I am grateful for being accepted to all three of these fantastic schools. Incidentally, because these three were my top choices, I am perplexed on which one to choose.
Financial aid is great at all and my family can afford all of the schools. I visit them next month to determine my “fit.” However, objectively, which school would be the best choice for a Humanities major trying to do premed requirements and ultimately apply to medical schoool? Yes I know that it does not matter where I attend for med school purposes, but obviously some of these schools might be better than the others in terms of research, opportunities, etc.
Williams is no where near hospitals, as its in a small town of 4000. You can go on medical related REU programs at Ohio State, UC Irvine etc over summers from any of the three.
Carlton is closer to a big city, the Twin Cities, if you are thinking of volunteering in a hospital
You will be able to reach your goals, conduct research, and have a fantastic educational and personal experience at any of those three amazing colleges. Congratulations on having such great options! I do not know that there is an “objective” best among those three. You can research statistics on med school admissions, etc., but probably the determining factor will be your subjective feelings during your visits. It is good that you are able to visit all of them. Enjoy the visits and good luck!
All three of your choices are academically excellent and share similar personalities. When you are able to visit the points of differentiation will come into focus.
Williamstown is for sure a small mountain village (though the population is closer to 8,000 – 12,000 in combination with nearby North Adams). For my son Williams insular, nature-driven environment was a big plus, and most students get to Boston or New York once or twice a term so it’s not as isolated as it might appear.
Williams students pursuing medical careers tend to hold internships during summer holidays and during Winter Study (Williams January term). The regional hospital in North Adams is just 6 miles from Williams campus.
Williams is closest to Albany NY, for a city, but Williams students do not go over there. Carlton is near a major city, Twin Cities, of Minneapolis/St. Paul, with a full host of cultural activities sports , theatre. Many people find Williams to be too isolated. Its also pretty hard to fly into Albany NY, as it does not have direct flights from many US States. Then the bus ride to Williamstown. My niece is a Williams grad, she has had very good internship and study abroad options but not so happy in a small isolated village of Williamstown.
Wwisteria100 I mean a teaching/research hospital that might be appropriate for a premed. Albany NY has one, but its 40 miles one way, so the premedical student would need a car and a lot of spare time to drive over. Williams students can find medical related work in the summers or over January break though.
Williams is definitely rural. I haven’t been to Carleton or Bowdoin so can’t compare. My observation is that the kids who are happiest at Williams choose it because of its mountain location not in spite of it. They like the natural beauty, the insularity and the opportunities for outdoorsy activities. Visit. If the location appeals to you, great. If not, give it a miss. The reaction is often instantaneous one way or another.
I haven’t seen any indication that Williams location has any bearing on success in med school admissions, though, as the school’s track record indicates.
I don’t think the setting of these three schools is dramatically different. Carleton isn’t really “near” Minneapolis – it’s nearly an hour away, so it’s not like you are going to be hanging out regularly in the Twin Cities on weekends. All three schools are in charming, bucolic college towns where life is largely centered around the college. Williams is further from urban locations, but the urban locations that are accessible for a weekend – a bit over 3 hours to both NYC and Boston, and 5 hours to Montreal – are very appealing for an occasional escape if you get cabin fever and want to experience someplace urban for a few days. All have very long, cold winters, with Carleton being the harshest for sure.
If you want to maximize your chances of getting into medical school, you can’t go wrong with Williams. If you are determined to do internships, you can go off campus to do so for credit during one or two winter studies. But as others have noted, Williams’ med school placement rate is tremendous. All three are similar in terms of academic caliber and intellectual focus. You really can’t make a wrong choice among the three, and there is surely a lot of overlap among the types of students at each (with Carleton obviously having a more midwestern bent).