Is Sewanee known/good enough for pre-med?

[Radon XP]

I went to a college orientation event and one of the colleges there was Sewanee. Well, now that I've learned more about it, it seems like a fantastic school: smaller class sizes, huge campus with forests and trails, and a fairly solid LAC reputation.

However, my primary concerns are :

Is Sewanee prestigious enough for pre-med? I know prestige isn't the most important thing, but I feel that even if I go to Sewanee and do well, it still isn't competitive versus all the other colleges like Duke, et cetera, in prestige, and that might keep me out of med school.

And I'm not sure what the research is like at Sewanee; the rep said there was research, but it didn't sound very cutting-edge or clinical to me.

In other words, in comparison with UT Austin, I like Sewanee's campus and atmosphere alot better...however, I'm sure UT Austin probably offers more research/clinical opportunities and might be a little bit more well-known, so I'm not sure where to go. Sewanee is a place I like, but UT Austin is the one that might be more prestigious/advantageous.

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[Emerica]

I was in a very similar position but I was stuck between Loyola New Orleans (also a pretty good LAC) or University of Florida (due to significant scholarships from Loyola both were the same $$). I chose UF and I am here now, it wasn't a bad decision but sometimes I think what if I would have gone to Loyola? So no matter where you choose you'll always question yourself even after you finally choose.

Onto the research thing, there definitely is research going on there and actually it may be even easier to get a research position at Sewanee than it would be at UT because of a lot less competition from other students, but then again UT probably has a lot more faculty conducting research. For example, at UF I've tried soooooooo hard this semester to get research and everything is already full. Meanwhile UF is supposed to be a huge research university, yet I could not find a position. Next semester I will have something for sure though.

Really you should go where you want to go. You are not going to get a real feel for the availability of research until you are actually there. But both schools would provide you adequate research to be competitive for medical school and there are a plethora of summer research programs you can apply for once you get a little further into your degree. Number one should be your happiness though and if going to a smaller school like Sewanee makes you happier than go for it.

I know how nerve-racking this decision is, but really don't go to a school for what you perceive to be "research." Those recruiters will tell you anything to make their school look good.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Your undergrad school matters very little except for extreme cases. Go wherever you want. You'll have plenty of research opportunities just about anywhere.

 

[MossPoh]

We have a sewanee grad at my school. She's a rockstar.

 

[tls24]

Where you go to undergrad really isn't going to matter, especially considering that Sewanee is a highly regarded LAC, where you will have plenty of research opportunities. Good luck!

 

[avatarftw]

👍 Also, I've never heard of that school. If you're going to go to a "name" school (though it doesn't really help with med school applications) why not choose ivy league or big-time public schools like University of Wisconsin, UC system, etc?

Your undergrad school matters very little except for extreme cases. Go wherever you want. You'll have plenty of research opportunities just about anywhere.

 

[juniord]

Sewanee is a private Episcopal liberal arts school in Middle Tennessee.

 

[avatarftw]

Do most people know about it? Just in terms of name recognition, Harvard, Yale, even UCLA or Michigan have greater prestige than "Sewanee".

Sewanee is a private Episcopal liberal arts school in Middle Tennessee.

 

[Jude33]

I'd have to echo what most of the other posters have said - go wherever you feel the most comfortable going. Undergrad. name is negligible in comparison to your gpa/MCAT for admissions purposes. I know at this point it seems like you should be overly concerned about research opportunities, but there are a bunch of summer programs (REU, SURF, etc.) available no matter where you go.