what school is right for you?

[piscesbabi09]

thanx for everyones advice...i want to be a surgeon( not sure which kind just yet)..but i also like to draw..any one know any good med schools and art schools?

[alum]

Originally Posted by piscesbabi09

thanx for everyones advice...i want to be a surgeon( not sure which kind just yet)..but i also like to draw..any one know any good med schools and art schools?

A major that combines your two interests would be medical illustratration. The artists that specialize in this field are the ones that draw the anatomical depictions in JAMA, medical textbooks, etc. Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and the Medical College of GA are two schools that offer that program.

---

thanx...what school do you go to and how do you like the atmosphere?

Back in the days of the dinosaur, I chose Carnegie Mellon for its research reputation, its small size (for a university), its Nobel Prize winners in the field that I wanted to major. My H chose West Point because he wanted to serve his country, he wanted to compete in his sport at a D1 level, he was the 2nd of 5 stairstep kids and didn't want to unduly burden his parents. More recently, our D chose a tiny southern LAC because it has a fantastic alumni network, she really wanted professors teaching her classes instead of large lecture halls and foreign TA's (a major complaint of research U undergrads), it is top in her intended field of study.

And just as a point to the importance of individual "fit" , one of my siblings went to UVM and loved it. A couple of my extended family relatives went to UMass and loved it. More importantly, they were able to find a great job or great PhD program as follow-up. However, my sibs and I would have had a horrible time at ZooMass. For us, it was just too big and too wild.

[KSigkid]

There's a whole host of things that should factor into the college selection process. How does it stack up academically, so that when you leave you can either go to the grad school you want, or get the job you want? What kind of feel does the campus give you? Does it have some activities (school newspaper, debate society, etc.) that interest you? Does the campus location fit your style (is it in a city or rural, is it an actual campus)? Also check into costs, and scholarship availability. Also, if there are any faculty in particular that you want to study under, try to make sure that they teach all students and are at least marginally available. For example, Elie Wiesel teaches at my alma mater, but he only teaches a couple of classes, and it is mostly grad students who can get into his sections.

I know not every high school works this way, but my high school's guidance department was excellent in explaining the process and helping decide what place would be best. It might not be a bad idea to see if people from your high school went to the schools you are interested in, just to get a students' point of view.

It's a big decision, but good luck. When it turns out right (like it did for me), it's a great experience.

[FSUZeta]

if you are considering medicine, then as you are looking at colleges, you may want to find out what percentage of their graduates apply to and are accepted into medical schools and how many are accepted on their first try. ask the admissions counselor how closely the professors work with the pre-med students, and if there are any special programs(like mock interviews) that help prepare the students for their real medical school interview

check your pm.

[PhoenixAzul]

When I applied, I applied to a really bipolar group of schools, and was accepted into all of them. I applied to :

Penn State main
St. Bonaventure
Ball State
Bethany College (WV)
Otterbein College
University of Alabama (yeah, I know)
University of Pittsburgh

There may have been others. But here's the deal. I wanted, no, scratch that, NEEDED to get away from people in my high school. I was done with it. Those people were poison, and would have ruined my college experience. So remove the poison, go out of state! That meant that Penn State, Pitt and Indian Uni of PA were out. Plus, I wouldn't have been given much financial aid because I didn't qualify for "need". I needed merit.

I visited Ball State and St. Bonaventure...both were WAYYY too big for me, and had to have a big emphasis on partying...not what I was looking for. Plus, Ball State's representatives were rather rude to me when I did my visit.

Now on the other end of the scale was Bethany. Bethany had been part of my childhood because my grandfather is an alum. My brother also went to Bethany and would have been on campus w/me for 2 years. Its a beautiful school...BUT it is in the middle of NOWHERE and has a student body of 500. Yes, you read that right, 500. Plus it is too close to home. Plus I would always be known as Brother's Little Sister, and the whole point was to get my own identity. Plus their art and journalism programs were not quite what I wanted.

Then I found Otterbein. When I first started looking at schools, I wanted to be an Equine Veterinarian and OC has a great program in equine sciences, but I decided that my math and coping skills were not good enough for vet sciences and that my real calling was in journalism and art. Otterbein was far away from home but not too far, small but not too small, in a small town but connected to a big city, private, collegiate, perfect class size (1:14 i think?)...all in all, wonderful. It just felt right, and I know that seems trite, but when you know, you just know. As I sit in my dorm with my senior ring on, I'm ordering my hood and gown right now and wearing my letters. I'm so happy to be here. The college made every attempt to get me here. I was offered nearly 17,000 in merit aid. They sent me to Northern Ireland. I was able to get involved in nearly every aspect of campus life (newspaper, religious life, governance, GREEK LIFE!!!), I started a rowing club...the campus offered those opportunities, and made them accessible. I think that's another thing you've got to look at-- what sort of opportunities are there to be a leader? Its one thing to be a member of x club, but can you LEAD. OC has those opportunities.

Sorry, I'm getting sort of teary right now. I had my last undergrad thesis defense meeting today and I'm sort of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel...

O-T-T-E-R-B-E-I-N let's go O!!!

[WVU alpha phi]

[QUOTE=PhoenixAzul;1396727]When I applied, I applied to a really bipolar group of schools, and was accepted into all of them. I applied to :

Penn State main
St. Bonaventure
Ball State
Bethany College (WV)
Otterbein College
University of Alabama (yeah, I know)
University of Pittsburgh


I visited Ball State and St. Bonaventure...both were WAYYY too big for me, and had to have a big emphasis on partying...not what I was looking for. Plus, Ball State's representatives were rather rude to me when I did my visit.

