<p>Both are top schools, with Whitman a great small LAC and WashU well-known for it's medical school. The cost difference is not huge, but is significant (WashU is $20,000 / year more).</p>
<p>A lot of comments on the board lean toward small LACs begin best for premed, but then there are the comments that say "nowhere is better for premed than WashU." And, there's always the chance that DD will change her mind and will go in a different direction.</p>
<p>Have you looked at the Whitman website to see the sections on pre-professional counseling? I think they do a great job of getting kids ready for and into med school–or helping them redirect their interests into other related fields if their interests shift. Given the cost difference and what med school costs, I’d say Whitman gives you fine preparation with much less debt before professional school. And, if you think her directions will shift, the small LAC option is hard to beat, I’d say, again especially with the financial difference.</p>
<p>$80k is more than a year of med school.</p>
<p>For pre-med, your grades are going to be important, so go to the fine school you can get the best grades at. IMHO, that would be Whitman.</p>
<p>Whitman, hands down, unless you have some very compelling reasons against it. Small class size, great professors, more personal attention. And you will be ahead financially.</p>
<p>Most people advise to choose best fit, they say UG school name is almost does not matter since GPA and MCAT score are much more important. Which one D likes better? Classes are very challenging even for the very top caliber students no matter where you go and how many AP’s they had in HS. My D (graduated #1 from private HS) is at state college Honors program and according to her she does not need to be more challenged.</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses! DD went to Whitman’s admitted-students day last weekend with a friend and was very impressed with their premed advising program. She spoke with a professor there who attended WashU for grad school who described the differences she’d probably see in her relationships with professors at the two different schools. It was a great trip and has made her rethink things.</p>
<p>She prefers St Louis over Walla Walla, thinks that Whitman is a bit too small, and would rather get farther away from home, but none of these are deal killers if she felt that Whitman would be the best place for premed. She is getting mixed messages from her sources, though, and is having a hard time walking away from the WashU acceptance. She thinks that she’ll be fine academically at either place (gotta love the confidence of those 18-year-olds).</p>