Do medical schools compare applicants from the same undergrad?

[pathsofglory]

If two applicants from the same undergrad apply to the same med school, does the admissions committee evaluate one applicant in comparison to the other?

In particular, if they’re both practically similar on paper in terms of what they pursued on campus and opportunities available, would the school be inclined to only accept one of the students or are their applications compared independently without regard to each other?

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[Goro]

If two applicants from the same undergrad apply to the same med school, does the admissions committee evaluate one applicant in comparison to the other?

In particular, if they’re both practically similar on paper in terms of what they pursued on campus and opportunities available, would the school be inclined to only accept one of the students or are their applications compared independently without regard to each other?

No. You are compared to yourself.

Admissions is not a zero sum game.

You are all competing for A seat, but not the same seat.

 

[7thAndLASTPoopoftheDay]

Admissions is not a zero sum game.

...

 

[Proudfather94]

If two applicants from the same undergrad apply to the same med school, does the admissions committee evaluate one applicant in comparison to the other?

In particular, if they’re both practically similar on paper in terms of what they pursued on campus and opportunities available, would the school be inclined to only accept one of the students or are their applications compared independently without regard to each other?

I feel like that would be alot of extra work that they wouldn't want to do. They are going to look at applicants accomplishments and stats and see if they are a good fit for the school. Maybe they would do that in a situation like they went to that colleges school for undergrad and they want a specific number of seats to go to alma maters of the school, but that's just speculation.

 

[KnightDoc]

I feel like that would be alot of extra work that they wouldn't want to do. They are going to look at applicants accomplishments and stats and see if they are a good fit for the school. Maybe they would do that in a situation like they went to that colleges school for undergrad and they want a specific number of seats to go to alma maters of the school, but that's just speculation.

I dunno. For UG, admission readers are assigned to specific geographic areas, and then to specific schools, in order to have some uniformity in the reviews of candidates from each school. Why wouldn't med schools do the same thing?

I seriously doubt that there would be a quota for any school, but I also wouldn't be so sure that the same person isn't performing reviews of every candidate from a given school who makes it past the initial screen. Assuming that happens, how can you not be compared to everyone else from your school?

Even though some UGs are known feeders for some med schools, and pretty much every med school favors the home team, schools also like diversity, which is why half of Harvard's class doesn't come from Harvard, etc. Given this universal truth, how can candidates from a given school not be compared to their peers?

I'm also not sure why someone said admissions is not a zero sum game. My understanding is that there are, in fact, a fixed number of seats at each and every school, and that no school accepts all qualified candidates who are great fits and otherwise admittable, due to the fact that there is not an available seat for each of them. In other words, a zero sum game.

 

[proudofmykids]

I dunno. For UG, admission readers are assigned to specific geographic areas, and then to specific schools, in order to have some uniformity in the reviews of candidates from each school. Why wouldn't med school be the same?

I seriously doubt that there would be a quota for any school, but I also wouldn't be so sure that the same person isn't performing reviews of every candidate from a given school who makes it past the initial screen. Assuming that happens, how can you not be compared to everyone else from your school?

Even though some UGs are known feeders for some med schools, and pretty much every med school favors the home team, schools also like diversity, which is why half of Harvard's class doesn't come from Harvard, etc. Given this universal truth, how can candidates from a given school not be compared to their peers?

I'm also not sure why someone said admissions is not a zero sum game. My understanding is that there are, in fact, a fixed number of seats at each and every school, and that no school accepts all qualified candidates who are great fits and otherwise admittable, due to the fact that there is not an available seat for each of them. In other words, a zero sum game.

I agree, Due to the shaping that takes place for creating a med school class composition, it certainly is a total zero sum game within each ‘composition bucket’, Sex, SES, Minority, home-geography, LGBTQ, traditional/non-traditional, etc all get ‘rough allocations’ for admittance.

 

[LunaOri]

Maybe if there are hundreds of applicants from your school, but not if there are only a handful

 

[Banco]

It's possible. Especially since there are committee letters that do the comparison for them. But I don't know if there are any hard and fast rules here.

 

[lanadelgay124]

It's possible. Especially since there are committee letters that do the comparison for them. But I don't know if there are any hard and fast rules here.

