Are you open to attending a liberal arts college? Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, PA is also steeped in a sense of history (one campus building was used as a hospital during the battle, in fact) and has a strong history department. It’s large for a LAC (I think around 2500 students) and walkable to the pretty, small town (lots of shops and restaurants though it’s tiny) and battlefield. I think you’d have an excellent chance of admissions if you raise your test scores to the mid-1300’s. I don’t know about pre-med (might be far from hospitals for internships) but I imagine the college has some sort of arrangements/pre-med advising.
Have you considered Wake Forest? They do not require SAT/ACT scores.
^ W&M and Wake Forest were the final two in S’ selection pool a few yrs ago. There are several similarities: Undergrad focus, “LAC like”, small classes, intimate professor / student environment, academic rigor, residential (although moreso at Wake), etc.
Both student bodies love their school
But there are real differences in the vibe. Wake has a lot more of the traditional school spirit that surrounds athletics. Both have alot of pride. I’d say the typical W&M student is more reserved (and my Wake kid is pretty reserved). QUiet intellectuals vs. Social intellectuals. Lot of leaders at Wake (HS class pres, team captains, etc.) Both have plenty of vals / sals.
On a social spectrum of 1 to 10, 10 being very social, I’d put W&M at a 3/4 and Wake at a 7/8. My kid was a 5. He wanted an experience that would draw him out more so Wake was his obvious choice. However, he thought the kids he met on two visits to W&M were great, welcoming, friendly. Atmosphere at Wake is closer to UVA than W&M which Virginians will tell you that’s a big difference.
@rvgros22 - Grade deflation at W&M is a reality that you need to be aware of. However, the percentage of students they place into medical school is truly impressive. What you give up in GPA, you will make up in your MCAT score. W&M is an expensive school for OOS and there isn’t a lot of money to help defray the cost. During our visit, we experienced a lot of school spirit and pride. The facilities are impressive, especially the natural sciences where we spent most of our time. Classes are small and we were told by many students that access to the professors was one of the many advantages of attending W&M. Good luck.
You might want to look at Rhodes in Memphis. Beautiful small school with a good pre-med reputation. Not as hard to get into as Wake Forest or William and Mary.
@rvgros22 Here’s my 2 cents… If you know you want to go to med school, I would not spend top dollar on undergrad. I would find a good school that your stats are in range or above because they will most likely give you lots of merit money. S19 was offered in state tuition at U of So Carolina last year, and if you’re thinking smaller D20 was already accepted and offered $27K/year at Roanoke in VA. These are just a couple examples, but I’d suggest doing some research into colleges that are know for giving good merit. Or what about UMass Amherst? (I think you said you were from MA) You have a lot of years of school in front of you. Don’t spend your whole life paying off that debt. Set yourself up to be able to enjoy your paycheck!! ?
Many thanks again to everyone. I want to get your thoughts here on ED1 2024. The results are in
I am seeing OSS accepted candidates who have 3.7 and 3.8 with middle 1300s. As i said. They were accepted. As mentioned, i have a 1260 but have a 4.0 unweighted…4.56 weighted. Based on these factors i think if i break 1300 on the sat i get in. There was one person with around 3.7 and 1300 who was deferred probably to see her grades in the first quarter of senior year. So. To me the higher i go on the SAT, the higher the probability i get in next year. With a 4.0 it looks pretty solid i think. I appreciate alll the feedback here and would like to hear from the folks who were telling me to look elsewhere given these numbers The real surprise to me over the last 24 hours is the OOS students that got in. With a small increase (maybe 100 points) in SAT my numbers are a lot higher than most all of these folks who got acceptence letters yesterday… At the very least i believe I am in the game today whereas yesterday i thought i was out.
How do you do on practice SATs? Have you tried practice ACTs? Focus on the one that seems to show you off better.
@rvgros22 So what did you get on the December SAT? Did you reach your goal?