Do medical schools look at your undergraduate application to their institution?

[sarotru]

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When applying for medical school, do the medical school look at your undergraduate application to their institution? e.g., if I applied to Stanford for undergrad, will they look at any part of that application when I apply to Stanford medical school?

 

[GoSpursGo]

Nope. Adcoms are already too extremely pressed for time to read all of the applications they get without rummaging around through their old files to find out who you were four years ago.

 

[STXGregor]

Yeah, gotta go with Spurs on this one. They make sure to ask for all the info they need in your med. school application. If they wanted to know something, they would put it there, not hope to find it in your undergrad app.

 

[pietachok]

Additionally, schools don't save applications that long.

 

[futureboy]

Additionally, schools don't save applications that long.

It's part of your record, so I think they would save your application for several years, if not indefinitely.

 

[Beta Cell]

The only motivation I can think of behind that question is that you are mulling over lying, perhaps.

 

[fizzle]

Short answer: No.

Long answer: Noooooooooooooo.

 

[Arzt67]

Admissions committees/offices are made up of busy doctors volunteering their time at the school and a few office staff who have far too much to do processing applications to check every little detail. Checking undergrad apps is well beyond their resources - it would be a pretty low-yield endeaver if they even tried.

 

[slick27]

Just worry about getting the highest gpa you can and the highest mcat you can. You then might get a shot at receiving an acceptance. Do this first and worry about everything else last.

 

[standly]

i'm curious about this also. a friend who got into princeton (known for its bell curves a lower GPA averages than other ivies) turned it down for a state school where he got a 4.0 (or close to it) and pretty high MCATs. at his med school interview at the state school he attended, he was asked why he chose his state school for undergrad over top ivy. he had no answer and was not accepted by any med schools. is it fair of them to ask such a question? and will they do this much research into your undergrad APPLICATIONS even?

 

[brooklynblunder]

i'm curious about this also. a friend who got into princeton (known for its bell curves a lower GPA averages than other ivies) turned it down for a state school where he got a 4.0 (or close to it) and pretty high MCATs. at his med school interview at the state school he attended, he was asked why he chose his state school for undergrad over top ivy. he had no answer and was not accepted by any med schools. is it fair of them to ask such a question? and will they do this much research into your undergrad APPLICATIONS even?

oh i see, so that state school decided not to assume that he didn't want to go into the burder of debt and decided to pick on the dude by telling all other medical schools that he was considering. yup, its really common.

 

[TheMightySmiter]

Schools don't save applications for very long, especially schools that get a lot of apps. I applied for a post-bac program as a transfer student to my state school and almost didn't get in because I thought they'd saved my application--turns out they didn't and I hadn't send in my high school transcript. Oops.

Also, usually the undergrad admissions office is in a completely separate place from med school/grad school admissions. I don't think med school adcoms would care enough or have enough time to go look for your undergrad app, provided that UG admissions even kept it.

 

[JJMrK]

i'm curious about this also. a friend who got into princeton (known for its bell curves a lower GPA averages than other ivies) turned it down for a state school where he got a 4.0 (or close to it) and pretty high MCATs. at his med school interview at the state school he attended, he was asked why he chose his state school for undergrad over top ivy. he had no answer and was not accepted by any med schools. is it fair of them to ask such a question? and will they do this much research into your undergrad APPLICATIONS even?

1. That's not why he wasn't accepted.
2. I guess I don't understand. There must have been some reason he chose one school over the other. If you're implying that he chose the state school in order to get a better GPA, that translates into something like, "It was a better academic fit for me," or "I felt more comfortable there." He could have also mentioned cost of attendance.