Does the undergraduate institution matter?

[crazy j]

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Hi, I'm a 25 yo non-trad that is several months away from enrolling full-time into college. I eventually plan to pursue a career as a medical scientist (network engineering has never really been my interest) and would like some pre-college info. My choices of undergrad institutions happen to be limited, and there is literally NO chance I will get into any top 20 school due to my terrible high school transcripts. I have applied to Marquette (WI) and University of WI and am considering Northwestern (why the hell not : )


This prompts my question, "Does the undergrad school matter for admissions into MSTP programs"? If so, how much? I really don't want my decision to be based on the undergrad college's reputation.

Any info would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks,
JOE

 

[Neuronix]

This has been asked many times and the response is always: not really.

If you go to an Ivy League school or some other BIG NAME school (WashU, Stanford, etc...) your grades may look better than the same grades from a less reputable school. Whoop. Med school admission is based on ALOT MORE than that.

What's more important is what you do with your education. You have to get a high GPA, do extracirricular activities like volunteering or whatever, and do lots of research. This is the most important piece of your undergraduate education, your oppertunities for undergrad research. Make sure the Biology department (or whichever one you wanna do research in) has positions available for undergrads to get research experience with professors and go find a lab your freshman or sophomore year.

That's the real ticket, good GPA, good MCAT score, some ECs, and plenty of research. Screw the reputation of your school. If you can get these at a lesser named school, it's all good.

 

[Original]

Not really. 50% of my class here @ Duke are from non-big time schools. And almost all of the 12 MSTPers in my class are from non-Ivy/big shot places. In the entire class there are only 2 from Harvard but like 8 from Stanford, ~6 from Duke, and about 4 Yalies. But then I think duke med is less elitist than say Yale, Harvard, Columbia or even Univ of Chicago. That might be why the MCAT averages here and at WashU (also non-elitist in general) are so freaking high. The mcat average here at Duke is like a 36 and I heard that like 10 students in my class got a 43 MCAT 😱 -dunno if it's true but I suspect it is. Do your best in college and you'll be ok.

 

[none]

Just make sure you go to a university that will have ample research oppotunities. Most smaller liberal arts colleges do not.

 

[exigente chica]

I agree with everyone. Basically jump in and get your hands wet in all areas. Do well in classes, develop a rapport with your profs, volunteer, do something you really wanted to but never pursued, and of course do lots of research. Maybe a summer research expience will be better first, then you can ask your profs to do some on campus. Go where u wil be most happy, a happy student is a good one.

Good luck

 

[Bikini Princess]

Originally posted by none
Just make sure you go to a university that will have ample research oppotunities. Most smaller liberal arts colleges do not.

i think that small liberal arts universities do have a few advantages. ie tenured professors in every class, & every lab section. advantages also include small classes (5-25 people) and professors who have a commitment to teaching, versus powerpoint lectures & research grants. i understand that there are some good mstp candidates who come from small liberal arts universities.

 

[Original]

Originally posted by Bikini Princess


i think that small liberal arts universities do have a few advantages. ie tenured professors in every class, & every lab section. advantages also include small classes (5-25 people) and professors who have a commitment to teaching, versus powerpoint lectures & research grants. i understand that there are some good mstp candidates who come from small liberal arts universities.

Very true. Small lib-arts college profs usually love their students and are very excited to spend lots of time showing them how to do research. They don't have grad students so all their time goes to undergrads and especially those ones interested in their work.

 

[crazy j]

Wow! Thanks for all of the tips and info! The beauty of this board is that is gives you many different perspectives and information that would be difficult to attain otherwise.

Thanks again!
JOE

 

[dl2dp2]

let me add another perspective...in some situations your undergrad institution does matter. many schools take tons of students from their own undergrad (harvard, pritzker, etc) for whatever reason. so if you have strong feelings of wanting to get into a particular school, the best bet is to attend that school's undergrad. (also most schools have early acceptance programs)

 

[Bikini Princess]

what's up with that post you made in the lounge, sluox? 😕

 

[Neuronix]

I don't blame him, I like white girls the best. I am white tho, what can I say hehe.

Oh yeah, this is completely off-topic 😛

 

[wgu]

Michigan...