help a clueless senior choose his UG

[Virginian123]

first post on the website!

i really want to go to an ivy league medical school (Upenn to be exact) and I heard that where u go for Undergrad matters a lot.

i got accepted to uva (instate) and due to finances i’ll probably go there bc of it’s great balance between quality and price.

i am still waiting to hear from a few other schools (which are all mostly private and ivy league)

is it worth the substantially increased investment to attend those other schools that carry more prestige than Uva?

(also if i go to UVa i would be graduating and applying to medical school in 3 years instead of traditional 4, no gap year or anything just a straight transfer.)

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[965978]

A high MCAT with a strong GPA with a rigorous course load at UVA will certainly be worthy of serious consideration at Ivy league med schools as far as academic metrics are concerned.

Go where you feel more comfortable and the place with cheaper tuition.

You may risk grade deflation at the ivy league undergrads, so just keep that in mind. A lot of pre-meds regret going to ivy-leagus for undergrad for this precise reason.

 

[Toutie]

First off, UVA is a great school! Graduating with as little debt as possible is always your best bet. Secondly, do not rush things! The average age of med school matriculants is 24 and going up each year. Trying to graduate in 3 years and taking no gap year or anything will not be to your advantage. You will have years less of ECs that other applicants will have.

 

[Gilakend]

My UG acceptances rate is 93% and is a low-tier, unranked, state school. I was accepted at a T10/T20 med school. UVA compared to my UG looks like Harvard.

Also just a side note but I feel like these threads are super common rn.

EDIT: just looked it up, UVA is tied for 23rd best UG and 3rd best public school in the USA.

 

[Goro]

A high MCAT with a strong GPA with a rigorous course load at UVA and excellent ECs will certainly be worthy of serious consideration at Ivy league med schools as far as academic metrics are concerned.

Go where you feel more comfortable and the place with cheaper tuition.

You may risk grade deflation at the ivy league undergrads, so just keep that in mind. A lot of pre-meds regret going to ivy-leagus for undergrad for this precise reason.

FTFY

 

[965978]

FTFY

That's why I ended my sentence with "as far as academic metrics are concerned"

 

[Goro]

That's why I ended my sentence with "as far as academic metrics are concerned"

 

[WedgeDawg]

Moving to hSDN

 

[SplashMountain12]

first post on the website!

i really want to go to an ivy league medical school (Upenn to be exact) and I heard that where u go for Undergrad matters a lot.

i got accepted to uva (instate) and due to finances i’ll probably go there bc of it’s great balance between quality and price.

i am still waiting to hear from a few other schools (which are all mostly private and ivy league)

is it worth the substantially increased investment to attend those other schools that carry more prestige than Uva?

(also if i go to UVa i would be graduating and applying to medical school in 3 years instead of traditional 4, no gap year or anything just a straight transfer.)

No it’s not. UG school does not have as big of an effect as people think. HMS actually states that students from Ivy Leauge schools do not have an advantage in the admissions process. Go to the cheapest option. You will thank yourself for reducing the debt load. UVA is an excellent choice, especially if you can for free (or close to it).

What is your reason for wanting to go to an Ivy Leauge medical school? Ivy Leauge schools do not necessarily confer a training adavtantge (in fact, only two Ivy Leagues are even in the T10). If you want to go to them for the prestige, you will come out dissapointed. For one it is highly unlikley you will ever get admitted to one (simple math, most premeds don’t end up applying, most who apply don’t get in anywhere, and most who do get in somewhere don’t get in at these schools). Two, prestige is a super crappy reason to go to a school, much less to go into a profession. Even if you do get admitted, you’ll likely find that the prestige of the school does not outweigh the debt and hard work you must put in.

 

[WedgeDawg]

No it’s not. UG school does not have as big of an effect as people think. HMS actually states that students from Ivy Leauge schools do not have an advantage in the admissions process. Go to the cheapest option. You will thank yourself for reducing the debt load. UVA is an excellent choice, especially if you can for free (or close to it).

What is your reason for wanting to go to an Ivy Leauge medical school? Ivy Leauge schools do not necessarily confer a training adavtantge (in fact, only two Ivy Leagues are even in the T10). If you want to go to them for the prestige, you will come out dissapointed. For one it is highly unlikley you will ever get admitted to one (simple math, most premeds don’t end up applying, most who apply don’t get in anywhere, and most who do get in somewhere don’t get in at these schools). Two, prestige is a super crappy reason to go to a school, much less to go into a profession. Even if you do get admitted, you’ll likely find that the prestige of the school does not outweigh the debt and hard work you must put in.

