I’m a junior in high school, and this spring break, I am planning on visiting some colleges. I live in the southeast and only have a week to visit, so time is a factor. I’m interested in medicine, but this might change. I’ve got a 4.0 unweighted gpa and 35 act along with good extracurriculars, so I have a chance of getting in most places.
Here is my list of potential visits:
Brown University, College of William and Mary, Cornell University, Columbia University, Davidson, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Northeastern, Oberlin, Princeton, University Chicago, Penn, Notre Dame, University of Virginia, Villanova, Yale.
Which colleges should I visit? Keep in mind my time limit, and that the closer the colleges are to one another, the more convenient it is for me.
You could do a Philly/NYC area/Boston trip hitting UPenn, Villanova, Princeton, Columbia,Yale, Brown, Harvard, Northeastern.
Coming from the Southeast you could also visit W&M, UVa, Georgetown, JHU, Princeton, Villanova and Penn. Maybe you could prioritize which ones you most want to visit and try to see how it fits together into a trip grouping regions together.
Which schools should I give priority?
Is money a factor? Do you need Merit aid? Financial aid?
Keep in mind that for pre-med, the key is to get great grades in undergraduate, smoke the MCAT, and don’t bankrupt yourself or your family paying for it, as you will be facing a huge expense for medical school.
Many very talented–as you are–students go for a “lesser” undergraduate school where they can get terrific money, so that they can save up for medical school.
An example would be U of Alabama, where you would qualify for full tuition scholarship. Room and board would be your only expense.
Good luck!
Give priority to the ones that you think you will realistically go to and you can talk about reasons why you would pick that school over others. For instance, Oberlin sounds like it could be an outlier - it was for me when most of my school’s were on the East coast - I eventually dropped it. Then again, you have Notre Dame and UChicago on your list - so maybe you could do a Mid-west trip. Definitely consider location, vibe, scholarships available, and opportunities