Getting Top-Tier Med Schools from a Public University

[BlueDemForever]

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I will most likely be attending a mid-tier large public university-Indiana University Bloomington. First of all, what is this institution's reputation with medical schools? Secondly, I am interested in attending one of these top-tier med schools: Harvard, Johns Hopkins, or WashU. I know as a high school senior I have no right to speculate about my college success, but I am highly ambitious and hard-working to the point of damaging my health. If (yes, I know I am about to say some big things, but please just answer my essential question) I am able to take very advanced science classes and get mostly A's in them, maintain a 3.95+ GPA with a double major in biology and chemistry, get a 40+ (55+ new) on the MCAT, be at or near the top of my class, attain vast clinical experience through hospital volunteering and shadowing doctors of various specialties, get involved with research in biology and chemistry during the year, research in national programs like NIH and AMGEN during the summer and have a decent publication, volunteer in Pakistan in medically deprived areas for a few weeks during the summer, have a job at the university newspaper, join and eventually attain leadership in a variety of clubs including college Democrats, debate, science clubs, student government, the minority pre-med club, and student government, show involvement hobbies and non-academic activities such as involvement in my religious community, playing basketball and table tennis, running, traveling to various countries, memorizing tons of sports statistics and following a few teams, attempting to play the piano, learning about my heritage, reading tons of history and literature, and following all the modern politics, become a teacher's assistant, have excellent essays and outstanding LOR's from research supervisors, and communicate well in my interviews if I get them, will I still be at a disadvantage compared to Ivy grads simply b/c of my institution? If not, and if I am able to achieve most of my admittedly lofty and ambitious goals, will I have a good chance of getting into at least one of the 3 places. Will it hurt my chances if I have only humanities courses in English (freshman), 1 semester of psych, sociology, anthropology, and bio-medical ethics, and a few Spanish courses besides for a very rigorous and advanced biology and chemistry pre-med curriculum? Also, what could I do to maximize my chances to get into an AMGEN from Indiana University? Finally, will I be at a significant disadvantage if I'm only 21 when I apply even if I have tons of academic preparation, lots of clinical experience, and an excellent research background?

 

[Arijos0222]

I will most likely be attending a mid-tier large public university-Indiana University Bloomington. First of all, what is this institution's reputation with medical schools? Secondly, I am interested in attending one of these top-tier med schools: Harvard, Johns Hopkins, or WashU. I know as a high school senior I have no right to speculate about my college success, but if I am able to take very advanced science classes and get mostly A's in them, maintain a 3.95+ GPA with a double major in biology and chemistry, get a 40+ (55+ new) on the MCAT, be at or near the top of my class, attain vast clinical experience through hospital volunteering and shadowing doctors of various specialties, research in biology and chemistry during the year, research in national programs like NIH and AMGEN during the summer and have a decent publican, volunteer in Pakistan in medically deprived areas for a few weeks during the summer, have a job at the university newspaper, join and eventually attain leadership in a variety of clubs including college Democrats, Debate, science clubs, student government, and the minority pre-med club, and student government, be a teacher's assistant, have excellent essays and outstanding LOR's from research supervisors, and communicate well in my interviews if I get them, will I still be at a disadvantage compared to Ivy grads simply b/c of my institution? If not, and if I am able to achieve most of my admittedly lofty and ambitious goals, will I have a good chance of getting into at least one of the 3 places. Will it hurt my chances if I have only humanities courses in English (freshman), 1 semester of psych, sociology, anthropology, and bio-medical ethics, and a few Spanish courses besides for a very rigorous and advanced biology and chemistry pre-med curriculum? Also, what could I do to maximize my chances to get into an AMGEN from Indiana University? Finally, will I be at a significant disadvantage if I'm only 21 when I apply even if I have tons of academic preparation, lots of clinical experience, and an excellent research background?

1. I don't know much about Amgen. I hope others can comment on this. However, you can take advantage of research at your university.

