Prestige and Medical School

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Kong Bu

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At the point when one applies to med school, is prestige of the medicals schools still an influential factor in where one applies and will attend? Or is the environment, the different programs, and everything else more of a primary concern?

I've seen some people on MDApps withdraw from the top medical schools and will choose to go to other ones. It makes me think the way people approach undergrad institutions and med school is totally different.
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I think it does, many people who apply to medical school don't visit all the schools they list until they get an interview so part of it must be fueled by name.

Also, about your username... I always thought it phonetically translated into "terrifying" in Mandarin Chinese.
 
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JimmerJammerMrK said:
By schools, do you mean your undergrad or the medical schools that you're applying to?

A factor in what?
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Good point, I thought the OP meant the prestige of the medical school but it could mean undergrad as well. Now I'm confused as to what his question is.
 
JimmerJammerMrK said:
By schools, do you mean your undergrad or the medical schools that you're applying to?

A factor in what?
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I mean the prestige of the schools you're applying to and if it's a factor in where you decide to apply and where you decide to go in the end.

Also, about your username... I always thought it phonetically translated into "terrifying" in Mandarin Chinese.
Click to expand...

Actually it's Korean for "study" :p. "Terrifying" sounds cool though!

Edit: I edited my original question.
 
schrizto said:
I think it does, many people who apply to medical school don't visit all the schools they list until they get an interview so part of it must be fueled by name.

Also, about your username... I always thought it phonetically translated into "terrifying" in Mandarin Chinese.
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In a country as large as the US, it is just impposible to have the chance of visiting all the med schools that you applied to before the interview. If you have done some research about the schools on computer, it will already be greatly appreciated.

BTW, I think the OP is asking the prestige of the undergrad college that the applicant attended?
 
schrizto said:
Also, about your username... I always thought it phonetically translated into "terrifying" in Mandarin Chinese.
Click to expand...

It is 恐怖 in Chinese, and it does mean "terrifying". =P
 
Kong Bu said:
At the point when one applies to med school, is prestige of schools still an influential factor?
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For me presitige wasn't as big a deal as finding a school i would be happy in. But i think prestige does play a huge factor in a lot of people's decisions of where to apply and more importantly where they end up accepting an offer. some of the schools i have visited have great rankings and the students are chill and don't really show off about it. but a couple of well ranked schools i have been to the students seem too pre-occupied with the fact that their school is highly ranked and therefore came off as jerks/ snobs.

Who knows when the time comes for me to decide where i actually want to go, the prestige which comes with a top ten school might be too good to ignore even if i was not fully comfortable there. (i hope not)
 
J DUB said:
First, you need the GPA. Some med schools are about where you went more....I think each school has that factor in their somewhere in their magical formulas...:D
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For me, location is a big factor. In my school list two schools have similar prestige, one located in south cal and other one in midwest. If I am lucky enough to be in the situation of choose between these 2 schools, I will pick the one in south cal in no time. You just cant beat the weather, fun and food in south cal.
 
longhorn09 said:
For me, location is a big factor. In my school list two schools have similar prestige, one located in south cal and other one in midwest. If I am lucky enough to be in the situation of choose between these 2 schools, I will pick the one in south cal in no time. You just cant beat the weather, fun and food in south cal.
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You left out the women!! :D
 
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J DUB said:
Okay, let me answer this way too!

Care about prestige when you get into a prestigous school.

I think there are many factors that determine what school you should go to.

It was low on my determination.
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I'll second this. There are a lot of motivations and factors that go into selecting schools to apply to and then, if you are so blessed, to attend but for most applicants out there you go where you are accepted.
 
longhorn09 said:
Most of the women in the class will be occupied already anyway....
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Who said anything about the women in the class?

Had I been in a position to get multiple acceptances, med school prestige would have been little more than an afterthought. I was mostly worried about tuition and curriculum and, to a lesser extent, location. In fact, prestige might have even been a detractor in some cases. The personality type that most people at top schools seem to have doesn't mesh well with mine at all.
 
for me.

1. location
2. prestige
3. cost
 
Kong Bu said:
At the point when one applies to med school, is prestige of the medicals schools still an influential factor in where one applies and will attend? Or is the environment, the different programs, and everything else more of a primary concern?

I've seen some people on MDApps withdraw from the top medical schools and will choose to go to other ones. It makes me think the way people approach undergrad institutions and med school is totally different.
Click to expand...

A lot of this probably has to do with cost.
 
Biggest factor for me was location.

Med school is med school.
 
