School Name Matters?

[sliceofbread136]

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It actually does make a difference and says something about you as a person.

Elaborate maybe?

 

[Sophocles]

Elaborate maybe?

I can only speak from personal experience but I have had quite a similar situation and has helped me immensely. But as others have also stated, it's not just about the school but whether or not you take advantage of the opportunities there.

 

[Cardiothoracic]

Another issue that's bothering me is taking prerequisites at a community college. I'm not trying to get ahead of myself here and overshoot, but let's say I maintain above a 3.7 G.P.A., participate in a few extra curricular programs, and get over a 33 on the MCAT. Would I have a decent chance of getting accepted?; even though I took most of the prerequisites in community college? If anybody wants to know what exactly I'll be taking during my freshman and sophomore year, than click on the link below.

http://web1.assist.org/web-assist/r...C&oia=UCD&aay=12-13&ay=12-13&dora=BIOCHEM.B.S

As you can see, everything will be covered while I'll be in community college.

 

[sliceofbread136]

I can only speak from personal experience but I have had quite a similar situation and has helped me immensely. But as others have also stated, it's not just about the school but whether or not you take advantage of the opportunities there.

Oh ok. For some reason I thought your post was meant to be negative, like it would make you seem like a gunner or something. But ya agreed on your post 😀

 

[Sophocles]

Oh ok. For some reason I thought your post was meant to be negative, like it would make you seem like a gunner or something. But ya agreed on your post 😀

👍

 

[Sophocles]

That is true, but i was thinking more of the large ivy or similar school that were mentioned earlier. These are comparable in size to state schools and may have less access to professorial level faculty

I think access is a relative term and there are more variables than that. There are myriad opportunities in Ivy's for research, which can lead to a great level of access to faculty. If you look at Columbia's student to faculty ratio it's 6:1. Also, being able to conduct research and get taught lectures by Nobel laureates is a ridiculous amount of access, if you ask me. I would rather have access to Martin Chalfie's lectures on genetics and conduct research with Richard Axel and be subjected to a large university rather than go to a small private school (disclaimer-I started off in a small private school)-but that's only one opinion.

 

[jr93]

I doubt this as well.

Do you know how ridiculously well-rounded you have to be with near perfect scores to get into Harvard for undergrad?

Good grades in high school means nothing and good scores on the SAT/ACT are pretty easy to come by for any smart kid that halfway tries (at least when I took the ACT). I'm talking about people already there. They aren't anything special. I know many in Boston and most would much rather have kids from Northeastern, BU, BC, or Tufts over Harvard because so many people question Harvard's undergrad system. The impression is that they'd rather spit out good numbers than good students. As I've pointed out many times on this forum, Harvard once had 9/10 kids graduating with honors before they got their hand slapped. Anyone knows that no matter how well you screen, that is virtually impossible with 18-22 year old kids that just got freedom in a city that has plenty of parties. If you were heavy into engineering or science, you'd know that Rose-Hulman or Harvey Mudd blow Harvard out of the water. Most normal people have never heard of those schools and would assume Harvard is the most awesome. Names only mean something to those that don't know any better.

 

[NickNaylor]

Are you kidding me? Better access to faculty is one of the main advantages small private schools have over large state schools.

Yeah, I'm sure you get some great face time when you are taught by a TA and/or all grading is done by a TA and/or your prof tells you to talk to the TA about any issues. Not saying this happens all or even most of the time, but at institutions at which research is very highly prized (eg, the Ivies) the reality is that having the experience above becomes much more likely.

Sent from my Nexus 7

 

[Sophocles]

Yeah, I'm sure you get some great face time when you are taught by a TA and/or all grading is done by a TA and/or your prof tells you to talk to the TA about any issues. Not saying this happens all or even most of the time, but at institutions at which research is very highly prized (eg, the Ivies) the reality is that having the experience above becomes much more likely.

Sent from my Nexus 7

I understand what you are saying but I guess it all comes down to personal preference and subjectivity. What kind of access is important to you (i.e. access to faculty who have large networking capabilities and can give you a position in their lab, or the type that gives you more face time so that they can tell you how awesome you are) and the quality of the faculty (Prof. Joe schmoe who barely does any research because they have to spend an enormous amount of time explaining to their students why they received a B- versus a B, or getting personal access to Drs. Joe Stiglitz, Eric Kandel, etc.). Not saying that at smaller institutions you don't have great professors working on ground breaking research, but going to the aforementioned institutions (eg, the Ivies, or the like) will allow for this type of experience to be more likely.

 

[Narmerguy]

I think access is a relative term and there are more variables than that. There are myriad opportunities in Ivy's for research, which can lead to a great level of access to faculty. If you look at Columbia's student to faculty ratio it's 6:1. Also, being able to conduct research and get taught lectures by Nobel laureates is a ridiculous amount of access, if you ask me. I would rather have access to Martin Chalfie's lectures on genetics and conduct research with Richard Axel and be subjected to a large university rather than go to a small private school (disclaimer-I started off in a small private school)-but that's only one opinion.

Yeah, I'm sure you get some great face time when you are taught by a TA and/or all grading is done by a TA and/or your prof tells you to talk to the TA about any issues. Not saying this happens all or even most of the time, but at institutions at which research is very highly prized (eg, the Ivies) the reality is that having the experience above becomes much more likely.

Sent from my Nexus 7

I agree. I have friends that worked with Nobel Laureates and that basically amounted to being in the same room as them during lab meetings and getting their signature on a LOR. 95% of their time they only interacted with Postdocs and grad students, and that 5% was often spent telling the PI stuff that you had already told her/him before.

I understand what you are saying but I guess it all comes down to personal preference and subjectivity. What kind of access is important to you (i.e. access to faculty who have large networking capabilities and can give you a position in their lab, or the type that gives you more face time so that they can tell you how awesome you are) and the quality of the faculty (Prof. Joe schmoe who barely does any research because they have to spend an enormous amount of time explaining to their students why they received a B- versus a B, or getting personal access to Drs. Joe Stiglitz, Eric Kandel, etc.). Not saying that at smaller institutions you don't have great professors working on ground breaking research, but going to the aforementioned institutions (eg, the Ivies, or the like) will allow for this type of experience to be more likely.

I think you understimate the difficulty of getting tenure in this country. The ivy leagues are not the only places where top flight research is being done. More importantly, I don't think, as an undergrad, that you are even in a position to appreciate the ground-breaking research being done by some faculty vs the research being done by others. That's the stuff for grad students and post docs who basically eat, sleep, and breathe this stuff.

What I want is a professor who will be my mentor, not a signature. I want them to talk me through my problems, to explain their line of thinking, to show me good scientific practices, etc. This can be done by any successful scientist who is a good teacher/communicator. Very often this is not your ivy league stodgers.

 

[Elevencents]

Just step foot in the WAMC forum and you'll notice almost every pre-med thinks so because they all start with 'went to top so and so'. Unfortunately, they are the only person that really cares where they went.