2. No, an Ivy League grad will not be a much better applicant than you just because they have an Ivy degree. It gives one a very very minute edge if the Harvard applicant had worse grades.

3. Any medical student will tell you, including myself, to go to the cheapest medical school you can get accepted to, go to medical school close to family, and take cost as an absolutely huge factor.

4. Don't do various things to get accepted to medical school. Do things because you have an absolute passion to do these extracurriculars. I think you're going into college with the wrong mindset. Focus on getting good grades.

5. No. As a freshman, it won't matter if you take all the humanities courses frosh year.

6. Again, I will restate this, don't be such a gunner. A highly ranked medical school is all that it is: A HIGHLY RANKED MEDICAL SCHOOL. A degree at any US medical school will give you enough competence to be a sterling physician; that goes for both M.D. and D.O. schools. You will get a residency you desire if you went to any medical school provided you work hard enough, it's not going to be any easier either way.

7. Ask yourself why you want to be in a "top" (whatever that means) med school anyway. You should look at what is a better fit for you individually. Every medical school is slightly different, but they all have the same arduous curriculum. Look at clerkships, research opportunities (if you want to be a Physician Scientist a.k.a MD/Ph.D) etc. I can see the purpose of going to a top 5 ranked med school if you want little to no patient care, but if you want to take care of patients, what is that extra money getting you? A Harvard degree? Please. I will keep my money thank you very much.

Indiana University's Medical school is 32K a year. Harvard Medical School is around 50K.

200,000 dollars at a 9% interest rate will make your lifestyle pretty humble.

100,000 dollars at a 9% interest rate will be more manageable. Remember, Room and board & living expenses aren't factored in yet either. expect at least 40K more for each program

8. My brother got accepted to Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons 5 years ago. It is 50K a year.

He went to UMDNJ instead: 34K a year and he got to live at home which saved him a lot of money. Now he is an physician: a PGY-2 Resident in Orthopaedic Surgery at UCSF, a VERY competitive specialty at a VERY competitive residency position, coming from a medical school that isn't even ranked in USNEWS or any other ranking, but is nevertheless an accredited medical school.

So please, if you want to go to a top medical school for Viable reasons, then yes, EVERYTHING that you do there will get you accepted. However just remember to love what you are doing in the meantime, enjoy college, and save the "elitism" for another day.

 

[BlueDemForever]

Haha, no man, my reasons for wanting to go into Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and WashU are way more than elitism. In high school, I've gotten into some pretty nice colleges but have chosen Indiana University for its good science programs, extremely low cost (even though my parents can pay for a 60K/year college), and close proximity to my parents. I am looking for a "prestigious" medical degree to first of all look very good to top residency programs for the two very competitive specialties I'm interested in (neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery), because I truly want to get a top-notch education and while I agree the curriculum and teaching are the same in all med schools, the faculty, resources, and quality of research are really what make the three schools I mentioned stand out, and finally b/c I'd like to be the most academic clinician possible if that makes sense. I'd like to see patients but on a limited basis and do a lot of research with solely an MD degree (not MD/PhD). BTW, my dad is a doctor who seems to be tired of a successful private practice, so I realize that if you want to make a ton of money, being an entrepreneur or a businessman is the way to go, but if you want to have a spiritually, emotionally, personally, and intellectually rewarding career with financial stability, medicine is the way to go.

 

[nysegop]