J DUB said:
I'm not talking about those women...I am talking about all those hot ladies not in med school looking for a doctor....:)
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I'm always on the hunt for those :D. I can corroborate that most women in med school are in committed relationships already.
-Roy
 
J DUB said:
I will when you get a sense of humor...:laugh:
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soo glad you were kidding. I would hate to be classmates with someone like that. Unfortunately I knew too many guys like that in undergrad...basically lacking a brain. I must have had the sarcasm detector off...:p
 
oaklandguy said:
I have my #1-30. 30-110 is when I start thinking about location and demographics and cost that crap.
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This I gotta see - start at #1 and start listing...
 
oaklandguy said:
I have my #1-30. 30-110 is when I start thinking about location and demographics and cost that crap.
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It doesn't sound to me like you've thought this through very well. How did you come up with the rankings? Did you use U.S. News? If so, what makes you think that ranking=prestige? Do you know how schools are ranked? Why arbitrarily stop at 30? Why does prestige matter to you? What difference do you think prestige will make in your education and career? Will that difference be worth moving anywhere and paying anything, as you seem to indicate it will? Based on your very clean-cut, definitive stance on the issue, I'm guessing these are all questions I'm guessing you've put very little research and thought into. Make sure you know what you're getting into before going balls-to-the-wall on the prestige meter.

Edit for ninja!
This I gotta see - start at #1 and start listing...
Click to expand...
I'd like to see, too.
 
Sarcasm much like yourself MilkmanAl. Although there are definitely more than 5 schools I would pick over anything in state i.e. Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Northwestern, WashU, Cornell, Brown, Mayo and I could throw in a couple more that would give my state's best school a competition such as Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, and USC. That being said, my state has awesome schools, but location I guess does play a part and the way things are going with my state right now I definitely want to get out.

I did also say my #1-30, prestige in my opinion depending on how much the University is a household name. But again, medical-school is very far away for me and although Prestige is important I'm sure my attitude will have changed drastically come time for me to apply.
 
I kind of accepted that no matter how prestigious (or otherwise) the name is, how different the program is or how shiny and new a school's buildings are-when I get done in 4 years, I will be a doctor.

So I have been really focused on finding the right "community". It is really amazing the people you meet at the schools. Makes you fall in love with the place and you can actually picture yourself spending the next 4 years or a lifetime there.
 
That wasn't sarcasm. I'm advising you to think through think through your decision to choose prestige "all day" over anything else because it doesn't seem like you're setting yourself up for a sound, informed school choice. Hey, if you'd rather be miserable for four years and take on massive debt in the process to get a degree from some high-powered school than go to a cheaper school you deem less impressive, go for it. I think that's a terrible choice, but it's not my life to live. Don't say I never tried to get you to step back and think about what you're doing before diving in blindly, though.
 
MilkmanAl said:
That wasn't sarcasm. I'm advising you to think through think through your decision to choose prestige "all day" over anything else because it doesn't seem like you're setting yourself up for a sound, informed school choice. Hey, if you'd rather be miserable for four years and take on massive debt in the process to get a degree from some high-powered school than go to a cheaper school you deem less impressive, go for it. I think that's a terrible choice, but it's not my life to live. Don't say I never tried to get you to step back and think about what you're doing before diving in blindly, though.
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It's my decision and I will make the choice that seems best to me. Prestige is definitely a factor if I get the stats. Getting a full-ride somewhere will definitely make me re-evaluate things, and I'm sure the application process itself will bring me to the realization of where I should go to medical school. That being said, I am currently aiming to go to the best medical school possible, I would like to give myself choices for medical school rather than be forced to go somewhere. But as a sophomore my mind-set is to aim as high as possible, so yes, Prestige all day.
 
Well, OP, I am impressed that this thread has not degenerated into what I feared I would find upon reading it.

:thumbup:

Don't know if this helps, but for me I use "prestige" and reputation as a great place to start with schools that you might want to check out. The way I figure it, you might as well check 'em out (if you are lucky enough to get invited) to see if the hype is real.

Otherwise I don't put too much stock in it, but that's just my opinion.
 
I am currently aiming to go to the best medical school possible, I would like to give myself choices for medical school rather than be forced to go somewhere. But as a sophomore my mind-set is to aim as high as possible, so yes, Prestige all day.
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Aiming high is awesome and all, but I'm saying you should make sure what, exactly, you're aiming for in the first place. What makes a med school a "good school?" You're going to learn the same things everywhere (plus or minus some things that reflect your professors' research interests), so education quality is largely a wash.

You're also going to have to at least try to define prestige at some point if that's what you're looking for in a school. Is prestige reflected by public opinion of the school? Your opinion? Research funding? Faculty clout? Rankings in a book? A combo of those? Why?

