Does it really mater??

[psychgirl57444]

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does it really not matter what school you go to for pre med?? I keep hearing mixed reviews. some say its about classes not school. while others say thats a load of crap to make people feel better about their crappy school choice. im also an unrepresented minority if that changes anything

i go to uw milwaukee now ....def not prestigious in any way. i was wondering should i stay and finish or transfer to u of m in MN which is a MUCH better school. uw madison is good too but i grew up in madison and hate it here and being depressed wont help with my grades

 

[Doctor Dream]

does it really not matter what school you go to for pre med?? I keep hearing mixed reviews. some say its about classes not school. while others say thats a load of crap to make people feel better about their crappy school choice. im also an unrepresented minority if that changes anything

i go to uw milwaukee now ....def not prestigious in any way. i was wondering should i stay and finish or transfer to u of m in MN which is a MUCH better school. uw madison is good too but i grew up in madison and hate it here and being depressed wont help with my grades

From what I've read on here, school choice doesn't matter NEARLY as much as doing well in your classes. I'd stick with UW Milwaukee for sure. I go to a UW school even lower down the ladder than UW Milwaukee and I'm not concerned about my school choice. Just do well in your classes and slay the MCAT to kill any doubts about your nice GPA at a lesser known school.

 

[Doctor Strange]

It'd be foolish to say that undergraduate institution didn't matter at all. The fact of the matter is, it can help in some cases, but certainly won't make up for an otherwise weak application. In the grand scheme of things, though, doing well, wherever you are, is much more advantageous than simply doing average at a more "prestigious" college.

 

[QuentinT88]

OP, going from uw- milwaukee to uw-madison will not be seen as a significant difference in the eyes of most adcoms at medical schools. Seriously. Just go to the best school you can and make the best grades you can.

 

[pharmolu]

As has been already said, pedigree doesn't matter as much as maintaining a high GPA. However, here are some factors to consider:

1. What opportunities are available at your target school? If it’s a state school then it’s probably fine, but a small liberal art school may restrict the amount of research/ECs you can partake in.
2. Are you aiming for the top 20 schools? In my experience, most interviewees at the top 20 interviews i have attended have come from top schools, namely the Ivies and Stanford.

I would recommend, as you said you mentioned to be URM, that you shouldn't worry about going to the big name school and instead opt for a school you think you will better succeed in and put less financial burden on your family. This is because if you have a good GPA/MCAT and solid ECs, the pedigree problem would not be as pronounced in the top 20's as you will be able to bring diversity to the class.

 

[pithy84]

Edit for OP: The difference in prestige between the colleges you mentioned is small. You should decide based on other factors. The remainder of this post is relevant for the generalized question "does undergrad location matter".

Undergrad institution definitely matters. A Harvard Med student on the admissions committee showed me a breakdown of undergrad institutions for the entering classes of a few years (2010 through 2013, iirc). Harvard has 165 slots total (New Pathways plus HST). Each year, about 10 students each come from the big names: Princeton, Columbia, MIT, and Stanford. More than I can count come from Harvard College. Cornell may be an Ivy League, but it fares much worse. Only about half the class comes from "other" undergrad schools. Boston University seemed over-represented, possibly because BU undergrads often do research under Harvard Med professors at Boston hospitals. Getting that LOR from a Harvard professor probably helps.

That said, roughly 90% of the applicants from Columbia, Princeton, MIT, and Stanford get rejected from Harvard Med. So undergrad location matters, but everything else matters, too.

Is this discrimination? 10% acceptance rate for top schools vs. 1% for other schools? Maybe not, the Princeton and Harvard grads may have much higher MCAT scores and much better ECs. How do you think they got into Princeton and Harvard for undergrad?

Having a Harvard diploma will not make up for a bad MCAT score. And Harvard GPAs are actually somewhat inflated relative to most US colleges. I believe the most common grade at Harvard College is A, and the median is A-. More than half of Harvard College graduates have honors of some kind (cum laude or higher).

If you turned down Harvard College and went to University of Home State to save money, you definitely have a shot at a top-tier med school. Going to a good undergrad school is just a proxy measure. Correlation does not imply causation.

 

[psychgirl57444]

thanks guys for the advice! uw milwaukee doesnt seem to have a lot of resources for pre med on their website and u of m did but ill still call both on monday to compare. maybe theyll have native american specific groups i can join...
=)