I will most likely be attending a mid-tier large public university-Indiana University Bloomington. First of all, what is this institution's reputation with medical schools? Secondly, I am interested in attending one of these top-tier med schools: Harvard, Johns Hopkins, or WashU. I know as a high school senior I have no right to speculate about my college success, but I am highly ambitious and hard-working to the point of damaging my health. If (yes, I know I am about to say some big things, but please just answer my essential question) I am able to take very advanced science classes and get mostly A's in them, maintain a 3.95+ GPA with a double major in biology and chemistry, get a 40+ (55+ new) on the MCAT, be at or near the top of my class, attain vast clinical experience through hospital volunteering and shadowing doctors of various specialties, get involved with research in biology and chemistry during the year, research in national programs like NIH and AMGEN during the summer and have a decent publication, volunteer in Pakistan in medically deprived areas for a few weeks during the summer, have a job at the university newspaper, join and eventually attain leadership in a variety of clubs including college Democrats, debate, science clubs, student government, the minority pre-med club, and student government, show involvement hobbies and non-academic activities such as involvement in my religious community, playing basketball and table tennis, running, traveling to various countries, memorizing tons of sports statistics and following a few teams, attempting to play the piano, learning about my heritage, reading tons of history and literature, and following all the modern politics, become a teacher's assistant, have excellent essays and outstanding LOR's from research supervisors, and communicate well in my interviews if I get them, will I still be at a disadvantage compared to Ivy grads simply b/c of my institution? If not, and if I am able to achieve most of my admittedly lofty and ambitious goals, will I have a good chance of getting into at least one of the 3 places. Will it hurt my chances if I have only humanities courses in English (freshman), 1 semester of psych, sociology, anthropology, and bio-medical ethics, and a few Spanish courses besides for a very rigorous and advanced biology and chemistry pre-med curriculum? Also, what could I do to maximize my chances to get into an AMGEN from Indiana University? Finally, will I be at a significant disadvantage if I'm only 21 when I apply even if I have tons of academic preparation, lots of clinical experience, and an excellent research background?

Honestly man, anywhere but community college could get you into a top medical school. Just as long as you get good marks, volunteer, do research, do well on the MCAT, etc. State schools are great schools (well...for most places... no comment on University of Nevada - Las Vegas). But seriously, Bloomington is actually a great school. I'm applying there.

 

[Arijos0222]

((((1))))I am looking for a "prestigious" medical degree to first of all look very good to top residency programs for the two very competitive specialties I'm interested in (neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery), because I truly want to get a top-notch education and while I agree the curriculum and teaching are the same in all med schools, the faculty, resources, and quality of research are really what make the three schools I mentioned stand out, and finally b/c I'd like to be the most academic clinician possible if that makes sense.

((((2))))see patients but on a limited basis and do a lot of research with solely an MD degree (not MD/PhD). BTW, my dad is a doctor who seems to be tired of a successful private practice, so I realize that if you want to make a ton of money, being an entrepreneur or a businessman is the way to go

((((3)))) but if you want to have a spiritually, emotionally, personally, and intellectually rewarding career with financial stability, medicine is the way to go.

1. As I stated before, there is a difference from looking very good and actually outperforming your peers. You can be at a lower ranked school and still out-perform medical student who went to the top 5 medical schools. It won't "Maximize" your potential, or make you any better of an academic physician than any other graduate. However, although I agree with the resources and the quality faculty factors, I believe that a top 30-40 would suffice in that area just as well in my humble opinion.

2. I will also quote things said in an article posted from the AAMC.

Regardless of where they eventually work, MD-PhD candidates are being prepared for careers in which they will spend most of their time doing research, in addition to (((((sounds exactly like what you said prior))))) caring for patients. The MD-PhD dual career is busy, challenging, rewarding, and offers opportunities to do good for many people by advancing knowledge, developing new treatments for diseases, and pushing back the boundaries of the unknown.

Medical school by itself does not provide research training. Thus, while it is still possible to learn how to do research by completing an extended postdoctoral fellowship after a clinical residency, this path has many challenges. The total time is not necessarily shorter, the costs (especially medical school tuition) are likely to be much higher, and the coursework and formal training in research methodology that are part of a good graduate program are missed. If you are ready to make the commitment before starting medical school, MD-PhD programs offer many advantages.

Also, I am not talking about "making a ton of money." I'm talking about that by the time you graduate medical school, reimbursement will decrease substantially, thus making it somewhat difficult to pay back one's loans along with a mortgage and raising a family, along with the costs of buying a practice and running it. Considering medical school cost is the difference between future sabotage, ***potentially*** ruining other financial endeavors.

