My daughter is at a very strong public university and she does not find it to be cutthroat at all. She is almost done with her prerequisites for medical school… at this point she is still not sure she is applying, but at least she is doing what needs to be done just in case. I think it’s possible to find schools that are more collaborative if you do the research.
I think it’s important for your D to find a school where she feels comfortable with the overall vibe and where she thinks she can get a high GPA in premed classes. That may happen at a school like Vanderbilt… or it may not and she will have to take it down a few notches. Is she the type who will get the A when surrounded by kids who all got perfect ACT scores? If not… those schools may not be for her and she may find that attending such a school will prevent her from having a GPA that is worthy of medical school.
Cutthroat … to me… means that the students are hyper competitive and lots of kids get weeded out because they can’t keep up their GPA. This does not have to happen ( not happening with my D).
If medical school is on the horizon your D will have to shadow, show leadership, possibly do research- depending, and volunteer in underserved communities ( immigrants, etc). She may want to choose a school where at least some of this can be accomplished during the school year. This is another area where you want to make sure there is enough to go around… or she may feel as though it is “cutthroat” and everybody is competing for the same positions. Keep in mind that it is becoming increasingly more common to take 1-2 years or more off before heading to medical school. Lots of students today are working first, doing TFA in underserved communities, Peace Corp etc.
You may find it helpful to post in the premed forum.