There's a lot to consider when choosing a school. I don't suggest you worry about any of it until application time comes, but keep it in mind.
 
MilkmanAl said:
Aiming high is awesome and all, but I'm saying you should make sure what, exactly, you're aiming for in the first place. What makes a med school a "good school?" You're going to learn the same things everywhere (plus or minus some things that reflect your professors' research interests), so education quality is largely a wash.

You're also going to have to at least try to define prestige at some point if that's what you're looking for in a school. Is prestige reflected by public opinion of the school? Your opinion? Research funding? Faculty clout? Rankings in a book? A combo of those? Why?

There's a lot to consider when choosing a school. I don't suggest you worry about any of it until application time comes, but keep it in mind.
Click to expand...

By "prestige" he means the one that makes his mom screech the loudest.

That poster is a clueless sophomore, so in 2 years, maybe he will have shortened that list of 130 factors down to a more reasonable half dozen that will also include cost in it, unlike his current top 30...and if he is applying in 2 years, he will have an MCAT and a more fleshed out GPA, and the reality of those may have more to do with what he really thinks of the role of prestige.
 
Prestige was definitely a factor in my equation, but it was neither the only nor the most important one. It was also more of a yes/no rather than a gradient (i.e. trying to factor the prestige of Harvard vs Yale vs Duke vs JH etc). Icing on the cake of other important qualities such as location and fit. Money wasn't as big of a factor to me, because I wasn't getting anything but merit anywhere anyways and my in state school was expensive.
 
More prestigious schools also happen to be the ones with 1 or 1.5 year basic sci curriculum or some sort of other something interesting that I like. My list goes from 25th percentile schools all the way up. It's mostly based on location and curriculum at this point... I'll have to go private/out of state almost everywhere I apply except for one school. Part of the reason I like baylor/mayo is the low avg graduating debt, on top of the curriculum/opportunities (all those great hospitals around baylor? sounds pretty sweet). We'll see if I can keep my GPA competitive this year =) [this is the hardest of my years in college.... cheme thermo, cheme fluid dynamics, pchem, etc. etc... GPA probably won't stay above 3.9 anymore =( ]
 
bamtuba said:
Well, OP, I am impressed that this thread has not degenerated into what I feared I would find upon reading it.

:thumbup:

Don't know if this helps, but for me I use "prestige" and reputation as a great place to start with schools that you might want to check out. The way I figure it, you might as well check 'em out (if you are lucky enough to get invited) to see if the hype is real.

Otherwise I don't put too much stock in it, but that's just my opinion.
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Yeah...guys, seriously. Let's get back on topic. I'm just curious to know what most of your deciding factors are when it comes to the perfect school for you to attend. Is prestige of the school a primary determining factor, or like how SoutherNntellect said, "med school is med school"?

I'm not sure if you can say "med school is med school" though, because even if Harvard and Howard will get two people to become doctors, I would assume Harvard has better funding for its programs, better training for its students, etc. Both may be doctors, but it might seem that the one who attended the more prestigious institution had better training, right?

And again, I'm really not interested in your personal arguments. Please try to understand.
 
Prestige doesn't get you very far if you will be miserable there. You want to be in an environment where you feel comfortable. Do people pick by prestige? Of course. I KNOW I'd be miserable at a lot of those super prestigious research oriented institutions. It just isn't my style. I have friends that picked US News top 10 schools over their state school and have actually regretted it tremendously. The people were cut throat, passive aggressive and the tuition at some was nearly double their state school. I go to a "low tier" state school and don't regret it one bit. I love my school, my profs love teaching, my classmates are awesome and while there are occasional personality clashes, we are at least civil if not friends. I honestly know the name of nearly every single person in my class. The staff here bends over backwards to help us. While I'm used to it now, I know not every school is like that. People like to say, "Oh, as soon as I am accepted I won't care. I'm going to be a doctor!". That is crap. If you were cutthroat competitive in undergrad you are going to be in medical school.

Now, I'm saying this without being accepted to those top schools, which I never even applied to. I never applied to the "competitive" school in my state either. If I were accepted I might consider it, but I still don't think it'd be the environment I'd want for my learning in most cases. I'm not swooned by pretty research buildings and all of that. I like my cheap school near my parents in a warm environment where I'm comfortable.
 
It doesn't look to me like this thread has strayed off-topic at all, and you quoted a post agreeing with that notion. :confused:

I think that given the fact you're apparently trying to get people to respond to an extremely complex question into a yes/no answer, this thread is doing exceptionally well. So...yeah. Go us...I guess. Carry on!
 
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