3. I agree with you 110%. No argument here. I'm so happy that there is a Pre-med thinking more about the patient care than the pay. Apparently there is a huge percentage of Medical School applicants who name money as the 2nd or 3rd thing that they want in medicine.

Sources: https://www.aamc.org/students/research/mdphd/why_pursue_an_md-phd/

I think an MD/PHD is right for you my friend. It's extremely hard to do research if you are a busy Neurosurgeon or an Orthopedic Surgeon at a top flight academic center, and the Ph.D will definitely smooth out your schedule for a better lifestyle for you to put in enough research time.

That being said, I think your eagerness and you willingness to be the best (before even attending college) shows your determination to be a physician. I think you will be an absolute GREAT doctor. I wish you the absolute best luck on your endeavors, which is why I commented on this thread in the first place, to help you the best that I possibly can 🙂 My only recommendation is that you try your absolute best, and be genuine while pursuing all those busy extracurriculars 😎

 

[Toothshucker]

Please post this in the premed section, just so you can see what their responses will be.

Just relax, go to school... do well. Be involved. Do research if you want. But seriously, take it one step at a time. Try not to predict numbers/scores/grades... how well you did in high school, act/sat really has no meaning once your in college. There are so many people you will meet that did just as well as you in high school but won't do as well in college (and of course the opposite). Go to some football games and basketball games. Enjoy college. If you work hard, you'll do well.

But seriously, what you wrote is overkill (and probably troll). And if you aren't trolling, your grades and MCAT are more likely to suffer with all those things you want to do. It's good to be involved, but you have to do well in class.

 

[Arijos0222]

Please post this in the premed section, just so you can see what their responses will be.

Just relax, go to school... do well. Be involved. Do research if you want. But seriously, take it one step at a time. Try not to predict numbers/scores/grades... how well you did in high school, act/sat really has no meaning once your in college. There are so many people you will meet that did just as well as you in high school but won't do as well in college (and of course the opposite). Go to some football games and basketball games. Enjoy college. If you work hard, you'll do well.

But seriously, what you wrote is overkill (and probably troll). And if you aren't trolling, your grades and MCAT are more likely to suffer with all those things you want to do. It's good to be involved, but you have to do well in class.

I agree. OP, good thing you didn't put this in the Pre-Med section... I think I was fairly nice with my response 😎

 

[Toothshucker]

Also, even if you accomplish everything you stated you wanted to, do not apply to just those 3 schools. There would still be a chance you wouldn't get accepted to them. Happens alllll the time

 

[1nvictus]

Agree with pmanning19. I'm assuming that you're a high school senior and haven't even started college yet.

Also, I may not have dived far into pre-med life (I'm a college freshman) but there are so many variables that could possibly affect your chances of where you'll be accepted. Not trying to be a debbie-downer, just saying that even talking about where you expect your MCAT score to be is too far away to consider heavily.

That said, people get into top medical schools from state schools. Going to a flagship won't ruin your chances right off the bat. Just make sure that, no matter where you go, you perform your best and earn as high marks as you can (without going insane of course). :]

 

[BABSstudent]

Please post this in the premed section, just so you can see what their responses will be.

Just relax, go to school... do well. Be involved. Do research if you want. But seriously, take it one step at a time. Try not to predict numbers/scores/grades... how well you did in high school, act/sat really has no meaning once your in college. There are so many people you will meet that did just as well as you in high school but won't do as well in college (and of course the opposite). Go to some football games and basketball games. Enjoy college. If you work hard, you'll do well.

But seriously, what you wrote is overkill (and probably troll). And if you aren't trolling, your grades and MCAT are more likely to suffer with all those things you want to do. It's good to be involved, but you have to do well in class.

No need to post it there. A lot of us check the hSDN page.

