Med school question

[q1108]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I'm a high school student and have known for a while that I want to go in to medicine.Does the school where you do your undergrad have a big impact on where you can go to med school or is it more individual performance?

 

[Bubb Rubb]

i'm not sure if anyone can quantify the contribution of each, but both matter. admissions officers aren't stupid -- a 4.0 from a community college won't do you much good, imo.

 

[VPDcurt]

More individual performance. Of course a great school is not going to hurt you in any way, but it is not going to get you an acceptance either. The MCAT is supposedly used to compare applicants on a national scale.

 

[psipsina]

i'm not sure if anyone can quantify the contribution of each, but both matter. admissions officers aren't stupid -- a 4.0 from a community college won't do you much good, imo.

Since many US allopathic med schools won't accept prerequisites from a CC I'm sure you're right. But when comparing different non-CC universities and colleges I believe the most important thing is to pick somewhere that you feel like you will thrive. This is very personal and will differ between people. If you find the perfect learning environment for you, you are far more likely to get the great GPA and understand the material so you can get a great MCAT which are definitely weighted more heavily than where that GPA is coming from. Another thing to think about is class size, since in smaller classes it is easier to get personalized reccomendations rather than form letter ones. Finally dig around in the pre-allo forum about specific schools that you are looking at and people will tell you if they are uber-competitive schools. All pre-med programs will be competitive and have a weed-out mentality, but some schools are above and beyond, genuine pre-med soul squashing machines, avoid these. Its less about the name of the school and more about if the school can bring out the best pre-med you can be.

 

[dutchman]

If you do well on the MCAT you will validate a good GPA from any school.

 

[LJDHC05]

You'll probably want to ask in the pre-allo forum, and precipitate one of their little pissing matches over what kind of undergrad institution will get you into a top ranked medical school...as if anyone actually knows how that works besides the admissions committees.

Bottom line: go to a school where you can be happy, have fun and do well in your pre-reqs...not solely based upon the "will this place get me into med school" factor, because historically about 75% of pre-meds drop out and you dont want to be stuck at a school where you're miserable.

 

[Touchdown]

LJDHC05, I see you are another person who delights in peaking back to the pre med board from time to time. Boy is that place a mess, and to think I contributed to that board, ick. Who else wants to stage a massive allo invasion by starting a couple of "new" threads:
-AA thread, from either angle, either way you are going to piss people off

-A thead about how you need a 34 MCAT now a days to get into a med school (at least thats what your good friends in half a dozen different admissions boards told you)

-Asking for advice because Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Stanford and UCLA have allready accepted you but youre starting to doubt your desire for med school. Also add how you think it is totaly unfair that you have to send in checks to hold your place in a class

 

[LJDHC05]

Bro/dudette,
it was like that a year and a half ago when I joined that hellhole... and sometimes allo is just as bad with the "why do I have to be empathic"/"is it harder to do well at a top-ranked program?" type threads.

I'm willing to bet that there's pissing matches going on in the resident forums over which geriatrics rotation is #1 and more hard core based on the number of depends changed.

NOTHING is more consistent in medicine is the personalities of pre-meds/med students/physicians: getting in/graduating doesn't make you less competitive/more secure/etc. they just dress you up in a progressively longer white status symbol/security blanket and allow you to stick your fingers in peoples bums.

 

[Law2Doc]

I'm a high school student and have known for a while that I want to go in to medicine.Does the school where you do your undergrad have a big impact on where you can go to med school or is it more individual performance?

Go someplace reputable that has a science department big enough to provide research opportunities, but beyond that it doesn't really matter. However, the question is moot, and probably belongs in pre-allo. Something like 95% of people who start college thinking they are premed don't end up graduating premed. Best to go into college open minded, try lots of things, talk to lots of people and see what choices there are in life. At the same time, take some of the prereqs, just in case, and see how you do. AFTER you have done that, IF you still want to do medicine, then fine. No point making this important a decision until all the facts are in, and closing yourself off to opportunities which might potentially be better for you.

 

[njbmd]

Moving to Pre-Allo.

 

[Dookter]

LJDHC05, I see you are another person who delights in peaking back to the pre med board from time to time. Boy is that place a mess, and to think I contributed to that board, ick. Who else wants to stage a massive allo invasion by starting a couple of "new" threads:
-AA thread, from either angle, either way you are going to piss people off

-A thead about how you need a 34 MCAT now a days to get into a med school (at least thats what your good friends in half a dozen different admissions boards told you)

-Asking for advice because Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Stanford and UCLA have allready accepted you but youre starting to doubt your desire for med school. Also add how you think it is totaly unfair that you have to send in checks to hold your place in a class

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!