Do Med Schools care about undergrads from women college?

[MAGABLM]

Anyone has any opinions about how med schools view women college graduates? I assume it is no difference whatsoever but just throwing it out there.

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[Goro]

How would a admissions committee member know a particular school is a women's college unless the words ""women's college" are in the name of the school?

Honestly, it wouldn't make a difference to me at all. How are you I've done and said College makes the difference.

 

[MAGABLM]

How would a admissions committee member know a particular school is a women's college unless the words ""women's college" are in the name of the school?

Honestly, it wouldn't make a difference to me at all. How are you I've done and said College makes the difference.

I'd assume that a women college is known at least by medical schools within that states or certain vicinity through common knowledge.

I am surprised that there so few of them around. A few of these are likely known/recognizable across the country (i.e. Barnard College, Wellesley College, Smith College, Bryn Mawr College) from those in education.

 

[Goro]

The schools of the "Seven Sisters", like Wellesley and Smith I have heard of, but aren't they all co-ed nowadays?.

We have matriculated some very good students from them.


I've never heard of any of the other colleges on the list.

 

[Goro]

But why should it matter it one went to an all women's college?

 

[MAGABLM]

But why should it matter it one went to an all women's college?

I'm glad it doesn't matter to you. I know of students considering some of the the lesser known school... perhaps those schools are not "competitive" or "reputable" which is a bigger concern than just being a women's college.

 

[frosty42]

There are absolutely many women's colleges that are not co-ed. They range in prestige just like any other school - Wellesley, for example, is a highly prestigious women's college - and I'm sure they are considered by admissions committees in the exact same way as any other school.

 

[candbgirl]

I'm glad it doesn't matter to you. I know of students considering some of the the lesser known school... perhaps those schools are not "competitive" or "reputable" which is a bigger concern than just being a women's college.

Where are you getting this information/feeling? In all my years I’ve never heard this or even considered this.I went to an all woman's college. It didn’t impact me and it didn’t seem to have impacted several of my friends. If you have the grades, MCAT scores and activities and of course the narrative, why should it matter? And as someone else said, unless the info is in the name of the school most people wouldn’t know unless you told them. More likely people would think “oh that’s out East” “or my mom went there” etc.
I’m really interested in why you think this is a thing.

 

[MAGABLM]

Where are you getting this information/feeling? In all my years I’ve never heard this or even considered this.I went to an all woman's college. It didn’t impact me and it didn’t seem to have impacted several of my friends. If you have the grades, MCAT scores and activities and of course the narrative, why should it matter? And as someone else said, unless the info is in the name of the school most people wouldn’t know unless you told them. More likely people would think “oh that’s out East” “or my mom went there” etc.
I’m really interested in why you think this is a thing.

Thanks for your reply.

I don't think this is an actual thing. This was just a question a high school friend of mine had. She is considering large state schools vs small women college... small fish in big pond vs big fish in small pond (and this has likely been discussed elsewhere) and wasn't sure if that small pond looks different than other (coed) LACs. Ultimately, it seems like many applicants have great grades and MCAT scores, and have shadowing hours during COVID with research and publication etc. So, how can she stand out?

 

[TelemarketingEnigma]

The schools of the "Seven Sisters", like Wellesley and Smith I have heard of, but aren't they all co-ed nowadays?.

We have matriculated some very good students from them.


I've never heard of any of the other colleges on the list.

5/7 seven sisters are still Women’s colleges. One went coed and one merged with Harvard and dissolved.

Having attended one of the above mentioned schools and had friends at others, I don’t see a reason adcoms would specifically consider a womens college any differently than another small LAC of similar caliber. Your experience will be very different at a small LAC than at a large research university but whether this is good or bad for you will depend on your own personality and goals.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I'm not sure what the intent of the question is about. I think all of us who screen applications care about students from women's colleges as we would about students from HBCU's/MSI's and anyone who graduated from college, etc. In other words, we care about each student who applies in that they submit an application worthy of review. Please note that at many schools, the faculty on the admissions committees are BLINDED to the names of the schools attended during deliberations.

If you think there is a bias/preference, no, not on face value or brand of the school alone. But it can be said that going to a smaller, elite private college could come with some benefits, and women's colleges certainly can have unique opportunities when it comes to academics/research partnerships (we do need to support more women of all backgrounds in science), and many of them will have strong student support including pre-health advising infrastructure (like an evaluation committee or a postbac program [as some of those schools do have]) and leadership opportunities which may not be as available or welcoming in a more co-ed environment. These specific allocation of resources, supported by alumni/donor endowments usually, can certainly help an applicant from these programs, especially those applicants who had limited access to resources prior to attending college.

 

[candbgirl]

Thanks for your reply.

I don't think this is an actual thing. This was just a question a high school friend of mine had. She is considering large state schools vs small women college... small fish in big pond vs big fish in small pond (and this has likely been discussed elsewhere) and wasn't sure if that small pond looks different than other (coed) LACs. Ultimately, it seems like many applicants have great grades and MCAT scores, and have shadowing hours during COVID with research and publication etc. So, how can she stand out?

That’s up to the applicant. Applying to med school from any undergrad school is a crap shoot and for upper tiers even more so. Each cycle only around 40% of all applicants are accepted to any med school and of that number about half are accepted at one school. (Over the last cycle only around 35-36% of all applicants were accepted.). What these numbers mean is that near 60% of all applicants are rejected every cycle and this includes stellar applicants from all types of colleges and universities.

 

[deleted1079620]

I went to a tiny, no name, no prestige college (co-ed) and got into medical school. I actually did my first year of college at a community college and still got in. Make good grades on all your pre-req's, check your boxes (shadowing, clinical & non-clinical volunteering, leadership, etc), get a good MCAT score, make a good impression on interview day, and you'll get into medical school somewhere, even if you're from a college no one has ever heard of except the alumni.