School Biases After 4-5 Years

[jjame]

I noticed these 2 posts from @Maebea and @Fencer regarding school biases and which undergrads were sending the most kids to MD/PhD programs.

Maebea compiles data from 2005-2014:

Here are the top feeder schools for MD-PhD programs for the period 2010-2014. Only undergrad schools with that sent 20 or more students to MD-PhD programs in this 5-year period are included.


Undergrad /2010-2014 Count / Change from 2005-2009
UC-Berkeley / 100 / 43%
Harvard / 95 / -7%
Johns Hopkins / 92 / 10%
Michigan / 80 / 129%
Yale / 80 / 10%
Cornell / 78 / 0%
Stanford / 78 / 1%
Wash U / 76 / 38%
Penn / 67 / 24%
UCLA / 66 / 10%
Duke 66 12%
MIT / 62 / -5%
Columbia / 44 / -10%
Princeton / 44 / 7%
Northwestern / 37 / 9%
UT-Austin / 37 / 48%
U Washington / 37 / 37%
UVA / 35 / 3%
Chicago / 34 / -24%
UCSD / 33 / -21%
Maryland-Baltimore County / 32 / 19%
Brown / 31 / -30%
Emory / 30 / 50%
Maryland-College Park / 30 / 25%
Illinois / 29 / -22%
Minnesota / 29 / 107%
Wisconsin / 29 / -3%
Case-Western / 27 / 0%
Pitt / 25 / 14%
BYU / 23 / -23%
UNC-Chapel Hill / 22 / -21%
Total of these Institutions / 1422 / 12%
Total of all institutions / 3160 / 9%
Percentage from these institutions / 45% / 2%

While Fencer provides the 2015 data:

Here is data for the 2015 national MD/PhD class of 623 matriculants. Their undergraduate institutions were:

Primary Undergraduate College ................ 623 ..... TOTAL ... PERCENTAGE (of the class up to this school)
1 Harvard University ................................... 25
2 University of California-Los Angeles ....... 20
3 Cornell University .................................... 19
3 Yale University ......................................... 19
5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology ... 18
6 University of California-Berkeley ............. 17
7 Washington University in St. Louis ......... 16
8 Columbia University ................................. 13
8 Johns Hopkins University ....................... 13
8 University of Florida ................................ 13 ....... 173 .............. 28% of the class in the Top 10 UG Colleges
11 Stanford University ................................. 12
12 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor ........ 11
12 University of Pennsylvania .................... 11
14 University of Chicago .............................. 10
14 University of Washington ....................... 10 ........ 227 ............. 36% of the class in the Top 15 UG Colleges
16 Duke University ...................................... 9
16 Princeton University ............................... 9
18 Northwestern University-Evanston ........ 8
18 University of Pittsburgh ......................... 8 ......... 261 ............. 42% of the class in the Top 19 UG Colleges
20 University of California-San Diego ............ 7
20 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.. 7
20 University of Maryland-College Park ............ 7
20 University of Wisconsin-Madison ................ 7 .......... 289 ............ 46% of the class in the Top 23 UG Colleges

​

325 - 52% of the class in the Top 29 UG Colleges​

360 - 58% of the class in the Top 36 UG Colleges​

412 - 66% of the class in the Top 49 UG Colleges​

Now, I'm wondering what the data looks like from 2016-2020 (entering class).

**Disclaimer don't feel down if you're a current/prospective applicant and don't see your school on the list. Please believe in yourself as an applicant and person. If you look through these threads, most programs are more open to a greater variety of UG institutions and thus, thankfully, life experiences. Highkey imo that builds a better/richer tapestry for each cohort and I *feel* that some schools have been getting better and better at this each year, but that's why I want to see what things look like currently/from 2016-2020.

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[kepler16b]

I wouldn't put too much weight into this. These numbers are heavily biased by school size and student self-selection. Highly motivated students aiming for MD/PhD programs coming out of high school are more likely to go to "prestigious" undergrads. I would wager that adcom bias for highly ranked schools plays a small part here. The profile of successful students coming from lower ranked UGs is likely similar to that of those coming from highly ranked UGs.

 

[Fencer]

Our national pool of applicants has broaden in the past 2 decades. The biggest barrier is the ability to experience high quality and adequate quantity of biomedical research experiences. The prior list compiled by my colleague @Maebea essentially overlaps with Carnegie R1 type Institutions. It is easier to aspire to a biomedical research career if you see role models and have availability of experiences. Students pursuing their studies elsewhere have taken the path of multiple summer research experiences and, more often taken a year or two as a Research Post-bacs to fill that gap. While the Post-bac strategy is helping diversifying the academic pedigree and the race/ethnic/socioeconomic composition of the national MD/PhD pool, it is prolonging the time to first R01 (independent research award).

As indicated, admission committees spend the most time examining the quality/quantity of research. While it isn't perfect, the MCAT allows someone with an academic pedigree of transferring from CC to State R1 to compete with an Ivy graduate.

 

[Maebea]

Ask and ye shall receive (sort of). We do not have the 2020 data yet. Below is the 2015-2019 list of undergrad institutions that sent 20 or more students to MD-PhD programs. This keeps the data in 5-year cohorts, so comparisons are tidier.

