to go to med school at WashU. Also, it’s a national university, so I believe that some TAs teach classes…
On other hand, my husband and I think that LAC is a better choice for him (no TAs, great attention from prof. in a small-size classes). My husband’s first choice is Grinnell - it has great science programs and the fact that many of their students pursue to go for phD tells that they do a great job to teach their students. My first choice is Middlebury - it has the best academic rating in Princeton Review and something about this school attracts me and my gut is telling me… Though, my little concern is that Midd strength isn’t science so I am not sure how well they prep their students for med school acceptance, MCAT etc. Or, since there aren’t so many pre-med track students at Medd than at other two, maybe it could be better that not too outrageous competition is going!!! I’m just speculating here…
We all have our different first choice. S will visit all three colleges and we will ultimately have him make his own decision. But, we want to make sure he gets all the information about the three schools he needs to make a right decision.
We have been doing our study about these three schools, but I would greatly appreciate it if anyone currently enrolled, their parents, alumni, or anyone knowledgeable about these schools could give us any useful information about these schools to help our son make a good decision.
My daughter is a current senior at Grinnell. From what I hear, students with top grades get into top programs.
A friend has been offered a place for grad in science at Columbia, Berkeley, and other top colleges. Another with less stellar grades (late change in major) still got into grad school for psychology at Northwestern, and just got a summer research job at Yale. Another friend is going to Yale for music. Many others in the late rounds of various fellowships and awards. It’s a collaborative environment–my daughter does not know the GPA of even her best friends—it’s not what they talk about. There seems to be unlimited opportunity for the motivated, and the college is very generous.
When we went for admitted students, I talked to parents who met there (and their twins had been accepted/attending—obvious big love for the school). The father went to Yale med school after, and said he was as well, if not better, prepared than students who went to the most elite colleges. For what it’s worth. Good luck!
Congrats to your son, such great choices! He’ll be well prepared for the med school route at any of the schools. My D15 is at Middlebury and loves loves loves it there. Some of her close friends are bio, physics, biochem, and comp sci majors (she’s env studies). The sciences are rigorous at Midd and facilities (Bi Hall) are truly spectacular.
I think for your son it should come down to what school he feels most drawn to for all of the other reasons- location, student vibe, campus etc. They are all so good I think it is splitting hairs as to which is better for pre med… the best one is the one that feels right for him. Unless, of course, financial aid is a factor and there is a cost difference. Med school is expensive. Cost of undergrad should be a consideration if it matters. Good luck and feel free to PM me if you want any more information about my D’s experience at Middlebury.
He can’t go wrong at any of the three schools. All great. Let him decide. When he’s at that stressed out point in college that he’ll face no matter where he is, owning the decision will be better for him.
Some schools that have many pre-med students tend to weed out students (by organic chem class for instance) to try to keep their med school acceptance rate high. Did you see this happening at Midd or Grinnell?
I know nothing about the premed programs at any of these colleges but I do know that organic chem is difficult even for very smart students. A lot of “weeding” will occur because of the inherent rigor of the class rather than school specific policies or culture.
There’s a lot to be said for helping students to decide earlier rather than later that pre-med isn’t a track that suits them. I wouldn’t take it as necessarily a bad thing if large numbers of pre-meds at a college change course early in their undergrad years, especially at strong schools like Midd and Grinnell. It could mean that the schools are doing a great job of showing students other paths. Smart STEMmy kids seem to come out of high school either wanting to go into pre-med or Computer Science. A good college will open students’ eyes to many other options. When I think of “bad” weeder classes it’s the ones at really large universities that let otherwise smart and hardworking students anonymously fail and possibly leave school entirely.
At any rate, your son has three marvelous schools to choose from, each with very distinct vibes. I think there’s a strong likelihood that his best fit will reveal itself in the visits.