To the OP, quit being a gunner. Chances are you will not actually make it to applying to medical school if you do everything your originally listed. You will burn out and quit school. Many of the things you listed are impossible to do together and that is why applicants to medical schools will lack in certain areas. People with high GPA and MCAT score will have poor ECs. Someone with great ECs will have lower GPAs and MCAT scores.

To be competitive for the top schools, what you really need to focus on is going to a college that will let you do research. What you should be striving for is high grades, a great MCAT score and a first author publication.

As for medical schools, I personally believe the ranking system is flawed. Pretty much the top medical school receives the highest amount of NIH funding. The second best receives the second most. So to get into the top schools, they want to have researchers to use those funds to get published and then to get the school more money.

Finally, all medical schools will get you into residencies. The prestigious ones (and I am not talking derm or ortho, but specific ones like ortho at Harvard) will require a high STEP score, more publications and possibly an Ivy degree. However, you don't need that last one to get in. You need the high scores and research.

 

[BlueDemForever]

Most of the above posts seem to imply that getting into one of the three schools I mentioned (Harvard, JHU, UPenn) will definitely be an uphill battle from Indiana University-Bloomington (even though it's the biggest university in Indiana). I am interpreting this wrong and if so, will a combination of very high stats, excellent clinical volunteering and research, a decent publication, the interesting fact that I come from a small but powerful minority faction of my religion, volunteering in a foreign country, and awesome interviews, get me into one of these three places? Also, with my numbers oriented approach, will I have a decent chance at WashU? Also, does Columbia P&S only look for Ivy League students or does it take students from flagship public universities?

 

[nysegop]

Most of the above posts seem to imply that getting into one of the three schools I mentioned (Harvard, JHU, UPenn) will definitely be an uphill battle from Indiana University-Bloomington (even though it's the biggest university in Indiana). I am interpreting this wrong and if so, will a combination of very high stats, excellent clinical volunteering and research, a decent publication, the interesting fact that I come from a small but powerful minority faction of my religion, volunteering in a foreign country, and awesome interviews, get me into one of these three places? Also, with my numbers oriented approach, will I have a decent chance at WashU? Also, does Columbia P&S only look for Ivy League students or does it take students from flagship public universities?

No medical schools require you to go to a top tier university. Grades and MCAT are more important. At Columbia I would say you have a decent shot if GPA>3.8 and MCAT>35 (current MCAT). A lot of people chose to go to state schools for undergrad (usually for financial reasons) then go to a prestigious school for medical school. That being said, why are you so intent on going to a prestigious school? Any US based, LCME accredited medical school will get you where you want to be. My view; go the cheapest route.

 

[Toothshucker]

Most of the above posts seem to imply that getting into one of the three schools I mentioned (Harvard, JHU, UPenn) will definitely be an uphill battle from Indiana University-Bloomington (even though it's the biggest university in Indiana). I am interpreting this wrong and if so, will a combination of very high stats, excellent clinical volunteering and research, a decent publication, the interesting fact that I come from a small but powerful minority faction of my religion, volunteering in a foreign country, and awesome interviews, get me into one of these three places? Also, with my numbers oriented approach, will I have a decent chance at WashU? Also, does Columbia P&S only look for Ivy League students or does it take students from flagship public universities?

You completely missed the point of most of the posts. There are more than 3 "great" medical schools. You also forgot that there will be lots of applicants who are better or just as good as you. Luck is always a factor. Many applicants will also have those things in their applications.

"Powerful minority faction of my religion?" Really....?
Why would you think you wouldn't have a chance at WashU, but would at Harvard?
These schools don't just look at Ivy League applicants.

You'll be more than fine at IU. If you're so worried about that, did you get into other places? It has more to do with how hard and efficiently you work and time management, especially if you'll attempt to complete all those goals. Don't forget to have fun and enjoy college.

 

[nysegop]

You completely missed the point of most of the posts. There are more than 3 "great" medical schools. You also forgot that there will be lots of applicants who are better or just as good as you. Luck is always a factor. Many applicants will have also though things in their applications.

