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Calvin pre-health grads in demand, acceptance rates significantly higher than national average

msk23@calvin.edu — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 20:38:36 +0000

Calvin pre-health grads in demand, acceptance rates significantly higher than national average msk23@calvin.edu Fri, 04/25/2025 - 16:38

Calvin pre-health graduates are in demand. The statistics don鈥檛 lie. In 2025, Calvin grads registered an impressive 88% acceptance rate into med school and 62% into PA school, both significantly higher than the national averages of 41% and 31% respectively. Grads heading to PT school saw similar success with an 87.5% acceptance rate, while 100% of applicants to dental, optometry, occupational therapy, and pharmacy schools were accepted.聽
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鈥淭his is a phenomenal cohort of students,鈥� said Tammy LaRue, director of pre-health advising at 茄子视频. 鈥淭hese numbers are nearly unheard of.鈥澛�
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While this cohort鈥檚 acceptance rates are higher than most years, LaRue says Calvin consistently trends much higher than the national average across these categories.

Standing out with soft skills

And it鈥檚 clear to her why that鈥檚 the case. While she says grads score well on the MCAT and have the necessary clinical and research experience to compete in the application process, what puts them over the top are the soft skills.聽
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鈥淲e strongly encourage students through advising, through their capstone courses, through all avenues to think deeply about what they are doing and how to articulate that well,鈥� said LaRue. 鈥淭hese critical thinking and communication skills set them apart when they are side-by-side with students from other institutions who have met the checklist of admissions requirements as well.鈥�

Proven value of the liberal arts

Students who are heading off to grad schools this fall credit their cross-disciplinary education as one of the keys to their preparation.聽
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鈥淐alvin鈥檚 liberal arts education has equipped me to engage in thoughtful conversations on a range of topics beyond medicine,鈥� said Claire Cassiday, a senior studying biochemistry who is attending GVSU鈥檚 PA program this coming fall. 鈥淭his academic challenge has given me the confidence I need as I enter into PA school and learn about other complex subjects.鈥� 聽
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鈥淢y experience at Calvin not only prepared me to collaborate effectively with others within my own area of study, but it also equipped me with the skills to engage in meaningful collaboration with individuals from diverse academic backgrounds鈥攚hich is an increasingly vital competency for working in any healthcare setting,鈥� said Erin Cawley, a senior on the pre-physical therapy track studying psychology, who is heading to the University of Colorado this fall.

Personalized education leads to stronger network

Grads also clearly point to the individualized attention and mentorship they received as being crucial to both their character formation and to their acceptance into grad school.聽

鈥淭he small class sizes and approachable professors made it easy to ask questions, seek help, and build relationships. That kind of environment gave me confidence to be curious and ask questions when I was confused on a topic, a mindset I鈥檒l carry into PA school,鈥� said Cassiday. 鈥淭hrough one-on-one conversations, I received advice and mentorship that went beyond academics. Those personal connections also led to strong letters of recommendation from professors who truly knew me and my goals, something that I believe helped me get into PA school.鈥澛�
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鈥淐alvin having small class sizes has enabled me to have close relationships with my professors and I still stay in touch with professors from my first year at Calvin,鈥� said Daniel John, who鈥檚 graduating this May with degrees in biology, chemistry, and mechanical engineering and attending the University of Michigan Medical School in 2025. 鈥淎s I applied to medical school, Dr. LaRue and Professor Sinniah were especially helpful in crafting my application and gave valuable feedback as I wrote my essays.鈥澛�
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鈥淚 was able to receive personal research mentorship from three different professors across three different departments and fields of study,鈥� said Cawley. 鈥淓ach of my professors I worked under invested in me鈥攖hey got to know my life story, the unique experiences and perspectives that have come to shape my vocational pursuits. They intimately knew my story and actively shaped it as well.鈥�

This fall, 56 students will be heading off to graduate schools in the health professions, from Boston University to Creighton, Case Western to University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin-Madison to Northwestern, to dozens of others.

Fri, 04/25/2025 - 12:00

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Matthew Kucinski

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Trio of Calvin students earn nation鈥檚 most prestigious STEM research award

msk23@calvin.edu — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 11:25:49 +0000

Trio of Calvin students earn nation鈥檚 most prestigious STEM research award msk23@calvin.edu Wed, 04/02/2025 - 07:25

Aerin Baker (Saugatuck, Mich.), Maggie Grabill (Ada, Mich.), and Ava Tatko (Grand Rapids, Mich.) have been named 2025 Goldwater Scholars. The scholarship, awarded by the Barry M. Goldwater Foundation, is widely considered to be the most prestigious award for undergraduate students in the natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering in the United States.聽

More than 1,300 students from 445 schools applied for the award, but only 441 students received it. This marks the second straight year that three 茄子视频 students earned the distinction.聽
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鈥淭o have multiple students most years earning this distinction is a testament to the strength of our students and the strength of our research programs here at Calvin,鈥� said Chris Hartemink, professor of engineering and Calvin鈥檚 campus representative for the scholarship.

