Going by prestige is, in my opinion, a great way to set yourself for failure. Like some have already said, some people have the misguided idea of getting into top twenty or bust. This lead many pre-meds to put together disastrous school lists where they’ll be applying. I bet the majority of them are the ones with >90% GPA/MCAT who won’t get in, among other reasons.
Medical schools in the U.S. have such high standards of accreditation and acceptance that you simply can’t go wrong. Even the "lowest tier" American med school graduates beat applicants from the Caribbean ones! Moreover, unless you’re a big time gunner, over 90% of medical graduates match into a residency, and that’s before SOAP. All physician specialties pay generous salaries, too (some more than others), and it’s widely understood that, outside academia and research, medical school prestige has very little impact on finding a job or on physician income.
So, don’t set yourself up for failure. I do believe there‘s a tendency for "lower" tier schools to have BA/MD and other accelerated programs, probably as a way to lock in talented students and keep them from going to more prestigious schools, and those students will in turn help the school rise its acceptance and USMLE stats. But don’t fall into the prestige trap. Of course, aim higher, but do not discard BA/MD programs as a viable option.
