Should I take courses for medical schools at a large research university or at a liberal arts college? I got accepted into two top 50 liberal arts colleges in the northeast. I also got accepted into a few good but not top research universities. I feel like at a large research university, there would be a lot of competition (I hate competition). I fear that I might 'drown' at research university. At a liberal arts college, I feel like I would succeed. As opposed to research universities, I'm not sure if liberal arts colleges will have all the courses I need to take for medical school. I feel like I would perform better academically at a liberal arts college. I do not like how I will see the same people everyday at a liberal arts college. I tend to not like the social scene at liberal arts colleges. Additionally, I do not like how liberal arts colleges tend to be like high school where there are cliques. I like to see and meet new people. So is it better for me to take pre-med courses at a liberal arts college or a research university? Cost is not an issue.
I want to start by saying I am not pre-med, but in the fall I will be applying to psychology PhD programs, which are just as competitive. When selecting my undergrad institution, cost, proximity to home, and the feel I got from the psychology department were about the only things I considered.
I attend a super small liberal arts college in the northeast (1,000 total undergrad) and I am happy here. I am definitely a big fish in a little pond, which of course is nice most of the time. For example, I am the only undergrad student interested in psych research, so I get to work in all the labs with no competition. My professors love me for that. To supplement this research, I drive into the city once a week and work on a hospital clinical trial. My GPA is excellent (3.85) but liberal arts schools have a reputation for that so take that as you will.
Sometimes I wish I went to a larger university for the research. I have to compromise my interests because there are so few faculty conducting studies I just take what I can get. But at the same time, I know I would do poorly in large lecture style classes. I feel as if I would have "drowned" like you said.
If I were you, I would look very closely at what these liberal arts colleges have to offer for your med school prerequisites. If they don't offer the classes you probably should go somewhere that does! Or you could take whatever they don't offer in the summer at a larger school. Also check to see how many of the faculty have their own labs. Hopefully this can be found within the website. If there aren't more than a couple, you may want to consider if that will be enough for you.
And finally, to speak to social life, it really differs depending on the school. If you want to PM me the names of the schools I might be able to tell you firsthand since I do live up here. My school has terrible student life because it's a suitcase school. Half our students go home Thursday-Sunday. The ones you're looking at seem bigger than mine so they're probably not quite as bad. I wouldn't say there are cliques, but I do see a lot of the same people. I don't mind that personally. Having a close knit community is enjoyable to me.
Let me know if I can help answer any other questions and like I said feel free to privately message me if you want!