"Powerful minority faction of my religion?" Really....?
Why would you think you wouldn't have a chance at WashU, but would at Harvard?
These schools don't just look at Ivy League applicants.

You'll be more than fine at IU. If you're so worried about that, did you get into other places? It has more to do with how hard and efficiently you work and time management, especially if you'll attempt to complete all those goals. Don't forget to have fun and enjoy college.

👍

 

[NickRiviera MD]

Honestly man, anywhere but community college could get you into a top medical school. Just as long as you get good marks, volunteer, do research, do well on the MCAT, etc. State schools are great schools (well...for most places... no comment on University of Nevada - Las Vegas). But seriously, Bloomington is actually a great school. I'm applying there.

I went to a community college for my first 3 semesters. Now I go to UNLV. Last night, I returned from HMS's revisit weekend. While I'm sitting here waiting for Hopkins to release their last batch of acceptances before I make my final decision, I can't help but enjoy how much sweeter my accomplishments are because of people like you.

 

[nysegop]

I went to a community college for my first 3 semesters. Now I go to UNLV. Last night, I returned from HMS's revisit weekend. While I'm sitting here waiting for Hopkins to release their last batch of acceptances before I make my final decision, I can't help but enjoy how much sweeter my accomplishments are because of people like you.

Haha

 

[Tolbert]

I went to a community college for my first 3 semesters. Now I go to UNLV. Last night, I returned from HMS's revisit weekend. While I'm sitting here waiting for Hopkins to release their last batch of acceptances before I make my final decision, I can't help but enjoy how much sweeter my accomplishments are because of people like you.

👍👍😎 like a boss

 

[californicati0n]

I needed to take a breather after reading your first post because I seriously can't imagine someone doing all of those things proficiently within the course of 4 years without passing out dead.

One thing you should keep in mind is that college isn't all about getting to the next step (ie medical school). Call me cheesy, but it's also about finding yourself, making life-long friends, and having the time of your life. It sounds to me like you've already planned out your entire college career, so my suggestion would be to put in some time just to relax...

 

[nysegop]

I needed to take a breather after reading your first post because I seriously can't imagine someone doing all of those things proficiently within the course of 4 years without passing out dead.

One thing you should keep in mind is that college isn't all about getting to the next step (ie medical school). Call me cheesy, but it's also about finding yourself, making life-long friends, and having the time of your life. It sounds to me like you've already planned out your entire college career, so my suggestion would be to put in some time just to relax...

Or if you go to Soka University, it's also about finding your path with the Buddha.

 

[FalconSlice]

I will most likely be attending a mid-tier large public university-Indiana University Bloomington. First of all, what is this institution's reputation with medical schools? Secondly, I am interested in attending one of these top-tier med schools: Harvard, Johns Hopkins, or WashU. I know as a high school senior I have no right to speculate about my college success, but I am highly ambitious and hard-working to the point of damaging my health. If (yes, I know I am about to say some big things, but please just answer my essential question) I am able to take very advanced science classes and get mostly A's in them, maintain a 3.95+ GPA with a double major in biology and chemistry, get a 40+ (55+ new) on the MCAT, be at or near the top of my class, attain vast clinical experience through hospital volunteering and shadowing doctors of various specialties, get involved with research in biology and chemistry during the year, research in national programs like NIH and AMGEN during the summer and have a decent publication, volunteer in Pakistan in medically deprived areas for a few weeks during the summer, have a job at the university newspaper, join and eventually attain leadership in a variety of clubs including college Democrats, debate, science clubs, student government, the minority pre-med club, and student government, show involvement hobbies and non-academic activities such as involvement in my religious community, playing basketball and table tennis, running, traveling to various countries, memorizing tons of sports statistics and following a few teams, attempting to play the piano, learning about my heritage, reading tons of history and literature, and following all the modern politics, become a teacher's assistant, have excellent essays and outstanding LOR's from research supervisors, and communicate well in my interviews if I get them, will I still be at a disadvantage compared to Ivy grads simply b/c of my institution? If not, and if I am able to achieve most of my admittedly lofty and ambitious goals, will I have a good chance of getting into at least one of the 3 places. Will it hurt my chances if I have only humanities courses in English (freshman), 1 semester of psych, sociology, anthropology, and bio-medical ethics, and a few Spanish courses besides for a very rigorous and advanced biology and chemistry pre-med curriculum? Also, what could I do to maximize my chances to get into an AMGEN from Indiana University? Finally, will I be at a significant disadvantage if I'm only 21 when I apply even if I have tons of academic preparation, lots of clinical experience, and an excellent research background?

