School Reputations

[HateTheMCAT]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

So I have heard various explanations over time regarding this subject so I just wanted to thrown it out there and see if anyone has any insight into how school reputation affects your GPA and application as a whole for medical school admissions committees.

I have heard that the GPAs are taken independently and that a 3.5 is a 3.5 no matter where you went to school. But this can't be right, can it?

A 3.5 from a top 30 university has to be viewed differently than a 3.5 from a worse school, right? Furthermore, a 3.5 from a top school may even be viewed better than a higher GPA at a school with a smaller reputation, right?

Obviously the MCAT is used to some degree to resolve the discrepancy, but I was curious if anyone knows how medical school admissions committees view your university rank/school reputation. Is it a variable in their decisions? Is it used systematically (a number in a complex formula) or is it used more subjectively by the people on the committee and their opinions of schools?

Thanks for any input.

 

[dw2158]

this has been so many times it makes me wanna

you will get all these answers:
-it doesn't matter where you go
-it matters a little, but not as much as GPA or MCAT (my personal opinion)
-it matters a lot-- electrical engineering majors from MIT have it harder so their lower GPAs are excused but english majors from podunk school didn't have to work so much for their 4.0 and adcoms know this.

 

[mdeast]

You can never really understand the process completely. Yes, an adcom definitely does take into consideration what undergraduate university you went to in the application process (and the subsequent difficulty of grading and peer competitiveness). One adcom reader may really like state school applicants because he went to a state school, another may be more elitist and prefer Ivy league applicants. The whole process is subjective at so many different points in the process that's it hard to say...it may come down to the person who reads your application rather than even the medical school you're applying to.

Moral of the story is...do well at whatever school you're at, and more often than not you'll be successful.

 

[bigbad]

this has been so many times it makes me wanna

you will get all these answers:
-it doesn't matter where you go
-it matters a little, but not as much as GPA or MCAT (my personal opinion)
-it matters a lot-- electrical engineering majors from MIT have it harder so their lower GPAs are excused but english majors from podunk school didn't have to work so much for their 4.0 and adcoms know this.

Then there are people who say that majors don't matter so always pick the "easier" one.

I've also concluded that it really doesn't make any significant difference and that what you do is going to outweigh something as stupid as a school's name.

Again, who's to judge what school is "easy" or "hard"? How can you say one school is better than the other when you haven't experienced either one?

 

[HateTheMCAT]

this has been so many times it makes me wanna

you will get all these answers:
-it doesn't matter where you go
-it matters a little, but not as much as GPA or MCAT (my personal opinion)
-it matters a lot-- electrical engineering majors from MIT have it harder so their lower GPAs are excused but english majors from podunk school didn't have to work so much for their 4.0 and adcoms know this.

Sorry if this has been discussed ad nauseum on here. Is that what you were getting at or are you as frustrated as much as me with the lack of a definite answer to this question? If it has been discussed on here (I'm new) - is there a specific thread you can direct me to??? Thanks.

 

[dw2158]

Then there are people who say that majors don't matter so always pick the "easier" one.

I've also concluded that it really doesn't make any significant difference and that what you do is going to outweigh something as stupid as a school's name.

Again, who's to judge what school is "easy" or "hard"? How can you say one school is better than the other when you haven't experienced either one?

i respectfully disagree. i think it is much harder to stand out as an excellent student at some school than others. not because the name makes it a "better" school, but because it is so selective in choosing its undergraduate class that there is an overwhelming number of highly achieving students.

ANYWAY, this has been discussed a lot before. LizzyM has weighed in, i believe, and she expressed an opinion similar to mine: it matters a little (because of what i said above) but not as much as any of your other stats or anything.

 

[daisy44]

If it matters at all (and I'm not saying it does), they will take into account the extent of grade inflation at your school much more than the name/prestige of your school.

 

[dw2158]

If it matters at all (and I'm not saying it does), they will take into account the extent of grade inflation at your school much more than the name/prestige of your school.

troof.

 

[bigbad]

i respectfully disagree. i think it is much harder to stand out as an excellent student at some school than others. not because the name makes it a "better" school, but because it is so selective in choosing its undergraduate class that there is an overwhelming number of highly achieving students.

ANYWAY, this has been discussed a lot before. LizzyM has weighed in, i believe, and she expressed an opinion similar to mine: it matters a little (because of what i said above) but not as much as any of your other stats or anything.

I agree with that. Top universities are obviously going to have more competitive students and that would obviously make it harder to get a higher gpa.

But again, who's to say this school is better than this school is better than school? How can you fairly rank schools and give "compensation" knowing little to nothing about the school?

You can look at rankings all day and listen to what your friend's brother said about this school and that school that he goes to but I don't think you can really ever know.

So the question is, if adcoms really do value some schools over others, where do they get their information and where can I find it. Or do they also listen to their friend's brother? 😀

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=608704
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=570537

similar topics, no definite answer and there never will be.