Personalized research experiences

Common to all three students鈥� experience is they were invited into research during their first year at Calvin. One thing they discovered was they would have incredible access to their professors and be seen as partners in the research.

鈥淭he professors are so intentional about connecting with you as an individual, as a person, and that grows during the research,鈥� said Baker, a junior studying chemistry. 鈥淵ou are working alongside your professor, not under them.鈥�

鈥淲henever I had advice to give or a research-related question to ask I could walk into my research advisor鈥檚 office anytime and sit down and have a conversation,鈥� said Tatko, a junior studying engineering with an energy, environmental and sustainability concentration. 鈥淎t a larger university, where you have more of an impersonal relationship, that is not an option.鈥�

Impressive outcomes

While the students have felt like partners in the research, their names being listed as co-authors alongside their professors in major journal articles validate that feeling.

鈥淲e鈥檝e published four papers and we are working on a fifth now,鈥� said Baker, who also presented her research at the American Chemical Society鈥檚 National Meeting in Denver, Colorado this past summer. 鈥淢y advisor [Professor Doug Vander Griend] and I are also working on a collaboration with a university in France.鈥�

Grabill, a chemical engineering and chemistry double major is only a sophomore, yet she already has two publications to her name.

Maggie Grabill '27 earned the Goldwater Scholarship as a sophomore. Most awardees are juniors.

As for Tatko, she鈥檚 already seeing the tangible benefits of her research on a global scale. She鈥檚 been working on getting a manuscript published about centralized chlorination for rural communities in the Andean mountains in Ecuador. While she says the water disinfection systems in the U.S. are well proven, they aren鈥檛 necessarily available to other countries because of material needs and regulation restrictions.

鈥淪o, the engineering department at Calvin is partnering with an engineering and missions organization in Ecuador and we are working with them to do design for specific communities. So, I have been organizing and doing design for 18 different communities over six years of data and organizing that into a formalized paper to get it published to share the design so others can do it for other countries.鈥�

Practical applications

In Spring 2024, Tatko got to travel with her research advisor and two other student researchers to install the design they had created as a prototype in their lab during her first year of summer research.

Ava Tatko (left) in Ecuador with her fellow student researchers and her research advisor, Julie Wildschut (center).

鈥淚t was so very interesting to have my research directly applicable. It was novel research, and we then had the opportunity to install it and do 鈥榬eal engineering鈥� and work with the community and make sure they knew how to do maintenance and installation themselves so they could operate it once we had returned to the U.S.,鈥� said Tatko.

Support leads to success

While Baker, Grabill and Tatko realize the research experiences they received at Calvin helped them earn the prestigious Goldwater award, they also credit their professors and advisors who invested countless hours to help their students stand out amongst their peers.

鈥淎ll the applicants worked closely with Professor Hartemink during the month of January to do essay writing and drafts and reviews and to make sure this application was as polished as it could be,鈥� said Tatko.

鈥淚 had been told as a sophomore you鈥檒l put your best foot forward, but know that you can鈥檛 be as competitive as the juniors because you only have one year of experience,鈥� said Grabill. 鈥淪o, I thought I鈥檇 be applying next year. But I鈥檓 super grateful that despite the odds, Professor Hartemink and other professors at Calvin had enough confidence in me to take the time to write letters of recommendation.鈥�

鈥淚 think Calvin provided me a lot of support to win the Goldwater,鈥� said Tatko. 鈥淢y application wouldn鈥檛 have been as strong without Chris Hartemink鈥檚 and Julie Wildschut鈥檚, my research advisor, guidance and support throughout the process.鈥�

Made the right decision

While the three still have time to decide their next step after Calvin, one thing they all agree on: they made the right choice in coming to Calvin.

鈥�100%! I thought my idea of research was pretty solid coming in, but as I鈥檝e gone through Calvin, it鈥檚 a lot deeper than I originally thought. You get to connect with so many people, collaborate not just in your own lab, but across departments and with people from other schools who have knowledge of what you are working on,鈥� said Baker. 鈥淐alvin is a great place in the research community and a lot of great opportunities come out of that.鈥�

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I鈥檇 be where I am if I wasn鈥檛 at Calvin. I think it鈥檚 been a really great experience,鈥� said Grabill.

