Importance of Undergraduate School?

[Peterock]

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It also varies greatly by ivy league school, and more importantly, by majors. It is much easier to get your fair share of A's by taking a bunch of humanities classes than it is by taking a bunch of science classes (at least where I went to school). Ivy league schools certainly pad grades in the humanities, but I just don't think it happens very much in the sciences.

As for the whole OP's original question: you can certainly do well in the process. The MCAT is the great equalizer.

Unfortunately the MCAT is not the great equalizer. I have a friend with a 2.95gpa who was some crazy engineering/biology major (mostly for research purposes). He was ALWAYS working. He has 2 publications and a 35S MCAT.

He applied to 16 schools and got one interview. This med school application process is fairly mindless. I've had a lot of friends in "hard majors" with lowish gpa's and great MCATs barely squeeze through. It makes me think a lot less of doctors... or... I'm just not as surprised now when I meet a really dumb one.

Going to a challenging college like MIT is a waste for medical school. You should go to the easiest school possible and major in psych or sociology and pay 1400 bucks on kaplan. Thats the makings of a good doctor.

 

[TRUE]

Unfortunately the MCAT is not the great equalizer. I have a friend with a 2.95gpa who was some crazy engineering/biology major (mostly for research purposes). He was ALWAYS working. He has 2 publications and a 35S MCAT.

He applied to 16 schools and got one interview. This med school application process is fairly mindless. I've had a lot of friends in "hard majors" with lowish gpa's and great MCATs barely squeeze through. It makes me think a lot less of doctors... or... I'm just not as surprised now when I meet a really dumb one.

Going to a challenging college like MIT is a waste for medical school. You should go to the easiest school possible and major in psych or sociology and pay 1400 bucks on kaplan. Thats the makings of a good doctor.

I agree that you could go to a great school and struggle because of it and that could certainly hurt you in your chances with med schools.

However, I was talking about the MCAT as a great equalizer more in terms of the person with the same GPA at two different schools. That is to say: while a 3.5 GPA at NW BumbleBee St. might not be so great, if you get a 35 MCAT, you will certainly warrant some attention in the whole process.

 

[mdsh00]

A few dean's of med schools and admissions people I've talked to , including Dr. Michael (Sr. Assoc. Dean Baylor) said they don't factor in the undergard institution, but I am hard pressed to believe this.

From what I have heard from the Dean of Admissions at Stanford (Garcia), Stanford does take undergrad school into account. He said that it isn't a cut and dry formula or anything, but they consider their "experience" with students from a particular undergrad institution. So what he was trying to say is that they know which schools produce good students. I believe this because time and time again you see some medical schools take in a LOT of applicants from one school, and not so many from another one.

 

[synapse lapse]

From what I have heard from the Dean of Admissions at Stanford (Garcia), Stanford does take undergrad school into account. He said that it isn't a cut and dry formula or anything, but they consider their "experience" with students from a particular undergrad institution. So what he was trying to say is that they know which schools produce good students. I believe this because time and time again you see some medical schools take in a LOT of applicants from one school, and not so many from another one.

Yeah, like I said, I'm positive that they take it into account. I just don't think that information to be public. Adcoms know the academic system and aren't dumb, it would not be very pragmatic if they didnt considor it. Thanks for the counter point.

 

[WillHague007]

Ok, I read almost all the posts pretty carefully about the higher ranking/lower ranking schools.
I, personally went to Johns Hopkins University a school which is notorious for its grade deflation and competitive classes (especially the premed ones). I also have a lot of friends at various state schools and other private schools.
That being said, I know that some small schools that aren't nationally ranked or in the top tiers are very very difficult, while other small scohols are really easy. You can same the same things about the larger top ranked schools. Nobody can debate the fact that the Princetons and Harvards give out grades pretty easily. I once saw a USNEWS article showing how 40% of kids in some Princeton classes get A's.
I think the best way for an adcom to view the 'difficulty or ease" is to look at the average GPA's of a particular major in a school. For example, the cutoff for a phi beta kappa at Hopkins was a 3.70 this year....this just shows how difficult it is to get grades at Hopkins. Mind you phi beta kappa is top 10%. If an adcom looks at the average GPA and then someone's GPA, and then looks at the standard dev or something it'll be a way to normalize grades between all types of schools. That with the great normalizer of them all our very beloved standardized test - the mcat - I think will even out the fiield.

ALSO - If anyone is saying that it is more competitive at a lower tier school than a higher tier one they are completley nuts. I know there are a lot of talented people at the lower tier scohols, but I think we all agree that the proportion of competitive people is greater at the top schools...

 

[Medikit]

Some people brought up curving issues at the smaller state schools. It's true that when they curve it could allow someone who would not get an A at a top tier school to get an A. I go to a state school and I've found that there is very little curving, at least where science is concerned. My only curving experience was in gchem, the rest of my classes have been based on score alone. While this means there could be a great number of A's for any particular class this usually isn't the case. For instance last fall there was only one A in my vertebrate physiology class, and the year before that there were no A's. Same thing for second semester Biochem, this spring there was only one A and the year before that there were no A's.

Ultimately when it comes to science an ADCOM can compare your GPA to your MCAT if they are suspicious of your institution.

 

[Supadupafly]

It doesn't matter much at all, unless you have bad grades.

Also, keep in mind a big research school is better than a small one, public or private. The opportunities to get involved in EC's will make up for any ranking issues. For example, although Lewis&Clark and Reed are ranked higher, UO is probably the best school for a premed in Oregon because you can get a job in research and involved with more hands on healthcare (PSU might be even better, due to it's proximity to OHSU).

I'd recommend unless you go to a top ranked private, go to a big public school.