Is that ONE sentence OP wrote? There are so many factors of this question that makes me cringe. Also, maybe a troll. So, bye

 

[Arijos0222]

My friend went to Rutgers University-New Brunswick

He graduated magna cum laude

Got accepted to Harvard Medical School...

....

Case closed here. 😉

 

[Tolbert]

Dr Q. - Immigrated from Mexico. Currently in the neurosurgery department of Johns Hopkins. My #1 role model.

Sometimes people forget it isn't merits what defines your future.

👍 that dude is pretty awesome.

 

[Arijos0222]

👍

He also went to community college, transferred to UC Berkeley, went to Harvard Med, and did his residency at UCSF.

 

[Solomon]

I've never understood the "CC to MD" fear. IMO, CC is a wonderful opportunity that many should take advantage of. It's as if people see it as unachievable. My current physician took the CC route and is now one of the renowned Physicians in my region.

 

[Tolbert]

I've never understood the "CC to MD" fear. IMO, CC is a wonderful opportunity that many should take advantage of. It's as if people see it as unachievable. My current physician took the CC route and is now one of the renowned Physicians in my region.

dude it's SDN. People wonder if their 3.8 , 34 MCAT, and 500 hours of community service is good enough to get into any MD school.

 

[Solomon]

dude it's SDN. People wonder if their 3.8 , 34 MCAT, and 500 hours of community service is good enough to get into any MD school.

I understand that. My point was simply that CC is highly underrated as a route to Med School. A 3.8, 34 MCAT and 500 hours of Community Service would be very good whether you went to CC or Harvard.

 

[mmmcdowe]

I understand that. My point was simply that CC is highly underrated as a route to Med School. A 3.8, 34 MCAT and 500 hours of Community Service would be very good whether you went to CC or Harvard.

Community college have significant weaknesses associated with it. The breadth of classes available and quality of the teaching can be lower. Access to research, student advising, student activities, and volunteering opportunities can be reduced. There is a bias towards preference of LORs from professors with doctoral level degrees. There is a bias against the rigor of CC. Yes, a 34 MCAT is going to alleviate a lot of that concern, and personally I don't really think the quality of pre-req courses really affects your MCAT studying all that much for a lot of people since it has often been 1-2 years since you took the many of them.

The bottom line is very few people in medical school went all four years to a CC. There are none at my medical school to the best of my knowledge, and I've seen maybe one interviewee from CC in four years. This inherently breeds concern regarding students applying from that route, because adcoms aren't familiar with the quality of students nor their performance in medical school subsequently. If everyone from school X does great and everyone from school Y passes, they are probably going to prefer both X and Y students from a CC student with an equal application simply because they can be fairly confident in acceptable performance in medical school. Realize that there are a lot of applicants with relatively equal resumes, so sometimes things like this matter. A year or two is totally fine, but take at least some of the pre-reqs at a university. If you have the financial means, I strongly encourage you to go to a university.

 

[Solomon]

Community college have significant weaknesses associated with it. The breadth of classes available and quality of the teaching can be lower. Access to research, student advising, student activities, and volunteering opportunities can be reduced. There is a bias towards preference of LORs from professors with doctoral level degrees. There is a bias against the rigor of CC. Yes, a 34 MCAT is going to alleviate a lot of that concern, and personally I don't really think the quality of pre-req courses really affects your MCAT studying all that much for a lot of people since it has often been 1-2 years since you took the many of them.

