How much does the reputation of the school where prerequisites and nonprereqs taken matter?

[bobdole112]

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Hi all just wondering, how much does the reputation of the school where prerequisites and other courses factor into admission...? Lets say its an unranked 4 year college but you get As and A-s in the science courses and non science courses, will admission in DO schools be concerned?
Thanks.

 

[ERK123]

I have an incredibly hard time believing that a GPA from a school like Harvard looks the same as a GPA from a low tier state school.

 

[JimmyB123]

I have an incredibly hard time believing that a GPA from a school like Harvard looks the same as a GPA from a low tier state school.

Everything matters. To what extend depends on the person evaluating your application. Some people care about these things while others don't. It matters what undergrad you went to, what medical school you go to, which residency program you go into, etc etc. Everything matters.

 

[DocWinter]

It's true that "everything matters" in the regard that you never know who has a connection to the school you happened to go or who you interview with, etc.

One of the biggest truths you'll recognize in life is the old saying "it's not what you know, it's who you know". But here's the rub on college "rank", if you will:

If you went to a notable, big name : Harvard, princeton, yale, Brown, Penn, etc etc- yes, your application has more "weight" than someone who went to blank university.

Outside of those handful of known, big name schools, the other 90% of public schools are perfectly fine, legitimate, and for the most part, outside of a personal connection, you are not getting a significant leg up (and your so called "quality of education" isn't worth any more ) than if you went to the vanilla state school.

Spend your (or your daddy's) money wisely...

 

[AM508]

Outside of those handful of known, big name schools, the other 90% of public schools are perfectly fine, legitimate, and for the most part, outside of a personal connection, you are not getting a significant leg up (and your so called "quality of education" isn't worth any more ) than if you went to the vanilla state school.

That. Unless you go to a big name ivy league/borderline ivy league, chances are nobody will know about your school once you get outside of your city. For example, I went to a small private college with a very robust program. It has rock star status locally and gives you a big leg up for grad programs locally, but once you get out of the area no one has heard of it. It definitely seems to have been a neutral point for medical school applications.

 

[ERK123]

That. Unless you go to a big name ivy league/borderline ivy league, chances are nobody will know about your school once you get outside of your city. For example, I went to a small private college with a very robust program. It has rock star status locally and gives you a big leg up for grad programs locally, but once you get out of the area no one has heard of it. It definitely seems to have been a neutral point for medical school applications.

I think big public universities are pretty well known around the country. It is hard to define "borderline ivy leagues". There are tons of schools that consider themselves "Public Ivy's". Many of these schools are relatively well known like U. Michigan, Cal, UCLA, UC San Diego, University of Wisconsin, University of Virginia, etc. Small liberal arts schools are going to be more hit or miss in terms of national reputation. I think the quality of the undergraduate institution makes some difference, but I am not sure how much. I would think that a student who went to a less well known school and had a high GPA and poor MCAT might cause some suspicion about the legitimacy of the GPA compared to a student with a high GPA at a well known school.

 

[AM508]

I think big public universities are pretty well known around the country. It is hard to define "borderline ivy leagues".

That is actually kind of what I was referring to, places that aren't really ivy league but are upper end and have big name recognition. I suppose I could have phrased that better.

 

[ananasmed]

I don't think DO schools really care about the "reputation" of your undergrad. For every student who comes from a big name school, there are probably 10 coming from no name schools. The fact that DO schools mostly accept community college pre-reqs without complaint should tell you that the name/rank of your school isn't the determining factor in admissions. That said, I attended a "nationally ranked" (i.e. USNWR Top 50, definitely NOT ivy league) private university, and the school name came up in all of my interviews. I think most people in the academic world have heard of schools, both public and private, that get lots of research dollars and have reputations outside of their region for academic work in multiple fields. I don't think that the fact that I attended this type of school had anything to do with getting accepted to medical school (I also had credits from a community college as part of my application), but certainly it was a point of interest for interviewers.

 

[ERK123]

I don't think DO schools really care about the "reputation" of your undergrad.

Honestly, I don't think this is true. I have interviewed at two DO schools and pretty much every student in my interview group was from a very well known university. Take a look at Touro CA COM accepted students from last year http://admissions.tu.edu/com/demographics.html most students are from top University of California schools or other well known universities.

 

[DocWinter]

Perhaps the well known schools are well known because they are huge, and your odds of running into alumni from said school are a multitude higher...

Myself and quite a few of my classmates (the majority, come to think) attended a state school. The quality of your education comes primarily from you as a student and how well you study, how you seek help, how you direct your learning. I get tired of the thinking that you have to go to x or y school to have a shot or be successful. Sit your butt down and educate yourself if you want to get into med school. I have 1/2 my credits from the CC. Had a 15 to 1 faculty ratio most classes. Public university? 350 to 1.

 

[ananasmed]

Honestly, I don't think this is true. I have interviewed at two DO schools and pretty much every student in my interview group was from a very well known university. Take a look at Touro CA COM accepted students from last year http://admissions.tu.edu/com/demographics.html most students are from top University of California schools or other well known universities.

California is more the exception than the rule in terms of the admissions game. It is certainly not surprising that so many students at Touro CA are UC grads - California medical school admissions are arguably more brutal than any other state, and many highly qualified students want to stay there for med school. I certainly believe that Touro CA and other DO schools have plenty of students from "well known universities," but that's not really proof that those students were accepted due to the reputation of their school. The fact of the matter is that there are SO MANY undergraduate schools in the country, statistically speaking plenty of applicants will have attended "unknown" schools, and I don't believe that means they are less competitive applicants.

