#Dartmouth vs Williams vs Emory - Premed/STEM

104 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

woeful cairn
#

Major for Dartmouth: Chemistry
Major for Emory and Williams: Chemistry with a biochemistry concentration
Costs: Dartmouth 27k, Williams 25k, Emory 27k. All affordable
My mom will be getting a job, so agi will might increase by 40k?
after putting into calculator, dartmouth is: 43k, williams 37k, emory 27k

My mom will be getting a job in the next year or so, so agi will increase by about 40k.
after putting into calculator, dartmouth is: 43k, williams 37k, emory 27k

I also think i'd be fine at either a big city or a small town, since I'd be focusing on academics more + doing school-related clubs and activities a lot. Even in high school in a decently sized city, I mainly participate in my school-related clubs and study, not paying too much attention to the city itself.

Dartmouth Pros
-Relatively small class sizes? (30-40 people?)
-D Plan means more flexibility for research or study abroad opportunities
-Maybe more collaborative than emory?
-Beautiful campus
-Has level 1 trauma center nearby
-Undergraduate focus?
-Rural area means it's easier to "lock in" probably, less distractions
-more access to research compared to williams?
-6 week winter break + could potentially take winter quarter off, so 16 weeks to travel or do an internship during not peak summer times
Dartmouth Cons
-Far from home
-Heard D-Plan (quarter system) is kinda rough
-not in a big city
-compared to williams, maybe my rec letters from professors would be worse?
-weather
-seems economics focused
-maybe too fratty? but i think that i'd still find my group of people among the 4000+ students

Williams Pros
-very small classes, will know professors pretty well
-known for their good aid?
-semester system means slower pace of learning (however also means less flexibiluty compared to a quarter system)
-1 month winter stdudy term is nice, but similar to dartmouth's 6 week winterim (break)
-will be locked in because of the small campus
Cons
-similar cons to dartmouth
-not too much research opportuntiy?

#

Emory pros

  • big city
  • lots more research
  • 4+1 program is cool
  • weather
  • kinda known for premed/bio, but maybe that's only important for grad school?
    cons
  • not as prestigious?
  • too competitive?
  • bigger class sizes,
  • won't know profs as much?
    less tight knit?
#

please help!!

hard fossil
#

Tricky one! No bad option. Have you visited any? Are you able to? Have you visited any similar schools? I think the first split is Atlanta vs New England.

You're smart to see access to Dartmouth 's hospital, it's an amazing facility.

woeful cairn
#

i'm visiting dartmouth during dimensions on the 20th, williams on the 21st, and emory the week after

hard fossil
#

Perfect, it's fine to be thinking about this now, but nothing will compare to the visits, so don't obsess too much yet

woeful cairn
#

i just don't know what i'll do if i don't particularly like a school after the visits

#

additionally, i'll be at dartmouth for thier admitted students day while i wont be able to come to emory or williams

#

so that's kinda skewed and biased

versed ferry
#

If collaboration matters to you I would definitely pick Dartmouth or Williams

woeful cairn
#

okay yeah, that's definitely a deciding factor

#

why do you say that dartmouth is nicer than emory?

hard fossil
#

I can tell you there was no competition in premed

#

I had great groups of people I worked with to study

versed ferry
#

Well Emory is a school that’s specifically known for premed and bio and so you’ll find a lot more competition for opportunity there. Also there’s a pretty common conception that Emory students “all believe they should be somewhere better” but they “ended up at Emory”

#

I would not worry about grad school placement at any school. I think they’re pretty much all equal

#

Dartmouth is definitely known for frat culture but also it’s not really comparable to most other Greek life experiences from what I have heard

hard fossil
#

Yep

#

Neither my wife or I planned to rush before college and it was a significant thing for both of us

versed ferry
#

dartmouth is the only college i would rush at

hard fossil
#

If you have specific Dartmouth questions I'm happy to answer

woeful cairn
#

sorry, i'll be able to talk later when i have more time, currently getting ready for prom

hard fossil
#

Have fun, be safe

formal pawn
#

I think based on what you described Dartmouth is going to have the best of both worlds with clinical opportunities and research access. There are also a large number of med schools that encourage students to explore rural health in med school. So it's not like a con to be exposed to that as a premed.

If you went to Williams you could still do research as an ugrad on campus. In terms of clinical volunteering it'll potentially be more sparse and something you'd need to do in summers.

Emory has tons of opportunities, but their hospital is a 30 min drive away, and like public transportation is meh there. So you as an undergrad student there wouldn't get as much access to the main hospital and would be mostly probably working with off-site clinics and organizations or campus clubs. Which is like what you could do at Williams, too.

At Dartmouth it sounds like you'd have access to everything. But if for whatever reason you don't like either campus then you can still totally definitely be a successful premed at either school. It just might be a bit easier at Dartmouth.

jade grail
#

Are there any places to get clinical opportunities near Williams?