Harvard U. / 108
Johns Hopkins U. / 91
California-Los Angeles, U. of / 80
Columbia U. / 80
Cornell U. / 80
Yale U. / 80
Washington U. / 77
California-Berkeley, U. of / 73
Pennsylvania, U. of / 72
Michigan, U. of / 66
Duke U. / 64
Princeton U. / 57
Massachusetts Inst. of Tech. / 56
Chicago, U. of / 52
Stanford U. / 52
Wisconsin, U. of / 49
Maryland, U. of / 44
Florida, U. of / 42
Brown U. / 40
Ohio State U. / 34
California-San Diego, U. of / 33
Rutgers State U. / 31
Pittsburgh, U. of / 30
Colorado-Boulder, U. of / 29
Illinois, U. of / 29
Minnesota, U. of/29
Rice U. / 29
Southern California, U. of / 29
Emory U. / 28
New York U. / 27
Maryland-Baltimore County, U. of / 26
Northwestern U. / 26
Vanderbilt U. / 26
Texas, U. of / 24
Rochester, U. of / 22
Tufts U. / 22
Virginia, U. of/22
Washington, U. of / 22
North Carolina, U. of / 20
Notre Dame, U. of / 20

These schools account for 55% of the 3296 MD-PhD matriculants from 2015-2019. This compares with 45% of 3160
matriculants coming from undergrads that sent 20 or more individuals to MD-PhD programs in the 2009-2014 period. The number of schools that sent 20 or more grew to 40 in 2015-2019 from 31 in 2010-2014. (If we look at the top 31 institutions for the 2015-2019 period, we see that they accounted for 48% of all matriculants, so there was still some growth, but it was not as dramatic.)

The number of schools send individuals to MD-PhD programs barely changed: 452 for 2010-2014, and 467 for 2015-2019. Schools sending 20 or more students in 5 years sent an average of 9 per year, which is essentially the same as in the earlier period.

There are some interesting stories in the data. UCLA became the top public feeder school by growing from 66 to 80, while Berkley fell from 100 to 73. Other public schools that declined were Michigan (-17%), Texas-Austin & Washington (-35%), and Maryland Baltimore (-19%). On the other hand, Maryland College Park bucked the trend, growing by 47%. Among private school, Columbia went on steroids, increasing from 44 to 80 and Chicago went from 34 to 52. Stanford joined Berkeley in the Bay Area blues, dropping by 33%, and Case Western got into the act with a 59% decline.

 

[jjame]

Ask and ye shall receive (sort of). We do not have the 2020 data yet. Below is the 2015-2019 list of undergrad institutions that sent 20 or more students to MD-PhD programs. This keeps the data in 5-year cohorts, so comparisons are tidier.

Harvard U. / 108
Johns Hopkins U. / 91
California-Los Angeles, U. of / 80
Columbia U. / 80
Cornell U. / 80
Yale U. / 80
Washington U. / 77
California-Berkeley, U. of / 73
Pennsylvania, U. of / 72
Michigan, U. of / 66
Duke U. / 64
Princeton U. / 57
Massachusetts Inst. of Tech. / 56
Chicago, U. of / 52
Stanford U. / 52
Wisconsin, U. of / 49
Maryland, U. of / 44
Florida, U. of / 42
Brown U. / 40
Ohio State U. / 34
California-San Diego, U. of / 33
Rutgers State U. / 31
Pittsburgh, U. of / 30
Colorado-Boulder, U. of / 29
Illinois, U. of / 29
Minnesota, U. of/29
Rice U. / 29
Southern California, U. of / 29
Emory U. / 28
New York U. / 27
Maryland-Baltimore County, U. of / 26
Northwestern U. / 26
Vanderbilt U. / 26
Texas, U. of / 24
Rochester, U. of / 22
Tufts U. / 22
Virginia, U. of/22
Washington, U. of / 22
North Carolina, U. of / 20
Notre Dame, U. of / 20

These schools account for 55% of the 3296 MD-PhD matriculants from 2015-2019. This compares with 45% of 3160
matriculants coming from undergrads that sent 20 or more individuals to MD-PhD programs in the 2009-2014 period. The number of schools that sent 20 or more grew to 40 in 2015-2019 from 31 in 2010-2014. (If we look at the top 31 institutions for the 2015-2019 period, we see that they accounted for 48% of all matriculants, so there was still some growth, but it was not as dramatic.)

The number of schools send individuals to MD-PhD programs barely changed: 452 for 2010-2014, and 467 for 2015-2019. Schools sending 20 or more students in 5 years sent an average of 9 per year, which is essentially the same as in the earlier period.

There are some interesting stories in the data. UCLA became the top public feeder school by growing from 66 to 80, while Berkley fell from 100 to 73. Other public schools that declined were Michigan (-17%), Texas-Austin & Washington (-35%), and Maryland Baltimore (-19%). On the other hand, Maryland College Park bucked the trend, growing by 47%. Among private school, Columbia went on steroids, increasing from 44 to 80 and Chicago went from 34 to 52. Stanford joined Berkeley in the Bay Area blues, dropping by 33%, and Case Western got into the act with a 59% decline.

*in awe of thoroughness* thank you so much, @Maebea!

 

[Fencer]

It would be interesting to examine whether there were significant changes in the Pre-Health advising scene for the schools that had major changes. Perhaps, that is an opportunity to grow the national pool of MD/PhD applicants.

 

[Maebea]

Agreed. I know that pre-professional advising at Chicago, UMD and other schools have become more active in promoting awareness of MD-PhD among its students in the past several years, and it seems to have made a difference. Columbia has seen its 5 year cohorts grow from 27 in 2000-2004 (good for 22nd place on the list) to 49, 44, and now 80.