QUOTE]


St. Bonaventure in upstate NY? My dad went there.. doesn't it only have about 1500 students?

[ADqtPiMel]

I was accepted at:
-Miami (OH)
-UVA
-William & Mary
-Butler

I really did like UVA, but I knew as soon as I visited that I belonged at Miami.

[piscesbabi09]

Originally Posted by alum

A major that combines your two interests would be medical illustratration. The artists that specialize in this field are the ones that draw the anatomical depictions in JAMA, medical textbooks, etc. Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and the Medical College of GA are two schools that offer that program.

---


Back in the days of the dinosaur, I chose Carnegie Mellon for its research reputation, its small size (for a university), its Nobel Prize winners in the field that I wanted to major. My H chose West Point because he wanted to serve his country, he wanted to compete in his sport at a D1 level, he was the 2nd of 5 stairstep kids and didn't want to unduly burden his parents. More recently, our D chose a tiny southern LAC because it has a fantastic alumni network, she really wanted professors teaching her classes instead of large lecture halls and foreign TA's (a major complaint of research U undergrads), it is top in her intended field of study.

And just as a point to the importance of individual "fit" , one of my siblings went to UVM and loved it. A couple of my extended family relatives went to UMass and loved it. More importantly, they were able to find a great job or great PhD program as follow-up. However, my sibs and I would have had a horrible time at ZooMass. For us, it was just too big and too wild.

thanks for your help..i never heard of a medical illustrator before now..im going to look into that...

everyone thanks for all of the help..im mos def trying to get away from my mama..she doesnt want me to leave tennessee..but too bad..im tryna get as far as possible..but close enough to be able to come home some weekends..so im thinking about schools in ga and al.....what i'm looking for in a school is for it to not be too big and not too small..southern of course..greeklife..and other things...another question: what were some of the clubs/groups everyone enjoyed while they were/are in?

[PhoenixAzul]

Originally Posted by piscesbabi09

what were some of the clubs/groups everyone enjoyed while they were/are in?

- Alpha Lambda Delta/ Phi Eta Sigma - First year honorary societies
- Order of Omega- Greeklife honorary society
- Mortarboard- senior honor society
- Tan & Cardinal Newspaper (staff writer, photographer, then asst. photo editor, now photo editor)
- Starving Artists (student arts group)
- United Greek Governing Board (greek life judicial)
- Tau Delta (can't you tell )

[LouisaMay]

I knew I wanted to be close to home but not TOO close to home. I ended up at a small school nearly 2 hours away, 1100 students. It was a perfect fit. Small, liberal arts, interesting history. They offered me a good scholarship that sealed the deal in my mind.

In college, I loved the choir and Camerata (a more selective choir), and I was really in the campus newspaper and the literary journal. I served as a peer mentor, and it was one of the best experiences of my life.

Take a look at www.scholarshipcoach.com.

[Tom Earp]

Hey, Big is not better! I did not want to be a Number.

Small, is knowing people of the school and Organizations!

Walk across a Campus and say High to Folks!

Know Members of different Organizations and learn about them.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

Hey, Big is not better! I did not want to be a Number.

Small, is knowing people of the school and Organizations!

Walk across a Campus and say High to Folks!

Know Members of different Organizations and learn about them.

That all depends - KSigRC and I went to a pretty large school (Boston U), and we were able to get to know quite a few people, both Greek and non-Greek.

Maybe that's because of our winning personalities, or something like that, but going to a big school doesn't mean you'll be just "a number."

[macallan25]

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

Hey, Big is not better! I did not want to be a Number.

Small, is knowing people of the school and Organizations!

Walk across a Campus and say High to Folks!

Know Members of different Organizations and learn about them.

Yeah, I go to a school with almost 50,000 people and I know plenty of greeks and non-greeks.

[DSTRen13]

Originally Posted by piscesbabi09

thanx for everyones advice...i want to be a surgeon( not sure which kind just yet)..but i also like to draw..any one know any good med schools and art schools?

I'm from Georgia. So for Georgia schools ... Emory for medicine & SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design) for art. Both are expensive as hell private schools, tho'. (I loved my free public school to death - but I would't really recomment GT for an art or medicine program unless you're talking about something specialized like biomed engineering or computer animation. )

As for how to choose a school - just keep looking into things and visit campuses. Who you are and what you like is going to change so much between your sophomore year and your senior year when you make that decision - just stay informed. You'll know when you know, and you can't really know for sure yet.

[piscesbabi09]

Originally Posted by DSTRen13

I'm from Georgia. So for Georgia schools ... Emory for medicine & SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design) for art. Both are expensive as hell private schools, tho'. (I loved my free public school to death - but I would't really recomment GT for an art or medicine program unless you're talking about something specialized like biomed engineering or computer animation. )

As for how to choose a school - just keep looking into things and visit campuses. Who you are and what you like is going to change so much between your sophomore year and your senior year when you make that decision - just stay informed. You'll know when you know, and you can't really know for sure yet.

thanx..i love georgia! ..this summer im going to my cousin's house and she lives in atlanta so im going to see if she can take me to some campuses while im there...what did you like about gt?