Just as a counterpoint, prestige absolutely 100% without question gives you an advantage in the residency process if you’re applying to a competitive specialty or competitive programs within any specialty. However, you can get to a prestigious med school from any school, it’s just somewhat easier to do so from a prestigious undergrad than from a no name school (assuming you perform well at both). UVA is a great school that sends many students to medical school, even top ones. At a certain point, it’s up to you to determine the proper balance of fit, location, prestige, and finances for your goals.

 

[NITRAS]

Prestige is probably the last thing on the list that residencies look at. And patients don’t care, most jobs it doesn’t matter.

People need to be careful about what they are buying.

 

[doc05]

UVA is a great school and has a great affiliated med school. If you're set on medicine, it's just fine. Main reason to go to a college like Harvard or Princeton is if you're looking to get into investment banking or similar fields where "target schools" is an issue.

But don't rush through college in 3 years. You're only young once, do 4 years.

 

[SplashMountain12]

Just as a counterpoint, prestige absolutely 100% without question gives you an advantage in the residency process if you’re applying to a competitive specialty or competitive programs within any specialty. However, you can get to a prestigious med school from any school, it’s just somewhat easier to do so from a prestigious undergrad than from a no name school (assuming you perform well at both). UVA is a great school that sends many students to medical school, even top ones. At a certain point, it’s up to you to determine the proper balance of fit, location, prestige, and finances for your goals.

Thats fair. I think a better way to phrase my original post is why Ivy Leauge vs another Top 20? Does having an Ivy Leauge name vs another top school have any advanatage? I.e Yale vs UCLA? I don’t think so, and I think that sentiment is shared with most people on this site. So why didn’t op word it as “what ug would help me get into a top 20 med school”? It seems to me that the op is more concerned about name rather than the functional benefits of going to a top school. Would OP pick Dartmouth over UCSF? Maybe, with this mindset.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Thats fair. I think a better way to phrase my original post is why Ivy Leauge vs another Top 20? Does having an Ivy Leauge name vs another top school have any advanatage? I.e Yale vs UCLA? I don’t think so, and I think that sentiment is shared with most people on this site. So why didn’t op word it as “what ug would help me get into a top 20 med school”? It seems to me that the op is more concerned about name rather than the functional benefits of going to a top school. Would OP pick Dartmouth over UCSF? Maybe, with this mindset.

Some schools are feeders to other schools. If you want to feed to every school, go to Harvard Yale etc. After that, the differences start to become more minimal (eg Cornell vs northwestern). There are also differences in premed success rates, advising infrastructure, research opportunities, etc. “Ivy League” means absolutely nothing. Overall though, fit and where you think you’ll be successful are the most important.

Also UCSF doesn’t have an undergrad so picking that over Dartmouth pretty much guarantees you don’t get into med school

 

[SplashMountain12]

Some schools are feeders to other schools. If you want to feed to every school, go to Harvard Yale etc. After that, the differences start to become more minimal (eg Cornell vs northwestern). There are also differences in premed success rates, advising infrastructure, research opportunities, etc. “Ivy League” means absolutely nothing. Overall though, fit and where you think you’ll be successful are the most important.

Also UCSF doesn’t have an undergrad so picking that over Dartmouth pretty much guarantees you don’t get into med school

Sorry I was talking in the context of medical school. OPs post makes it sounds like they would pick Dartmouth over UCSF for medical school.

 

[Virginian123]

A high MCAT with a strong GPA with a rigorous course load at UVA will certainly be worthy of serious consideration at Ivy league med schools as far as academic metrics are concerned.

Go where you feel more comfortable and the place with cheaper tuition.

You may risk grade deflation at the ivy league undergrads, so just keep that in mind. A lot of pre-meds regret going to ivy-leagus for undergrad for this precise reason.

thanks so much for such a quick response.

No it’s not. UG school does not have as big of an effect as people think. HMS actually states that students from Ivy Leauge schools do not have an advantage in the admissions process. Go to the cheapest option. You will thank yourself for reducing the debt load. UVA is an excellent choice, especially if you can for free (or close to it).

