How much does your undergrad's reputation matter??

[Ross434]

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I've read a lot of med schools' admissions pages that say they take into consideration the 'quality' of your undergrad institution. If you have good scores (lets say 3.7 gpa and 34mcat), but you came from a mediocre school, will it hurt you?? (In my case, i'm about to start 4th yr of high school and am applying early to UW Madison and UW Oshkosh (has a poor reputation)). Or would you say that the reputation thing only makes a difference between colleges like Harvard and Stanford vs all other schools.

 

[swankydude]

To most admission com., MCAT and GPA are defining elements in an application. If you go to a party school and get 3.7 and 30-35 MCAT will get you into all state state medical schools. If you can get a 3.6 and score 35+ on your MCAT, you won't have any problem getting into ten medical schools. Most med students have high GPA and MCATs below 34.

Relax and finish your first year of college before worrying about medical school. Good luck.

 

[rjmst]

Well now that my school is ranked as one of the "Top Schools" in the new issue of US News, I can say that it matters a lot and is crucial to getting into med school. I would just be kidding though.

 

[VienneseWaltz]

It matters, but it's not insurmountable. If you have the rest of the package (high GPA, high MCAT, shadowing, volunteer work, interesting ECs, and glowing recs), the vast majority of schools will overlook your undergrad.

UW Madison is supposed to be pretty good, isn't it? If you are at top-notch state school (U Mich UNC-CH, UVa, UCB), you are considered to be at a "quality" undergrad. I don't know if I would put UWM in the same category, but I believe it nonetheless has a pretty good reputation.

You can also mention at your interviews (if prompted) how your low undergrad tuition will allow you to focus more on the quality of the MD program rather than the tuition when making your final decision. Interviewers tend to respond favorably to mature decisions such as save-the-money-for-med-school.

Good luck!

 

[rjmst]

also be sure to say that your school is a "TOP SCHOOL" on US News even if it isn't.