<p>Hi, I'm going to be a senior this year and am trying to decide what colleges to apply to. I have good scores (34 ACT, 2260 SAT) and decent grades. I've always known that I want to go into medicine, and I have a lot of experience in volunteering in hospitals and doing a clinical rotations program at my school. My question is- for undergrad, is it best to go to a less competitive school and have a higher rank/better grades, or be more towards the middle of the pack of a very competitive school (in terms of admission to medical school). </p>
<p>Obviously, I'd like to go to a decent school, but my dad was saying that an undergrad school with less competition might serve me better when trying to get admitted to medical school. At the same time, I feel like "big name" schools can help a lot in admissions. Can anyone shed some light on this? Also, what are some schools I should focus my search on knowing that I want to do Pre-Med?
Some of the schools I'm looking at are:
Rice
UT-Austin
Southwestern
WashU
Harvey Mudd
Johns Hopkins
Lewis and Clark
University of Rochester
University of Maryland
St. Louis University
Tufts University</p>
<p>As for “big names” helping with admissions, what level are you talking about? An ivy name may give a nudge, but after the tippy top schools, big names won’t do much/anything.</p>
<p>Your dad has a point about less competition at good, but not tippy top schools. Being a standout student in college can make it easy to get great letters of rec. </p>
<p>Has your dad said how much he’ll pay for college? if not, talk to him about that. Use the Net price calculator on the websites of Rice, SLU, and the OOS publics that you have on your list to get some ideas of how much these schools will expect you to pay. Even schools that are known to give great aid to those with need, may not determine that your need is as much as you think. :(</p>
<p>If money is a concern, be sure to apply to some schools that will give you lots of merit for your stats for financial safety schools.</p>
<p>FYI, pre med at Rice, Tufts, URoch, JHU, Wash U* will be extremely competitive. At each of those schools, approx 33-40% of every incoming freshman class self-identifies as “pre med.” The first 2 years of undergrad are an intense weeding-out process at these schools.</p>
<ul>
<li>Might also be true at Harvey Mudd, but I don’t have personal knowledge on which to make a judgment. I do for the other schools.</li>
</ul>
<p>(NOTE: the weeding out occurs at ALL colleges, but because the numbers of incoming pre-meds at these schools are particularly high, the process seems even more stringent.)</p>
<p>Not trying to discourage you from these schools, (I have a kiddo who graduated from one of them…) just want you to understand what the environment is like at those schools. </p>
<p>And for the record, I have 2 kids: one currently in med school and one who be applying next cycle. One attended a state school USNWR ranked 150-200, the other a top research U. Both had approximately equal quality of instruction, research and shadowing opportunities, mentoring and pre med advising.</p>
<p>The take-away–pick the school that’s best for you based upon fit and finances.</p>
<p>OP, what do you mean by “decent grades”?
SLU and Southwestern seem a little out of place on your list (unless you have personal reasons for including them)
Why not add Duke and Vandy(for potential merit $) and H,Y,P for the great FA?</p>
<p>My advice would be to follow the $$. A good merit scholarship will remove much stress and allow you the freedom to pursue your dreams. </p>
<p>BTW, don’t forget the early deadline for UMd (Nov. 1). Maryland offers up well over 100 full rides (including many OOS) every year. You could get one :)</p>
<p>Does it occur to anybody here that a majority of schools in OP’s list have an affiliated med school, or a LAC (southwestern) or smaller college (Rice) which “markets” itself as being “very good in the business” of producing a lot of successful premeds every year? (Sorry about the harsh words I choose to use to describe these schools, but this is an apparent fact to me no matter how these schools spin it.)</p>
<p>In other words, it appears to me that OP seems to be more willing to attend a school that tends to attract many competitive premeds, rather than paying attention to other factors like the “fit” factor.</p>
<p>There are pros and cons to attend this kind of school. Whether it is a pros or a cons is highly dependent on each individual. Like it is often mentioned here: To get into a med school is mostly each individual’s own effort.</p>
<p>of course, I do not know mmmcdowe’s reason.</p>
<p>But isn’t Mudd, athough it is technically an LAC, famed for an engineering-like school (like a smaller-sized Rice “on Steroid”)? Many students in many majors may be pressured to take N science classes every semester.</p>
