Liberal Arts College and Research University for Pre-Law & Pre-Med

Students who are determined to pursue careers in either medicine or law often debate and vacillate about which type of institution to attend because they want to make sure that the college or university they choose can provide enough education to have them admitted through the medical or law schools. It is a nerve-wrecking decision because for many schools, transferring can often look negatively, especially if it was due to a low GPA in the freshman year. Furthermore, students in these programs have a limited freedom from college social life, need to maintain a high GPA, and divide time to show some dedications on volunteering or internship. So, going to a right institution is extremely pivotal.

To help you with this decision, I am going to just briefly go over some factors to consider. You should use this as a guide and talk with your parents, teachers, and friends to see which type of school will fit you the best, and then narrow the list to actual institutions.

1. Your Personality

If you like to receive individual attentions from your professors and friends and want to be on the spotlight, then you should consider Liberal Arts College. But, if you want to put yourself among just one of the large students and have more freedom as being anonymous, then the research university is the right choice for you. In order to do well in colleges and universities, you need to like the place first. It does not matter if the institution is known as sending students 100% to professional institutions. You will not survive if you do not like the institution..

2. Courses and Location

If you are a pre-med student and know for sure that science courses are the only ones you want to take, then highly consider research universities. If you attend Liberal Arts Colleges, then you will have to take courses in humanities, social sciences, and other branches of disciplines than science as graduation requirements. It is true that medical schools sometime like the applicants from liberal arts colleges more, but if you have sworn that you are not taking another history course, then you can go to research universities and avoid that trouble.

With pre-law, the issue is a little bit different. A research university is considered if it's located in large cities like Washington D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and so on. Pre-law students should think about what internships opportunities are available, and often with large universities, they tend to be near big towns or cities, so they may be better. Of course, there are small institutions near large cities as well, but either way, you need to think about the location.

3. Professors or Friends

While Liberal Arts College can be rather large, it is no match for research universities. A big thing that many students do in pre-med and pre-law program is to form a study group. With research universities, it is easy to find people to study with because well, there are many students to choose! But, with Liberal Arts College, your option is limited, and if you happen to have bad relation with someone, this could prevent you from joining the study group with several other people, who like your antagonistic person. So, sometimes, it is a bit harder to find a good and stable study group in Liberal Arts College. Now, this is not always the case because it can work vice versa as well.

Another big factor to consider is the student-professor interaction. With Liberal Arts Colleges, you will be able to form a very close relationship with professors in the campus. In many cases, you will see the same professor you had in your freshman year until you graduate (assuming he/she does not retire before that!) even if he/she was not in your department of major. Also, this closeness can be a big plus for internships because they can write a really good letter of recommendation. You will be who you are to them, not some random student who sat at the back of the lecture hall on Tuesday morning. Of course, with research universities, you have a more number of professors to choose from, and this can be a plus too. You should choose whatever is more appealing - easier to approach professors or more options of professors to have as the adviser.

If you use these tips, then your decision to find the size of institution will be much easier. Please do not just pick an institution for pre-med or pre-law based on the rankings (like U.S. & World News Report) or other people's words. Visit the place and see for yourself. Talk to the current students. Before you become a college student for medical/law school, become a happy college student.