What is your reason for wanting to go to an Ivy Leauge medical school? Ivy Leauge schools do not necessarily confer a training adavtantge (in fact, only two Ivy Leagues are even in the T10). If you want to go to them for the prestige, you will come out dissapointed. For one it is highly unlikley you will ever get admitted to one (simple math, most premeds don’t end up applying, most who apply don’t get in anywhere, and most who do get in somewhere don’t get in at these schools). Two, prestige is a super crappy reason to go to a school, much less to go into a profession. Even if you do get admitted, you’ll likely find that the prestige of the school does not outweigh the debt and hard work you must put in.

Oof, you make a great point. i just really love philadelphia and university city so that was my reason.

 

[Virginian123]

thank you everyone sm for replying and enlightening me on the consequences and effects of going to different schools.

i understand that a doctor is a doctor and it doesn’t matter where you study (ok maybe not DO) but rather your specialty to decide payment lifestyle etc.

i was asking upenn for purely geographic reasons (like nyu) i just absolutely love the people city culture and believe it would facilitate and benefit my studying and development greatly. i mentioned ‘ivy league’ medical schools just to see where UVa would stand in an application pool.

again, thank you everybody for answering. It helped me a lot. although there was concern for finishing early, i am still planning to finish in 3 years considering i have 2 years worth of ap credit (for foundational courses not prerequisites for medschool).

WAHOOWAH!

 

[mmmcdowe]

Finishing in three years without a gap year is going to significantly increase the challenge of being competitive for medical school.Yoi basically have two years to prepare your application and if you want a school like Penn then that means research experience. Hard to get in a short amount of time and at my school a lot of labs wouldn't take freshman.

 

[lalalallala]

first post on the website!

i really want to go to an ivy league medical school (Upenn to be exact) and I heard that where u go for Undergrad matters a lot.

i got accepted to uva (instate) and due to finances i’ll probably go there bc of it’s great balance between quality and price.

i am still waiting to hear from a few other schools (which are all mostly private and ivy league)

is it worth the substantially increased investment to attend those other schools that carry more prestige than Uva?

(also if i go to UVa i would be graduating and applying to medical school in 3 years instead of traditional 4, no gap year or anything just a straight transfer.)

I think if you go to UVA and do well then you will be totally fine. You will definitely not be looked down upon. That being said I am UG at that school in philly... I think you should call up financial aid and ask for more. They gave me much more after I asked and have repeatedly done so every year since when I have called. People always, always say that UG rep doesn't matter. I don't work in admissions, so idk. But what I do know is that at every single interview I go to they bring it and tell me how impressive it is etc. If they don't care then why do they bring it up every time? Med Schools post UG schools on their website often and if they don't care then why do they always put the Ivies at the top?

Med school apps aside I think you should consider the fact that every major medical school comes to Penn and hosts little meetings with students to tell them about their school. It's a great way to shake their hand and ask some more questions. We have a lot of pre-health advisors and they spend a lot of time helping us - more so than I think you would get at a state school. We get emails constantly offering us research or internship positions. Additionally, the medical school is very well connected to UG and med school professors lecture in some UG classes and host many UG researchers, so if Penn Med really is your dream then I think your chances would be higher from Penn. 27 penn UG's are going to Penn Med this year after all... Some of that is that more Penn UG apply, but still. When they came to chat with us, they said that they give special consideration to Penn UG students.

That being said - it is my opinion that Penn students (the medical students definitely included...) are not as friendly and fun as UVA students (I have spent quite a bit of time at UVA due to family). At Penn, many of the students have 0 work-life balance. Picking where you will be happiest is very important.

I'd be interested to hear why you have your heart set on Penn Med. The hospitals are very strong, but so are the hospitals at many other schools.

 

[lalalallala]

To summarize my point: I don't think you should feel like you need to go to an Ivy UG to get into and Ivy med, but I think there are advantages to going to an Ivy UG, like more personalized resources (prehealth advisors, paying for you to do research abroad or here, medical school admissions members coming, classes connected to the medical school, getting LOR from MDs at your top choice medical school, specialized majors that many pre-med students like (look up health and societies and biological basis of behavior). I think you should weigh if those sorts of things matter more to you than super friendly classmates and sports, etc. I do not think the price will be different if you were to get in to an Ivy and speak to them about your financial aid, unless your scholarship to UVA is a large merit scholarship.