I am in high school, but I’ve been searching for colleges since middle school. I want to get an MD-PhD (Microbiology, Genomics, Immunology, or something similar). For undergraduate, I’m interested in majoring in molecular biology or biochemistry (I do like some of the “niche” majors like BiGP at Williams as well).
My Stats:
3.9 GPA / 4.5 Weighted
IB Chem, Biology, Math, English
Dual Credit Physics
A lot of volunteering and extracurriculars
What I’m looking for:
Strong science program, small class sizes, graduate school connections, research possibilities. Financial aid is very important to me (I’m looking into QB). No loans, need blind,etc. would be preferable. I want to go to a LAC, but I’m considering UChicago & maybe some Ivies… I’m not very interested in schools with a lot of “stress culture” (this is what caused my aversion to Swarthmore). I want a beautiful campus with nice architecture, I’m thinking of the Northeast or maybe in the West.
I have family connections with Smith, Pomona, Harvey Mudd, and Tufts.
I like Wellesley, Williams, Haverford, and Smith right now. Also considering Bowdoin, the Claremonts, Carleton, Mac, and Vassar. I was extremely interested in Reed until I found out how poor their aid is. I’ve only visited Kalamazoo, Stanford, Smith & Tufts and they weren’t real tours but rather quick visits at K & Stanford when I was in town & alumni events at Smith & Tufts.
I apologize for how long and vague this post is but are there any schools that I should be considering and/or is there a certain school that stands out for matching my preferences? I would definitely be willing to consider just about anything.
Thank you so much for any advice.
With respect to specific suggestions, some of which you are already considering, look into Haverford, Colby, Mt. Holyoke, Williams, Amherst and Hamilton in the Northeast. Consider Pomona and, if you can get their FA to work, Reed in the West. Carleton would be a good Midwestern choice. Swarthmore might merit a second look since it would be very strong for your academic interests.
UChicago and Mudd have pretty high stress academics, too. But honestly, your preferred major is going to be high stress at a lot of schools for to your MD aspirations. Mudd has a lot of grade deflation— it isn’t a great pre-med choice for this reason.
@merc81 thank you for the list! I’ve been looking at those and definitely like the back-up.
@intparent Stress culture isn’t a major criteria, but I’m obviously not looking to torture myself:) And thank you for the info about Mudd! I’ve heard that Mudd tries to recruit women to balance the scales, but I don’t think it’s really worth deflation…
My daughter graduated from Mudd last year. She loved her experience, but the grade deflation is real. For a student set on pre-med (she was not), it isn’t a great choice. She turned down several schools on your list for Mudd (Swat, UChicago, Carleton, and Mac), so I am pretty familiar with them.
Among your Midwestern group, you might want to consider the well-funded Grinnell.
@merc81 I know a Grinnell grad who had a great experience! Iowa is a bit out there, but not off the table. When I did the cost estimator it was one of the higher price tags with more loans though obviously that’s just an estimation. As an aside, it is currently looking like I’ll be touring Kenyon (and maybe Oberlin too) this month!
Only a few of the tippy top schools are going to be loan free, so you may have to take out your federal loans. You want to be someplace where you can get the GPA to get into med school – if you don’t have the GPA for med school, you won’t be taking out loans for med school anyway.
Regarding loans, they’re often part of funding, and essentially fair. Personally, I wouldn’t avoid them, at least in principle, for an otherwise great fit. Their amount, of course, should be considered along with other factors.
Kenyon’s a beautiful school in a Gothic style. I hope you enjoy your trip, @aphroditeayelet!
@intparent I’m definitely prepared for loans, but it is, obviously, not optimal. Especially since I’ll likely be taking out even more loans later on.
@aphroditeayelet, Oberlin and Case Western both have excellent Biochemistry programs are great.
@NewEngParent We’re planning on walking through Oberlin, but not an official tour. I know someone at Case Western (the same person that went to Grinnell, actually)… We’ll probably walk or drive through as well because we’re going to be in Cleveland for the weekend. I’m not planning to go to school in Ohio (it’s a bit too close to where I live) & Case is a bit on the larger side but nonetheless I’m excited to see them!
Some of those schools care about interest… there is something to be said about signing in at admission and taking the tour.
I think you should consider adding Bryn Mawr to your list.
@aphroditeayelet, you’ve been given some great suggestions. Reed financial aid is need-based and the financial aid package is generally very competitive with the other schools that have been suggested. I’m surprised about your comment that it has poor financial aid. None of the schools on your list (with the possible exception of Grinnell, and perhaps Oberlin) offer merit aid.
Smith and Mac give merit aid. But I don’t see why that matters - .I have the impression that the OP has high need.
Pre-med = stress culture.
Yes, but if you add a college with an overall stress culture on top, that can be a problem.
@doschicos I’ve been considering Bryn Mawr! Thank you for the advice
@Mintwood @intparent Let me rephrase, Reed is not need blind and in their financial aid FAQ they state that they try to compose half of the class with people who can pay and the other half with people who need aid… meaning that they definitely do look at your need when deciding if they’ll accept you (which is kind of scary). It also looked like I would have a minimum of $20,000 in loans which isn’t optimal (I’m willing to take loans but any opportunity not to would win out. Smith is also not need blind and does loans, but it’s still on my list because of my connections. In the age of colleges trying to eliminate student debt I’ve seen a lot of schools (most notably UChicago) making major strides which is what I’m striving for.