鈥淭he longer I鈥檓 at Calvin the more grateful I am that I chose to come here,鈥� said Tatko. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really worked out for me in every sense I wanted.鈥�

Interested in learning more about Calvin and the opportunities available to you? Get started.

Wed, 04/02/2025 - 12:00

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Chemistry professor Doug Vander Griend researches alongside Aerin Baker '26. At Calvin, students have opportunities to work 1-on-1 with professors on important research projects. Baker's research experience has already led to co-authoring multiple papers for journals and presenting at a national conference.

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Heading to NASA to Become a Better Teacher

msk23@calvin.edu — Wed, 18 Sep 2024 11:58:47 +0000

Heading to NASA to Become a Better Teacher msk23@calvin.edu Wed, 09/18/2024 - 07:58

For the past 24 years, the latter 15 at Calvin, Herb Fynewever鈥檚 primary role has been teaching. But, this fall, the chemistry professor is on a different mission鈥攇oing beyond his usual surroundings on a journey of discovery.聽

鈥淚 love teaching at Calvin. I love teaching first-year students, and I get a lot of energy from those students,鈥� said Fynewever. 鈥淚 know you can get into a rut even when you鈥檙e doing something you love. It鈥檚 great to get out and do something different, learn something new, and breathe new life into your passions, so I鈥檓 grateful to Calvin for letting me do that.聽

Exploring New Terrain聽

Fynewever was selected as an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow for NASA in Washington, D.C. As part of his fellowship, he鈥檒l be tasked with writing the next strategic plan for The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program.聽

As a scientist, what excites Fynewever most is understanding the interaction between science and government.聽

鈥淚鈥檝e been really curious about this interaction between science and government, and I have a deep personal interest in policy,鈥� said Fynewever. 鈥淚f we don鈥檛 have an educated public and policymakers, then even if we get the science right, we don鈥檛 necessarily get policies that align with the evidence of science. I really wanted to get a job in the government temporarily so that I could understand a bit more of how it all works.鈥澛�

Deepening His Understanding

While Fynewever is taking on the posture of a student this year, he鈥檚 most excited about how he can take what he鈥檚 learning and directly apply it when he returns to his teaching role next year.聽
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鈥淚 can read about it in the newspaper and listen to congressional hearings,鈥� said Fynewever, 鈥渂ut actually being in D.C. for a year and meeting with people who work in the government, getting to know them, meeting scientists who work in the government, seeing how it all fits together, that will help me when teaching my classes about these issues.鈥澛�
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Fynewever can see it being especially helpful in his 鈥淐hemistry and Public Policy鈥� and his 鈥淪cience and Society鈥� courses. 聽
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鈥淚n my chemistry and public policy course, for example, I have students read primary literature in science and legislation and I have them watch congressional hearings, among other things, but it鈥檒l be so much better when I can say to them, 鈥榳hen I was in D.C. this is how I saw this working.鈥欌€澛�

Enhancing the Learning Environment聽

For Fynewever, it鈥檚 all about providing his students with a greater depth of learning, so that they can be the best possible citizens.聽
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鈥淲e need an interdisciplinary approach to advance the kingdom. From Scripture, we are all given different gifts and to follow our vocation is to be faithful to the gifting that we have,鈥� said Fynewever. 鈥淪o, some of us are gifted to be scientists, to know how to collect evidence from general revelation, to learn about God鈥檚 creation. But that evidence only gets you so far. You then need to think about what we do with the evidence, that鈥檚 where I feel policymakers have an important role to play. They then take that evidence and use their gifts to determine what the appropriate, data-informed policy is. And now, what shall we do as Christians, what shall we do as humans to care for creation given what scientists have told us about it?鈥澛�

Prepared to Succeed, Preparing Others to do the Same聽

While Fynewever鈥檚 experience is sure to benefit his future students, the fact he was selected to write the strategic plan for this major government outfit also speaks volumes to the benefit of a Calvin education.聽
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鈥淚 think part of what鈥檚 contributed to my success is when I was taking classes at Calvin I spent a lot of time in the core curriculum learning how to write, how to discern, taking philosophy and history classes. But even in my science classes, writing well was a requirement and part of the curriculum was writing formal lab reports and getting lots of feedback,鈥� said Fynewever. 鈥淎t larger state universities, it鈥檚 just not possible to have that kind of hands-on training in technical writing, because it鈥檚 so labor intensive and when you don鈥檛 have the liberal arts values, core curriculum, small student-to-professor ratio, there鈥檚 no way to get the detailed feedback that I did as a student at Calvin.鈥澛�
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And Fynewever said that foundational work has allowed him to build up a competitive resume鈥� that is full of publications, a number of which he has co-authored with his Calvin students.聽
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鈥淚 think part of what gave me a leg up for this position is my publication track record and seeing it鈥檚 in science education and I鈥檓 active in contributing to the literature,鈥� said Fynewever. 鈥淭hey probably thought, oh he knows how to write, how to synthesize data, so this would be a good person to take data from all the stakeholders and come up with a plan to go with this data.鈥澛�

