Applying to the med school of your undergrad

[James401]

Is it looked down upon to apply to the medical school that you got your undergrad at. Or does it weaken your chances of getting in?

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[odysseus88]

No..

I'm not sure I understand your logic as to why it would be a bad thing?

More often than not, those medical schools with undergraduate schools also tend to have the largest group of matriculants from their undergrad school as well.

 

[I like meowmix]

No, if anything it helps IMO. I went to a top10 undergrad (with a top10 med school), and it was standard for everyone who applied to the med school to get an interview. I believe 20% of the med school class was from the undergrad. Similar #'s at my current medical school.

 

[James401]

No..

I'm not sure I understand your logic as to why it would be a bad thing?

More often than not, those medical schools with undergraduate schools also tend to have the largest group of matriculants from their undergrad school as well.

I was just curious because of something I read. Couldn't remember where I saw it. I am more asking how many people have done it and gotten in.

 

[gyngyn]

Compared to applicants with equal stats you usually have an advantage at a home school.

 

[theseeker4]

I was just curious because of something I read. Couldn't remember where I saw it. I am more asking how many people have done it and gotten in.

I think it is more commonly a grad-school thing to try to look at other schools for candidates than it is for med schools. For example, I was told when I was looking into entering a PhD program in Chem that my school prefers candidates who didn't attend the same school for undergrad. The med school, on the other hand, if anything has a bias towards undergrads from here. There are probably some med schools that prefer students from different undergrads, but I don't think there is a common bias against them.

 

[IncognitoGuy]

My school loves people from the undergrad - like 34 people in my year are alumni

If anything, it's easier to give reasons for wanting to attend the medical school since you have established ties and interests where you are. Which could translate to a more convincing application when it comes to it.

 

[darkjedi]

I remember being told that BU Med hated BU undergrads, but that could have been purely conjecture.

I'd say in general it shouldn't hurt you. I think at most medical schools you would find a pretty sizable chunk of the class to be alum of the corresponding undergrad school. Some of it could be student preference to stay close, and some of it could be adcoms recognizing established connections and ties to the region. There is probably a higher chance of having a letter of rec from a recognizable faculty member at the home institution as well.

 

[Espadaleader]

So my alma accepts at least 5 people annually (for the past 5 years at least) from a small liberal arts college in my city. Very few come from my school.

 

[NeuroNYC]

I remember being told that BU Med hated BU undergrads, but that could have been purely conjecture.

I'd say in general it shouldn't hurt you. I think at most medical schools you would find a pretty sizable chunk of the class to be alum of the corresponding undergrad school. Some of it could be student preference to stay close, and some of it could be adcoms recognizing established connections and ties to the region. There is probably a higher chance of having a letter of rec from a recognizable faculty member at the home institution as well.

Boston University Undergrad here. Also did my graduate work at BU. Interviewed at BU Med recently. My interviewer seemed mostly interested in why I chose BU for undergrad, and in the activities I was involved in during my time at the institution. We connected over our mutual love of the institution. I really feel that it varies by institution, and by person.

Perhaps you heard that BU med hates BU undergrads for the following reasons..
1) BU has a 7 year BA/MD program. If you wanted to be a doctor, why weren't you in that program?
2) BU has a program that allows a small number of extremely competitive undergraduates to apply to BU Med while still a sophmore or junior. If accepted to the program, you start taking med school classes while still an undergraduate, and upon graduation you need a 30 MCAT to continue to the MD program.
3) BU also has a masters program specifically designed for people who want to go to medical school. People in this program are in a different applicant pool for BU Med.
tl;dr --> There are a lot of ways for a BU undergrad to go BU Med. They should be taken advantage of, if possible.

 

[chillaxbro]

I got rejected from my undergrad med school.
'twas my top choice for a while too but now I'm bitter

 

[487806]

Is it looked down upon to apply to the medical school that you got your undergrad at. Or does it weaken your chances of getting in?

No it actually helps. Brown comes to mind (quite notorioud in fact).

I personally am not a fan since i'm too used to my ugrad's med school (i.e. Work, shadow etc.)

 

[mcloaf]

I remember being told that BU Med hated BU undergrads, but that could have been purely conjecture.

I'd say in general it shouldn't hurt you. I think at most medical schools you would find a pretty sizable chunk of the class to be alum of the corresponding undergrad school. Some of it could be student preference to stay close, and some of it could be adcoms recognizing established connections and ties to the region. There is probably a higher chance of having a letter of rec from a recognizable faculty member at the home institution as well.