<p>BTW, I think a school like Rice has more incentive to recruit engineering students and are busy in turning away premed students (as they have too many of the latter, even though Rice was traditionally an engineering school a long time ago.) I had this impression many years ago when we were in one of their information session at Rice. They told the perspective students and their parents that, if you are interested in engineering majors, you may get some boost in the admission. I do not know whether this engineering-oriented school is still like this today.</p>
<p>Go where you feel “at home”. That is how my D. describes her UG experience. She mentions that whenever she visits (still does often while in Med. School). This is 4 years out of your life, you got to be at the place where you truly belong. Only you yourself can determine which one.</p>
<p>I appreciate all of the advice. I am sorry I did not reply sooner; I was spending a little too much time on CC so I decided that I needed to cut back!</p>
<p>To answer all of your questions:
-Money is definitely an issue. However, I can say with certainty that we do not qualify for need based aid. I know a lot of schools give great FA, but on paper our finances are simply too good. This is part of the issue. I am wondering if I should sacrifice my “dream school” in favor of a more practical, less competitive school that won’t be a financial burden. I am trying to find more smaller schools that offer merit aid.</p>
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<p>My grades are good but not great. I have not calculated my UW GPA, but on a weighted scale it is a 4.2. I am in the top 7-8% of my school, which is a very large and competitive public school.</p>
<p>I am considering SLU and Southwestern because of the merit aid availability and smaller class sizes. I visited SLU while I was in St. Louis visiting WashU and really liked the friendliness, and I feel that it is a school I could be very successful in. However, I am unsure about it because the Catholic/Jesuit stuff seemed to be a major emphasis, and I think I might feel out of place since I am not Christian. As for Southwestern, I was going to visit it, but I don’t think that I will be applying any more. I am deaf and contacted their disabilities department, and they apparently don’t have any experience with students with hearing loss and had never heard of the accommodation I would like for my classes. They seemed willing to work with me, but I would rather go to a school where the road had already been paved, so to speak.</p>
<p>I am strongly considering Duke and Vandy. I do not want to go to a school with a big sorority emphasis or feel like I have to get “dressed up” just to walk across campus or go to class. I have gotten that type of feel from reviews of those schools. Is this accurate? Can anyone speak from experience?</p>
<p>I can see how you may have gotten that impression from my original post. That is definitely not true- I was just trying to avoid writing too much! I am not sure what the issue is with being interested in smaller schools or LACs, though. I went more in depth in previous post, but some major things I want in a school are:
-small to medium size
-lack of a dominating sorority/frat presence
-friendliness/casual (not quite the word I’m looking for, but I can’t think of a better description) feel on campus
-availability of accommodations
-availability of merit aid</p>
<p>As for the bias towards engineering/against premed. Is it unwise, from an admissions standpoint, to specify that I am interested in doing pre-med? I feel that my EC’s makes it pretty clear, so it probably wouldn’t help me anyway. I am not sure that I would like to go the traditional route of major in Bio, Chem, or other “science-y” fields. Obviously, I will take all of the required med school classes, but I am also interested in Psychology, Sociology, and/or possibly English.</p>
<p>I am also curious for mmmcdowe’s reason for suggesting against Harvey-Mudd and Lewis and Clark. These are 2 schools I have not visited, but sounded like great fits on paper. They’re also a bit further away from home than other schools I’m looking at, so that excites me a bit as well.</p>
<p>I am confused by your answers, but you know your personal preferences/details better than us. These statements are very contradictory as far as I understand:</p>
<p>“Money is definitely an issue.”
“I am strongly considering Duke and Vandy”</p>
<p>In addtion, sorority experience was one of the best in my D’s UG years. Awesome opportunties in developing leadership, went to nationals in Florida, added a lot to her skills’s portfolio. She also did not plan to be in sorority, but her UG had huge Greek presence, so she decided “why not?”. Still in close contact with her sorority sisters, overall was very rewarding…
You have asked for comments, here are mine.</p>
<p>Did not realize there was any harm in looking at these schools. I am applying for outside scholarships, and I know Vanderbilt offers a few full-tuition scholarships. Not sure about Duke, though.</p>
I am applying for outside scholarships, and I know Vanderbilt offers a few full-tuition scholarships. Not sure about Duke, though.</p>