And those are skills he learned at Calvin and ones he is excited to continue to impart when he returns from his latest mission. 聽
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鈥淭his is a new opportunity to learn, so I can come back re-energized with fresh insights,鈥� said Fynewever.

Wed, 09/18/2024 - 12:00

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Discovering a World of Opportunity Just a Few Miles Away

msk23@calvin.edu — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 12:11:56 +0000

Discovering a World of Opportunity Just a Few Miles Away msk23@calvin.edu Wed, 09/11/2024 - 08:11

When Hannah King was looking at colleges, she knew where she wasn鈥檛 going. Or so, she thought.聽

鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 thinking Calvin at first,鈥� said King, who graduated from Grand Rapids Christian High School.聽

King, whose high school sits just three miles down the road from 茄子视频, felt it was just too close. With an interest in the sciences, she also had a negative perception about Christian schools compared to public research institutes.聽聽

鈥淚 was worried about the rigor鈥hat I wouldn鈥檛 be able to go as in-depth into chemistry and the sciences,鈥� said King. 鈥淚 think it was a deep-rooted hesitancy.鈥澛�

Changing her mind聽

But this hesitancy was ultimately uprooted when she realized the bottom line. 鈥淐alvin was significantly more affordable than the other schools I got accepted to,鈥� said King.聽

So, King decided to enroll at Calvin and soon discovered that her perceptions of Calvin didn鈥檛 match reality.聽

鈥淚t鈥檚 been great, a lot better than I could have ever imagined,鈥� said King. 鈥淭he coursework is challenging鈥攁ll of it. It鈥檚 very in depth. And my profs are respected and established in their fields.鈥澛�

Finding opportunities right away聽

At Calvin, King found research opportunities right out of the gate.聽聽

鈥淸After my] first year of college, I applied to Calvin鈥檚 institutional research program, and I was so surprised I got in,鈥� said King.聽

She spent the first two summers at Calvin doing research alongside Professor Laura Westrate, which prepared her to compete for competitive internships across the country following her junior year.聽

Working with Calvin鈥檚 Career Center, King applied for multiple internships and was accepted into four of them. Ultimately, she decided to take the internship with Ginkgo Bioworks, a biotech company in Boston, Massachusetts, which came with both moving and housing stipends.聽聽

鈥淭hey are a contract company,鈥� said King. 鈥淚f Merck or Moderna want something done but don鈥檛 have the resources to do it or if it鈥檚 cheaper for them to outsource, my company will do that project for them. Because of all the instruments and specialists we have, we can do a lot of projects.聽

鈥淏ig pharma companies in early-stage vaccine development want us to help make vaccine components and test to see what鈥檚 in them,鈥� said King. 鈥淢y job is to see exactly what we are making, and what are the impurities.鈥�

Equipped for success聽

While King had never done this particular type of chemistry research before, she was drawing heavily on lessons she learned at Calvin鈥攁bout how through failure you ultimately find success.聽

鈥淏ecause I had done research before at Calvin with Calvin profs, I knew that I was not going to be perfect, there would be mistakes, some experiments would fail, and I would have to troubleshoot and try again,鈥� said King. 鈥淪o, it was helpful to focus on using my mistakes to become better instead of considering it a wasted day. Calvin introduced that mindset [to me]...using my failures for learning.鈥澛�

King said her colleagues took notice of this skill: 鈥淚 was complimented on that a lot by my colleagues,鈥� said King. 鈥淥ther people are starting to realize how well Calvin has equipped me.鈥澛�

And King is realizing that too.聽

鈥淚 am glad I came here. I feel that Calvin has given me exactly what I was looking for and proved my聽pre-judgments wrong,鈥� said King.聽

King, a senior chemistry and French double major, is finishing up her time at Calvin. She鈥檚 in the midst of applying to PhD programs.聽

鈥淚 want to keep learning and see where it takes me,鈥� said King.

Wed, 09/11/2024 - 12:00

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