The bottom line is very few people in medical school went all four years to a CC. There are none at my medical school to the best of my knowledge, and I've seen maybe one interviewee from CC in four years. This inherently breeds concern regarding students applying from that route, because adcoms aren't familiar with the quality of students nor their performance in medical school subsequently. If everyone from school X does great and everyone from school Y passes, they are probably going to prefer both X and Y students from a CC student with an equal application simply because they can be fairly confident in acceptable performance in medical school. Realize that there are a lot of applicants with relatively equal resumes, so sometimes things like this matter. A year or two is totally fine, but take at least some of the pre-reqs at a university. If you have the financial means, I strongly encourage you to go to a university.

From my knowledge, CC is only 2 years, and If I am to go (which I plan on) I expect to only do 1 year at the most. I haven't heard of a 4 year CC.

I've heard the fears of CC vs University applicants with identical stats and how they would pick the student with all 4 years at the University rather than a mixture of both.

Of course I'm not extremely knowledgeable in Med School admissions, but some on the forum have said taking pre-reqs at the University after transferring won't hurt your chances too bad, right? 😕

 

[mmmcdowe]

From my knowledge, CC is only 2 years, and If I am to go (which I plan on) I expect to only do 1 year at the most. I haven't heard of a 4 year CC.

I've heard the fears of CC vs University applicants with identical stats and how they would pick the student with all 4 years at the University rather than a mixture of both.

Of course I'm not extremely knowledgeable in Med School admissions, but some on the forum have said taking pre-reqs at the University after transferring won't hurt your chances too bad, right? 😕

Correct.

 

[BABSstudent]

From my knowledge, CC is only 2 years, and If I am to go (which I plan on) I expect to only do 1 year at the most. I haven't heard of a 4 year CC.

I've heard the fears of CC vs University applicants with identical stats and how they would pick the student with all 4 years at the University rather than a mixture of both.

Of course I'm not extremely knowledgeable in Med School admissions, but some on the forum have said taking pre-reqs at the University after transferring won't hurt your chances too bad, right? 😕

My local CC has a handful of four year degrees and you end up with a BA or BS at the end. These tend to be extensions of a four year university but still count as being a CC student. Most people don't get a four year degree from a CC though.

 

[Solomon]

My local CC has a handful of four year degrees and you end up with a BA or BS at the end. These tend to be extensions of a four year university but still count as being a CC student. Most people don't get a four year degree from a CC though.

Interesting. It must be my state, since pretty much all of ours are 2 years with an Associates at the end. Though we do get a guaranteed admission to a University of our choice.

 

[YankeesMD]

Though we do get a guaranteed admission to a University of our choice.

Now that is interesting.

 

[Tolbert]

Interesting. It must be my state, since pretty much all of ours are 2 years with an Associates at the end. Though we do get a guaranteed admission to a University of our choice.

Now that is interesting.

@YankeesMD yeah i think so too. For us you're guaranteed admission to A college, but not specifically your choice if you get what i mean

 

[Solomon]

Now that is interesting.

@YankeesMD yeah i think so too. For us you're guaranteed admission to A college, but not specifically your choice if you get what i mean

Well, I may have overstated that one 😳

For it to be guaranteed, there are a few Terms & Conditions:
In State Only
Public Only
Must have passed all credits with C or better
Must have achieved an Associates degree

Of course you could still transfer to other private schools, but you'd have to check on the requirements yourself.

And I misspoke. It's not "a guaranteed admission to your choice school" (and I haven't done the process yet, so I'm not sure how it all works out) but you are guaranteed a place in the state's public university system. So either way you'd be in good shape.

But it could still be a double edged sword, as you would end up having to take pre-reqs at CC, which could make you look less competitive.