<p>hey! i'm new to college confidential so help me out? (and sorry in advance, i'm naive) i am a junior and am starting to look at colleges. i really don't want to go to a big school and would prefer my professors actually new me. but then again if that program is great then really who cares! i want to get into medicine, so what programs in colleges should i look for to decide which college will help me best prepare for med school? any suggestions? any generalized suggestion as to where to start my search? thankx in advance!</p>
<p>To start your search, post up a thread under College Searxh and Selection with your GPA, AP classes (if any), test scores (if any) and your activities if any. Post your interests and our community would be glad to suggest colleges for you based on your profile 
then you can look up the college location, cost, financial aid, average statistics, campus life on collegeboard.org. Collegeboard will suggest more colleges similar to the one you’re looking at on the left side of the page, so that you can continue your college search. It’ll be great to start an Microsoft Excel file now to keep the colleges that interest you and their information, scholarship information, etc. in a handy, organized place with columns for cost, programs, test scores, etc.</p>
<p>This will save you the hassle when September rolls around next year. If you have any questions, just ask! PLEASE use the table (excel or word) idea to keep your research organized and all in one place!</p>
<p>thank you! i’ll keep all suggestions to mind. (love the microsoft idea)
i didn’t post any tests scores becuse i haven’t taken the SAT yet 
i am still i just really want a generalized idea of a good colleges that will help prepare me for med school so i can start thinking about where i want to go (out of state or in state, public or private, cold weather or warm weather, etc)</p>
<p>posting a cc thread can help a lot; also try supermatch ([College</a> Search - College Confidential](<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_search/]College”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_search/)) and other matching services (like the college board search, though supermatch does a better job of matching the soft factors like social climate) to give you an idea of the schools you would find interesting. also, since you’re interested in medicine you could start your search by looking through lists of top schools in that field (normally you shouldn’t put too much emphasis on rankings, but when it comes to specific programs this method can make sense). there are a lot of ways to go about this and i would suggest trying them all out to make sure you don’t miss out on any schools that would be good fits for you. good luck in your search! :)</p>
<p>What is your financial situation like? The standard advice is to find a way to finish your undergrad degree without any debt (or as little debt as possible), and save the big educational debt for Med School. If money is going to be an issue for you, you should spend some time reading up on financial aid at [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org) and in the Financial Aid Forum here.</p>
<p>Wishing you success in your college search!</p>