I am a junior and I am trying to decide what schools I should apply to or even consider. I plan on doing a Pre-Med track and probably majoring in psychology. I live in North Carolina so I am surrounded by good colleges with pre med programs. My goal is Duke or Northwestern in Illinois, but I am struggling with getting my ACT score to meet their standards. I have tried to look for fallback schools, but I just can’t figure out what ones I would want to apply to. I don’t really want to go to ECU or UNCW because I want a different experience than following where all of my classmates end up going, and I believe I can get into better schools. I have looked at Davidson, UNC, and Wake Forest and Wake was my favorite out of those because of the small classes that are discussion based, and they also have high academic rigor. I want colleges that will look good when I apply to Med Programs, or maybe even colleges that have special programs for PreMed students. I am mainly looking for schools in NC, Illinois, or California. Thank you!
Almost every college has a pre-med program, and almost every college has a psychology major.
What are your ACT scores and your GPA? If you are struggling to meet Duke and Northwestern’s high standards, perhaps you are a tier down. NC, IL, and CA are a weird panoply of states to choose from - why those specifically?
If you like small classes and the potential for a liberal arts college like Davidson, you might check out Occidental (in CA), Knox College (IL), and Guilford College (NC). Other small colleges in nearby states are Rhodes College (TN), Furman and Elon Universities and Wofford College (all in SC), Beloit College and Lawrence University (both in WI), St. Olaf (MN), Earlham College, DePauw University, and Denison University (all in IN), College of Wooster (OH) and Kalamazoo College (MI).
I do think you should definitely apply to some in-state safeties - NC has some excellent public universities. UNCW is great, and big enough (nearly 14,000 students) that even if a lot of students from your high school go there you can still meet new people and have new experiences. You might also look into Appalachian State, which is similarly excellent and also quite medium-to-large, and UNC-Greensboro, which is also great but medium to large. But if you want smaller, you can look into UNC-Asheville (~4,000) or UNC-Pembroke (~6,000).
Other medium-sized Midwestern universities are Marquette and Duquesne (smallish, actually).
Thank you! My GPA is a 3.8 unweighted I think, and I am aiming for a 31 on the ACT. I am taking prep classes so that should happen. I’m used to NC so that is why I would stay in state, but I kind of want a change. I have a lot of relatives in Illinois and would like the different weather, but people keep questioning if I would like the cold. I am tired of hot and humid so that is why I am looking at California, since it isn’t humid, and they offer a lot of great colleges like USC and some back ups like Whittier. I have a lot of extracurriculars and summer camp programs that I have been a part of and I am trying to start a HOSA chapter at my school. I am also going to be either Salutatorian or Valedictorian of my class next year and I have taken the hardest classes available for me.
^^ Denison is not in IN, but in OH, outside of Columbus.
Look at the pre-med program’s placement records. Davidson has an incredible 90%-plus rate of placing its students into medical school. Be mindful of how the colleges calculate these stats (e.g., only willing to write a pre-med committee letter if certain criterion are met (Davidson doesn’t)).
OOS premed students should NOT be looking at colleges in Calif.
Have you asked your parents how much they’ll pay each year? You need to start with that info.
And…all your classmates aren’t going to UNC or NCSU.