You should ask @Goro how he feels about assessing GPAs between top schools and no-name schools.

 

[RTchill]

I've been curious about this too. I have a not-so-hot GPA from an Ivy League school, and I busted my butt for said gpa, so I'm really hoping that academic rigor of undergrad is taken into consideration at least a tiny bit?
(but I also recognize that I'm really the only one to blame for my undergrad performance)

 

[ERK123]

but that's not really proof that those students were accepted due to the reputation of their school. The fact of the matter is that there are SO MANY undergraduate schools in the country, statistically speaking plenty of applicants will have attended "unknown" schools, and I don't believe that means they are less competitive applicants.

This is true. It doesn't prove things one way or the other. You cannot show cause here unless a school specifically states in their admission criteria that undergraduate institution matters. I doubt many schools do this. The same logic can be applied to MD schools. I would throw in that the California State University system had 436,560 students enrolled in 2012 compared to the University of California system having 238,700 student enrolled in 2015. Touro Ca's 2018 class had 78 students from UC's and 11 students from CSU's. I think these numbers are quite interesting as there are plenty of California graduates from less strong universities that are not going to Touro. I think it is safe to assume that many well known universities have a higher proportion of better qualified students than less well known universities (top liberal arts schools aside).

 

[JimmyB123]

I've been curious about this too. I have a not-so-hot GPA from an Ivy League school, and I busted my butt for said gpa, so I'm really hoping that academic rigor of undergrad is taken into consideration at least a tiny bit?
(but I also recognize that I'm really the only one to blame for my undergrad performance)

MCAT, son.

 

[jjtheairplane]

I go to a top USNWR 50 school. It was either a talking point or point of interest for some of my interviews.

I will say one thing though that made it clear (to me at least) whether my undergrad mattered.
For my top choice DO school (one that has high stats among DO schools), admissions specifically told me my GPA was "good, coming from X University," and It was nowhere near a 4.0 lol. Ultimately, I was accepted there relatively early in the cycle.

 

[Goro]

Agree 100%. As the wise gyngyn likes to point out, CA is a net exporter of med school matriculants. UCLA alone graduates enough pre-meds to fill up every med school seat in CA.

In terms of quality of applicants, AND their performance in our program, I see no difference between someone who's a 4.0 at U Chicago or Harvard, and someone who's a 4.0 at Kutztown State.

California is more the exception than the rule in terms of the admissions game. It is certainly not surprising that so many students at Touro CA are UC grads - California medical school admissions are arguably more brutal than any other state, and many highly qualified students want to stay there for med school. I certainly believe that Touro CA and other DO schools have plenty of students from "well known universities," but that's not really proof that those students were accepted due to the reputation of their school. The fact of the matter is that there are SO MANY undergraduate schools in the country, statistically speaking plenty of applicants will have attended "unknown" schools, and I don't believe that means they are less competitive applicants.

Not once has my Adcom rescued someone from the waitlist by saying "he got a 3.2 at [Name School]; that's like a 4.0 anywhere else". So no, we don't take academic rigor into consideration.


I've been curious about this too. I have a not-so-hot GPA from an Ivy League school, and I busted my butt for said gpa, so I'm really hoping that academic rigor of undergrad is taken into consideration at least a tiny bit?

 

[RTchill]

Agree 100%. As the wise gyngyn likes to point out, CA is a net exporter of med school matriculants. UCLA alone graduates enough pre-meds to fill up every med school seat in CA.

In terms of quality of applicants, AND their performance in our program, I see no difference between someone who's a 4.0 at U Chicago or Harvard, and someone who's a 4.0 at Kutztown State.





Not once has my Adcom rescued someone from the waitlist by saying "he got a 3.2 at [Name School]; that's like a 4.0 anywhere else". So no, we don't take academic rigor into consideration.


I've been curious about this too. I have a not-so-hot GPA from an Ivy League school, and I busted my butt for said gpa, so I'm really hoping that academic rigor of undergrad is taken into consideration at least a tiny bit?

just as I suspected, thanks Goro. I'm getting so anxious about finally seeing my mcat score tomorrow aggghhhdf.gkgrhwehluwalguafn/va/mgjawpeoj
crossing my fingers that it will help offset my crummy gpa

 

[JimmyB123]

just as I suspected, thanks Goro. I'm getting so anxious about finally seeing my mcat score tomorrow aggghhhdf.gkgrhwehluwalguafn/va/mgjawpeoj
crossing my fingers that it will help offset my crummy gpa

You're from an IVY. I heard most people from those kinds of schools do well on standardized exams. I expect you'll do fine

 

[jjtheairplane]

Interesting to see most people here, include goro, do not believe undergrad matters much.

OP, this could very well be very school-specific matter.
Touro NY for example happens to have a lot of well known schools in it's matriculation list, and it's not in California. A good MCAT overcomes a school, but when you have an average (not far too below) gpa, it could be a "push".

also, FYI Top MD schools tend to care, a friend of mine only saw ivy/similar ranked schools on his interview trial at top places.

 

[the_fella]

As long as it's a regionally accredited university, I don't think it matters all that much.