<p>Hey guys, like every junior in the country right now, i'm narrowing down colleges...</p>
<p>My top two colleges right now are Darmouth (1st) and Middlebury..
Are there any other schools similiar to these?</p>
<p>Here's a basic outline of my criteria:
-Academically strong school; good program for pre-med study; sufficiently prepare for medical school, possibly even have an integrated program for medicine (i know dartmouth has one)
-location: new england
-small student body (preferably) not a necessity<br>
-beautiful campus in a hilly/mountaneous region
-many outdoor activities available
-good name
-skiing/rock climbing close by: both middlebury and dartmouth have their own mountain
-socially active student body; study hard but like to have fun too; parties</p>
<p>i'm academically strong (4.2 on a 4.0 scale) and active in my school and community..play 5 sports and would like to play soccer in college; maybe soccer could bridge the gap to admissions
any recommendations on schools that would fit this criteria?
thanks</p>
<p>My first thought was Williams. Quick Google search shows it seems to meet your premed + rock climbing requirements, and there’s plenty of athletics.</p>
<p>Williams and Bowdoin would be good choices to round out your “reach” schools.
A bit less selective (lower reaches) would be Hamilton or Colgate.</p>
<p>For good target/match schools, consider the US News #21-50 LACs or so, starting with the other Maine colleges (Bates, Colby). If you are willing to venture out of New England, check out Colorado College. World class Rocky Mountain skiing and rock climbing, very outdoorsy students. Good academics. One of the only small colleges with its own human cadaver dissection lab ([Colorado</a> College | Bulletin](<a href=“http://www.coloradocollege.edu/Bulletin/March2005/healing.asp]Colorado”>http://www.coloradocollege.edu/Bulletin/March2005/healing.asp)). Closer to urban work, internship and entertainment than the others we’re mentioning.</p>
<p>For a safety, it sounds like a good fit would be SUNY Geneseo (which describes itself as a “premier public liberal arts college”.) Or the University of Vermont, or the University of Colorado (Boulder), or (especially if cost is a major concern) your own state flagship.</p>
<p>You have clear specifications that go well together. That makes it easier to build a good list of reach-match-safety schools, any one of which you should be happy to attend.</p>
<p>^ Reed isn’t a good fit for someone who’s interested in competitive sport in college. Also, the curriculum may be not as ideal as some other colleges when it comes to pre-med. I’d strongly second Colgate. Also in addition to Williams, Amherst might be a good choice. Another good and perhaps less prominent choice is Trinity in Connecticut.</p>
<p>While I’d agree with what you’ve stated above, vossron. Reed is a whole different world from Dartmouth and company, when it comes to both sport and pre-professional training. While both areas may not be impossibilities at Reed, if they’re the primary concerns of an applicant, Reed may not be an ideal choice.</p>
<p>for schools like dartmouth, amherst, and williams, i think you should just apply to all of them and see if you get into all of them. If not, your choices are easier!</p>
<p>I do not understand why Reed would not be a good choice, academically, for a pre-med student. True, it seems to be more of a PhD factory than a professional school feeder. But it also appears to be a stronger science school than Middlebury, and at least as strong as other NESCAC colleges. </p>
<p>In non-academic respects, it might not be such a great fit for the OP. It’s certainly not in snowy Northern New England. vossron, what about outdoor recreation in the area? Skiing, rock climbing, etc?</p>
<p>Williams and the Maine schools are probably good fits, as suggested. Colgate would certainly be worth a look as well, although it is Division I. As another DIII suggestion, its nearby neighbor Hamilton.</p>
Reed is tough, and its students burn out quickly. A mere 57% graduate in 4 years. </p>
<p>Although its medical school rates look attractive at first glance, one has no way of knowing how many premeds were weeded out. Far more, I suspect, than at Bowdoin or Williams.</p>
<p>tk21769, my own perception of Reed (I’ll be joining the Class of 2014) is that its intense curriculum and grade deflation work against it when it comes to professional school admittance, if compared to the likes of Dartmouth or even Middlebury. For example, all sciences have to be taken from the introductory level, which in itself are year long courses. While it maybe a great preparation academically, when it comes down to brass tacks, the curricular requirements (for both medical school and a Reed Bachelors degree) can be harder to meet than at places which have formal pre-med programmes. Like I said, it’s not an impossibility, but it’s definitely harder.</p>