public vs. private ease of admissions

[yourpeep]

Hey guys, I am new to this forum and had a general question. I was wondering about admissions to public versus private schools. I am a borderline admit case (3.2 GPA from a top 30 school with significant research and publication as first author in an internationally cited journal) trying to create a list of schools and, obviously, I will include all of our state's public schools, but a question keeps coming up. Why would somebody go to a lower tier private medical school and pay 3X as much as someone going to a public school? I have been informed that admissions at such lower tier private medical schools is still harder than at the publics, but I don't see how that can be the case if someone can get into a public with the same reputation and pay less. What is the general opinion? Is admission less competitive at lower tier private schools? I've heard privates like MCP, GWU and Tulane (or is it Temple) are less competitive, is this true?

Thank you for your input...

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[lola]

i think a lot of people at the lower tier privates are there because they didn't get accepted to their state schools e.g. californians. of course, this is not everyone. some might choose a lower tier private school based on location, curriculum, or some other reason.

 

[Sweet Tea]

Welcome to SDN, yourpeep!!!

One of the reasons why it is just as hard (if not harder) to get into a lower-tier private school as opposed to your state school is that the private schools get many more applications b/c they don't have residency restrictions. Also, some state schools (California) are hard for in-state people to get in, and they're often forced to go to a private school. Some people are looking for a change of scenery and would rather pay the extra $$ just for the location. And some schools are more known for certain programs. Many state schools really want people who are looking to stay in state and go into primary care, while many applicants would rather go someplace that would prepare them more for a specialty where they would have more freedom choosing their location. Everyone has their own motivations for applying and matriculating to certain schools.

Best of luck!

 

[DW]

differentiate between "less competitive" and (please dont flame, dont have another way to say it) "lower standards". Take GW, a school that takes a lot of out of staters and has a lower average mcat and gpa than most schools. While that makes GW an attractive school for a borderline applicant to apply to, 9,999 other pre meds are thinking the same exact thing. Doesn't make it any easier to get into GW per se.

point being: apply to a "range" of schools, and lots of them

 

[nkow]

Originally posted by DW
differentiate between "less competitive" and (please dont flame, dont have another way to say it) "lower standards". Take GW, a school that takes a lot of out of staters and has a lower average mcat and gpa than most schools. While that makes GW an attractive school for a borderline applicant to apply to, 9,999 other pre meds are thinking the same exact thing. Doesn't make it any easier to get into GW per se.

point being: apply to a "range" of schools, and lots of them

They just want your money so the print lower scores to get us unsuspecting applicants to apply thinking "hmmm...that's closer to my borderline scores"...it's all a ploy to take more money away from us! hahahah!