In this case you definitely should budget for a full 8 years of university. Depending on where you go to university, you could be spending something like $100,000 per year for your bachelor’s degree. By the time that you get to medical school, it could cost $125,000 per year. This suggests that if you completely ignore the cost and attend relatively expensive schools, it is possible to spend perhaps $900,000 by the time that they call you “Dr. Lucyyyy”. I do know a small number of parents who could afford this without debt or other problems, but only a very small number (“One” being the number that comes to mind at first glance, and this definitely does not include my wife and I). Also, you do not want to take even half of this as debt because even doctors can have trouble paying this off.
The second thing that comes to mind when I hear “premed” is that the majority of students who start university thinking “premed” end up doing something else. There are a lot of other options. Some are related (such as various other medical professionals, as well as biotech research). Some are not. It is generally a good idea for a premed student to have a plan B.
Two other points have already been mentioned by others: Doctors get to deal with a very wide range of people. It might be a good idea to attend a university that will give you experience dealing with a wide range of people. Also, there are a LOT of colleges and universities that are very good for premed students. If you look at the students in a top medical school, they will have gotten their bachelor’s degrees at a wide range of universities. “All over the place” is an exact quote from a doctor I know who was telling me where other students in their MD program had come from.
And yes you will run into people whose beliefs do not fully align with you.
I do not know much about St. Olaf, but what little I know is very positive. If they have a 72% success rate for their graduates applying to medical schools, then this is very good.
Admissions to medical school will not depend much if at all on what college or university you attend to get your bachelor’s degree (assuming that you attend a decent school in the US or Canada, and avoid specialty schools such as maritime academies or conservatories of music or arts academies). Medical school admissions will depend upon your grades, and your references, and your experience in a medical environment. Premed classes will be tough. Both daughters had majors that overlapped a lot with premed classes, knew multiple premed students from these classes, and have mentioned how demanding some of these classes can be. However, obviously a significant number of students do get through these classes and do well.
I agree about running the Net Price Calculator and getting an estimate of what each school is likely to cost you. You might want to at least consider your in-state public universities, as well as LACs that give merit aid. You might also want to find out from your parents what your budget is for university, and whether any money saved on the cost of a bachelor’s degree can be applied to medical school. In order to run the NPCs, you will need to either get quite a bit of financial information from your parents, or get them to run the NPCs.
If you’re interested in Public Health, you can study data science or policy. But what about Environmental Science? A combination of major+ minor that links sustainability or climate change with health (impact of heat, floods, fires, on health?)