I'm not at BU, but my school also has a reputation for being particularly harsh on its undergrads. TBH, I think that probably has more to do with all the premeds here expecting a leg up in the admissions process over outside applicants, but I'm not sure because I didn't go here for undergrad.

 

[BlueLabel]

I don't think it's looked down upon, but it isn't an automatic "in" or necessarily a leg-up either. I think you have to go on a school-by-school basis and look at recent trends. For example, my alma mater's medical school is not known to accept a disproportionate number of undergrads from the same institution, while a different school in my state has more of a reputation to being friendly to graduates from my school. But generally speaking, no, I don't think it would diminish your chances in any way.

 

[BlackCalvin]

BU Undergrad here. Also did my graduate work at BU. Interviewed at BU Med recently. My interviewer seemed mostly interested in why I chose BU for undergrad, and in the activities I was involved in during my time at the institution. We connected over our mutual love of the institution. I really feel that it varies by institution, and by person.

Perhaps you heard that BU med hates BU undergrads for the following reasons..
1) BU has a 7 year BA/MD program. If you wanted to be a doctor, why weren't you in that program?
2) BU has a program that allows a small number of extremely competitive undergraduates to apply to BU Med while still a sophmore or junior. If accepted to the program, you start taking med school classes while still an undergraduate, and upon graduation you need a 30 MCAT to continue to the MD program.
3) BU also has a masters program specifically designed for people who want to go to medical school. People in this program are in a different applicant pool for BU Med.
tl;dr --> There are a lot of ways for a BU undergrad to go BU Med. They should be taken advantage of, if possible.

Excuse my ignorance but are you talking about Boston University or Baylor University?

 

[darkjedi]

Excuse my ignorance but are you talking about Boston University or Baylor University?

I don't think I've ever heard Baylor referred to as BU, but I'm not texan

 

[NeuroNYC]

Excuse my ignorance but are you talking about Boston University or Baylor University?

Boston University. Sorry for confusion.

 

[BlackCalvin]

I don't think I've ever heard Baylor referred to as BU, but I'm not texan

Its mostly regionally referred to as BU but much of what neuronyc stated aligns with Baylor med and Baylor university.

 

[Goro]

Nope, just the opposite, it seems! U FL SOM has 55% of its class from U FL UG, and Brown is similar, but Yale SOM has 17% of its class from Yale UG; Loyola and U Chicago as 8%, and U ILL-Chicago has 17%

Check out MSAR to see more details.

Is it looked down upon to apply to the medical school that you got your undergrad at. Or does it weaken your chances of getting in?

 

[inycepoo]

The Ivies are definitely biased. Mine accepts 30 (out of ~160 total accepted) from our undergrad alone, which is close to 20% of everyone they accept. That's a huge ass chunk.

Beware of matriculation data to answer OP's initial question. Matriculation is always lower than acceptance, and it's the latter that really matters for admissions, obviously.

 

[Beargryllz]

It gives you a significant advantage. It won't hurt and can only help unless you've somehow managed to make a truly horrible reputation for yourself at that institution.

 

[BurberryDoc]

No..

I'm not sure I understand your logic as to why it would be a bad thing?

More often than not, those medical schools with undergraduate schools also tend to have the largest group of matriculants from their undergrad school as well.

I understand where this is coming from - my PI does not like to hire research associates and such with people who have spent their entire training at one institution. For example, someone applied for a position with our research group -
Undergrad: Harvard College
Medical School: Harvard (MD/PhD)
Residency: Either BIDMC or MGH or B&W.

The PI said he believes people like this who remain at one institution in this way may not be "adaptable" to new environments. I am not saying I necessarily agree with this, but I can see how there is at least one way that a person might scrutinize the fact that someone went to the same university for medical school as they did for undergrad.

 

[inycepoo]

The PI said he believes people like this who remain at one institution in this way may not be "adaptable" to new environments. I am not saying I necessarily agree with this, but I can see how there is at least one way that a person might scrutinize the fact that someone went to the same university for medical school as they did for undergrad.

Out of scope for the discussion here, though. We're interested in the acceptance part of things.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

For grad schools it's frowned upon unless you have a good reason for applying to your alma matter's graduate prorgram (eg: "I want to study alzheimer's and you guys have some of the strongest alzheimer's research in the nation"), but for med schools it's a bonus as it indicates you're more likely to matriculate there than the average applicant.

I think a more interesting question is how applying to the same school you went to for undergrad is viewed in MD/PhD admissions.