Yup, I came here to say this. My UG internally ranks (with a percentile, and a level of recommendation) committee letter applicants from any given cycle, so any adcom seeing two committee letters from that school would see that. Who knows if that has much bearing on whether one student gets in while the other doesn't, but the means to compare are there (for this school, at least).

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Yup, I came here to say this. My UG internally ranks (with a percentile, and a level of recommendation) committee letter applicants from any given cycle, so any adcom seeing two committee letters from that school would see that. Who knows if that has much bearing on whether one student gets in while the other doesn't, but the means to compare are there (for this school, at least).

I am not sure if my S's UG ranks students internally but from what I heard they may categorize or summarize kids based on LORs like research or leadership or service strong. I know what my S and another candidate's classifications are (both very high stats) and the got different As except home school.

 

[Goro]

I agree, Due to the shaping that takes place for creating a med school class composition, it certainly is a total zero sum game within each ‘composition bucket’, Sex, SES, Minority, home-geography, LGBTQ, traditional/non-traditional, etc all get ‘rough allocations’ for admittance.

But these are irrelevant to the OP's question, which is simply "would two Barnard or Kutztown State candidate be judged against each other?", and the answer is no.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

But these are irrelevant to the OP's question, which is simply "would two Barnard or Kutztown State candidate be judged against each other?", and the answer is no.

may be if they both apply to Harvard or Hopkins.

 

[YCAGA]

My school does.

AMCAS also shows detailed information on how your GPA compares to other people in the same major at your school.

 

[KnightDoc]

My school does.

AMCAS also shows detailed information on how your GPA compares to other people in the same major at your school.

Where is this published?

 

[YCAGA]

Where is this published?

It is not. It is only on the adcom side of AMCAS, not the applicant side.

 

[KnightDoc]

It is not. It is only on the adcom side of AMCAS, not the applicant side.

Either way, you confirmed my feeling, which was that of course schools compare applicants from the same school in the same cycle. Thanks!!!

 

[whataschool_classof24]

No. You are compared to yourself.

Admissions is not a zero sum game.

You are all competing for A seat, but not the same seat.

Disagree. If the best version of yourself is less than others, you won't get in. MD schools have 5000k+ applicants for 100-200 spots, if you think you aren't competing against others I would say you would be delusional. This can be seen by the increase in applicants with increasing stats.

Edit: To answer OP, they for sure would. They won't just use grades but will also factor in community involvement etc

 

[Goro]

Disagree. If the best version of yourself is less than others, you won't get in. MD schools have 5000k+ applicants for 100-200 spots, if you think you aren't competing against others I would say you would be delusional. This can be seen by the increase in applicants with increasing stats.

Edit: To answer OP, they for sure would. They won't just use grades but will also factor in community involvement etc

This is why CARS is on the MCAT. My point (and that made by others) is still unclear. This is not Einsteinian physics.

Note what the OP asked:
If two applicants from the same undergrad apply to the same med school, does the admissions committee evaluate one applicant in comparison to the other?

In particular, if they’re both practically similar on paper in terms of what they pursued on campus and opportunities available, would the school be inclined to only accept one of the students or are their applications compared independently without regard to each other?

 

[pathsofglory]

Thanks everyone for your input. In this scenario we both made it past the interview stage, so I know that they are considering us both. I was concerned that they would stack us side by side to see who to choose, since we are both quite similar in some experiences but hoping that we both have an equal shot.

 

[Goro]

Thanks everyone for your input. In this scenario we both made it past the interview stage, so I know that they are considering us both. I was concerned that they would stack us side by side to see who to choose, since we are both quite similar in some experiences but hoping that we both have an equal shot.

Both of you could be accepted. But acceptance at this point is 100% on you, not the college you went to. And the fact that to you are from the same college at this point is now irrelevant.

 

[joshuamarcus]

I’ve been told that they don’t compare applicants directly but they do compare applicants historically. So if someone from your undergrad who has x gpa or y something was a very successful med student, they’ll be more inclined to accept a similar applicant the next year.

 

[Goro]

I’ve been told that they don’t compare applicants directly but they do compare applicants historically. So if someone from your undergrad who has x gpa or y something was a very successful med student, they’ll be more inclined to interview a similar applicant the next year.

FTFY