#

I don't think you'll have too much trouble getting research opportunities at Williams - as a SLAC the professors heavily involved undergrads

hard fossil
#

I imagine North Adams has a small hospital?

versed ferry
#

There are medical services in Williamstown too from what I understand

#

Would probably be easier to do things in Hanover though because Dartmouth has its own medical center?

hard fossil
#

Yeah, easy bus ride from campus to the hospital

wet oyster
# hard fossil I imagine North Adams has a small hospital?

north adams (10 mins), bennington (20 mins) and pittsfield (30 mins) have decently sized hospitals, i think pittsfield is the biggest of the three. iirc if you do shadowing during the j-term the college will provide transportation for you

hard fossil
#

Yeah, though I imagine you'll see a lot less trauma at those smaller hospitals than at dhmc

woeful cairn
#

okay i updated my thread with some more information abut financial aid

woeful cairn
formal pawn
woeful cairn
#

sorry, i meant more like

#

about how many hours would be expected?

#

like would it matter if at williams i could just do clinical stuff during the summer and fulfill my hours that way? or is it definitely worth it to be near dartmouth and have the opportunity to do clinical work every day

formal pawn
#

weekly is fine. I would aim for 500+ clinical. but people who take gap years or work full time in the summers will have in the thousands

#

so if your'e not taking a gap year then that's fine

#

ok fine tbf like minimum 250

#

I would say 250-500 if your plan is to go straight through

woeful cairn
#

i'd probably take a gap year

#

also it's kinda a struggle because i'm pretty sure i would like to do medicine

#

but who knows i might change my mind

woeful cairn
formal pawn
# woeful cairn but who knows i might change my mind

I would base your decision off of going into medicine. If you change your mind then that's fine, but it's difficult to like juggle multiple careers at the same time. Since medicine is the most strict/selective and that's what you think you want to do then you should go based off that. If you change your mine then you'd still be fine.

formal pawn
hard fossil
#

You can go to medical school from any of them

#

Focus on culture, environment, etc

formal pawn
#

ok that's true too

#

yeah whichever one you're going to be happiest, you'll be the most engaged to do all the things you gotta do

woeful cairn
#

hmm yeah it's just hard

hard fossil
#

Like I said at the start, no bad options

#

So don't sweat it too much now and see how your visits go

woeful cairn
#

whenever i talk to someone from each of these schools they all are like "yeah! this school is definitely the best compared to this this and this"

#

lol

#

emory's financial aid does look the best though, since they offer full tuition for anyone making under 200k

#

gives me more leniancy when my mom gets a job compared to dartmouth's promise of under 175k

formal pawn
#

wait did you not get your fin aid packages yet?

woeful cairn
#

i'm talking about in the future

#

rn my aid is about the same bc my mom hasn't got a job yet

hard fossil
royal wren
#

I think dartmouth is probably your best choice, but there or williams would both be fine. see u at dimensions!!

woeful cairn
woeful cairn
woeful cairn
#

i also wonder if emory would be better than dartmouth maybe? bc they have semester system as opposted to quarter system

#

maybe not as intense as dartmouth

#

and i think i'd have more fun?

#

would love for any input on this tho

versed ferry
versed ferry
woeful cairn
#

while emory seems more “fun” just bc of the city

woeful cairn
hard fossil
#

Terms move fast that's for sure. I liked that things were changing a lot. I also don't have a great frame of reference. I've worked at institutions with semesters, but never been educated in one

#

The only reason there isn't stuff to do is if you aren't trying. There's always tons going on between sports, the Hop, parties, clubs, etc

woeful cairn
hard fossil
#

I mean, yeah

woeful cairn
#

my concern is that i'll be super bored at dartmouth

#

am i getting something wrong?

hard fossil
#

I never had any clubs die out from that

#

I mean school work and hanging out with friends is a lot of time

#

What do you like to do now?

woeful cairn
#

if you know about science olympiad, i do a lot of balsa engineering

#

it's really fun

hard fossil
#

There's a badminton night or two each week

#

I would lose half the gym to it

woeful cairn
#

oh that's pretty sick, i wasn't sure if it had died out or not bc i didn't see a post in a while

#

definitely a plus

hard fossil
#

Not sure about w club team, this is just open gym

woeful cairn
#

ohh okay

#

yeah doesnt really matter to me

#

i'd just wanna play lol

#

the only reason why i was asking about the d plan's pressure was because my mom's friend's son went to dartmouth

#

and ended up like doing drugs and stuff because of the pressure

#

his parents like took him out sophomore year and he's just like a druggie now

#

ik it's not like everyone is like that

#

btu it seems like dartmouth is super intense (not to say thats a bad thing)

hard fossil