Carleton College/Amherst College/Williams College vs. St. Olaf (Pre-med) [CA resident, 4.0 GPA]

I’m a big fan of Santa Clara University. It’s a Jesuit college. Very welcoming of all faiths. Big emphasis on giving back to the community. Very fine STEM majors. I think you have a chance for merit aid there if your ACT score is higher than a 30.

My DD is a grad…size of the school is very nice. Very accessible professors. Strong presence of Jesuits on the campus…and they are so intuitive, smart and interactive with the students.

Worth checking out…but it IS costly. Very.

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You can look up “Newman club”, or “Newman center” + Z college or university of… to see what’s available.
Many colleges also have Cru (formerly Campus Crusade).
Finally, because it matters to you, you can email the college chaplain and ask about Catholic life, opportunities to grow in faith at their college, etc.
Whether religious or secular, all colleges will have something :slight_smile:

Okay, so, key criteria: Small classes, solid academics/support, opportunities for spiritual growth, and no Greek life (or low key to no predominant Greek life* ); weather or location not important - is that a fair summary?

Time to run the NPC on colleges you like :+1::+1:

(* when Greek life is big or dominates social life, you may have to re create your friend group after rush since many students would be involved in their fraternity/sorority).

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Yes that is a perfect summary, also if they had good support for premeds with things like internships and research and hospitals around the area, and if they had a collaborative environment would be good too. Also no grade deflation would be good. But your summary is basically everything that is important to me, thank you!

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Along similar lines, you may want consider classroom experience generally. For an indication of this, this site may be helpful:

Note that St. Olaf from your nascent list appears. Since you have expressed an interest in NESCACs, you might benefit from considering Hamilton and Bowdoin as well.

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Rhodes does have a pretty active Greek life but it seemed more low-key and inclusive than, say, the stereotypes I have about 'Bama. And the houses aren’t residential – in fact, sororities don’t even host parties AFAIK. I think I also heard that people who aren’t affiliated show up at parties too. It’s not a huge campus and felt pretty integrated, for lack of a better word.

TLDR: the cultural impact of frats/sororities on campus life seems to vary a good bit. Best to keep an open mind and not rule anything out prematurely.

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Ohhhh that’s actually perfect because Bowdoin is on my list too hahaha that school seems great to me. I hadn’t heard of Hamilton before, but I just looked into it and it seems great too, so I will definitely add that to my list too. With all of the colleges that I have been putting on my list(I am using a website called college vine that got recommended to me), a lot of them are coming up as reach schools, do you know about how many reach schools that I should apply to that would be a solid number? Thank you for telling me about Hamilton that seems like a really great school and I would not have looked it up without your help!!

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I’ll do this in reverse.

The first college you need to identify is one where you would be happy to attend, is affordable, and where you have a very good chance of being accepted. I would suggest finding two of those, because if it comes to that, it’s nice to have choices.

Once you have found your sure things…the number of other colleges you apply to is really up to you. You don’t want to pick SOOOO many that you are pinched for time completing the applications well.

In my little world, I would suggest two sure things, four targets and four reaches. It makes you sort of vet your application options before you send them!

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Thank you so much!!!

Rhodes is very supportive. Chaplain is amazing in support of students.

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If you are academically qualified for your reach schools by objective criteria, then they will blend with your high matches. Choices from these two categories, when considered together, might sensibly compose a good portion of your college list.

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As an alum, I chuckled a little at the thought of Carleton being “corrupting.” It is 100% a secular school, but very open and welcoming to people from all religions in my personal experience.

Admittedly, my experience is a bit dated, but the critical thinking skills I developed at Carleton (including in a religion course) actually strengthened my faith because my courses pushed me to examine my beliefs more deeply rather than accept what was spoon-fed to me in an echo chamber. I made close friends of many faiths there, including Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant students and, yes, atheists. I found that students were respectful of differing beliefs. I attended church services somewhat sporadically with a friend at a church near campus.

For a more Catholic experience, maybe consider University of Portland. I don’t know its history as a medical school feeder, but do know several people who went into other health care positions from there, including a nurse anesthetist.

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You might first consider the sciences and math foundation that would be expected of you as a premed student:

2 semesters of general biology
4 semesters of chemistry
1 semester of biochemistry
2 semesters of physics
2 semesters of mathematics (calculus and statistics)

2 semesters of English and 1 course in each of psychology and sociology also would be required or advisable.

If you feel comfortable with the above courses, then you could choose your actual major from anywhere in the curriculum that inspires you!

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Ohhhh that is very interesting to heat about, thank you! Did you like Carleton when you were there, and would you recommend applying to it?

That is so helpful, thank you so much!!!

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Perhaps consider exploring a (free) online course for a sense of Hiilsdale’s atmosphere (as well as for the content of the course itself). I’d recommemd The Genesis Story: Reading Biblical Narratives.

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I loved my experience, which is dated. My roommate became a doctor.

One word of caution: at least back when I attended, Carleton professors had a reputation for grading harder than those at other schools. That made it challenging for students applying to medical school to have competitive GPAs. I do not know if that is still the case.

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As something I should add to this, as with other students, you may encounter “out-of-reach” schools in your research. As an opinion, these do not enhance a college list in any number, especially for a premed student.

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Here’s my advice…Of all the premed hopefuls coming out of high school, very few actually decide to go to medical school. College is a maturation process and you find your real passions as you explore. Take “premed” out of the equation right now and just focus on a school that’s affordable. If you choose medical school, you have less debt. If you don’t choose medical school, you still have less debt. :grin:

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Adding…that you like and can see yourself being happy at for four years of undergrad!

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…and varying levels of selectivity. One could probably form a robust reach/match/safety list comprising Catholic schools.

Obviously, OP, check for fit and affordability (run the NPC) before applying anywhere.

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