 

[dw2158]

I agree with that. Top universities are obviously going to have more competitive students and that would obviously make it harder to get a higher gpa.

But again, who's to say this school is better than this school is better than school? How can you fairly rank schools and give "compensation" knowing little to nothing about the school?

You can look at rankings all day and listen to what your friend's brother said about this school and that school that he goes to but I don't think you can really ever know.

So the question is, if adcoms really do value some schools over others, where do they get their information and where can I find it. Or do they also listen to their friend's brother? 😀

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=608704
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=570537

similar topics, no definite answer and there never will be.

oh, no, i totally agree that you can't say which schools are "better" than others. but i do think that adcoms take your undergrad into account. because, let's face it, it's harder to be a rockstar at an ivy than it is at a small, non-competitive local college. not saying the quality of education is totally different though.

 

[bigbad]

oh, no, i totally agree that you can't say which schools are "better" than others. but i do think that adcoms take your undergrad into account. because, let's face it, it's harder to be a rockstar at an ivy than it is at a small, non-competitive local college. not saying the quality of education is totally different though.

trudat, trudat.

So we can say stop worrying about factors that are out of your control anyways and focus on other things. The difference is probably small anways. 👍

 

[acridknight]

here i go

electrical engineering majors from MIT have it harder so their lower GPAs are excused but english majors from podunk school didn't have to work so much for their 4.0 and adcoms know this.

agreed.

ultimately, remember that the application process is kept as fair as possble. now, the adcoms do have a brain. they will know that underwater basketweaving is less rigorous than a more demanding major (like EE) from a good school that has a good program (eg. MIT with EE).

remember, GPA is not taken simply as a number. It is a representation of your undergrad rigor and your performance. this is fundamental; cocentrate on this, b/c this is the context in which your GPA is evaluated.

 

[redlight]

here i go


agreed.

ultimately, remember that the application process is kept as fair as possble. now, the adcoms do have a brain. they will know that underwater basketweaving is less rigorous than a more demanding major (like EE) from a good school that has a good program (eg. MIT with EE).

remember, GPA is not taken simply as a number. It is a representation of your undergrad rigor and your performance. this is fundamental; cocentrate on this, b/c this is the context in which your GPA is evaluated.

i agree.

 

[phospho]

When I interviewed at the Cleveland Clinic (i think there were about 15 of us interviewees), we had name tags that had our names and our school's name. All of the schools that were represented that day were either top schools (like harvard, stanford, etc...) or they were simply very well known schools (e.g. ohio state, UCLA, etc...)

I had the same exact experience at Iowa and Ohio State. Not sure if this was something that happened frequently, but I thought it was interesting that there weren't any small/no name schools.

Obviously, me = n = 1, so you can never really know for sure I guess...

P.S. To the person above who said that the application process is fair, you know and I know that there is nothing fair about it. It might be more fair than it is unfair, but it's far from fair. I'm not complaining (i.e. since it worked in my favor), just sayin'...

 

[redsquareblack]

When I interviewed at the Cleveland Clinic (i think there were about 15 of us interviewees), we had name tags that had our names and our school's name. All of the schools that were represented that day were either top schools (like harvard, stanford, etc...) or they were simply very well known schools (e.g. ohio state, UCLA, etc...)

I had the same exact experience at Iowa and Ohio State. Not sure if this was something that happened frequently, but I thought it was interesting that there weren't any small/no name schools.

Obviously, me = n = 1, so you can never really know for sure I guess...

So you're n. I'd always wondered.

 

[dw2158]

So you're n. I'd always wondered.

👍

 

[phospho]

So you're n. I'd always wondered.

😀

 

[LAman10]

The formula that several adcoms use to convert GPA at X school is:

[X's Ranking in USNWR / (total # US accredited 4-year universities * average GPA for school X)] * your GPA

Hope that helps a bit!

 

[LAman10]

When I interviewed at the Cleveland Clinic (i think there were about 15 of us interviewees), we had name tags that had our names and our school's name. All of the schools that were represented that day were either top schools (like harvard, stanford, etc...) or they were simply very well known schools (e.g. ohio state, UCLA, etc...)

I had the same exact experience at Iowa and Ohio State. Not sure if this was something that happened frequently, but I thought it was interesting that there weren't any small/no name schools.

Obviously, me = n = 1, so you can never really know for sure I guess...

P.S. To the person above who said that the application process is fair, you know and I know that there is nothing fair about it. It might be more fair than it is unfair, but it's far from fair. I'm not complaining (i.e. since it worked in my favor), just sayin'...

I think that's just a result of the fact that there are fewer pre-meds at no-name schools

 

[amph119]

The formula that several adcoms use to convert GPA at X school is:

[X's Ranking in USNWR / (total # US accredited 4-year universities * average GPA for school X)] * your GPA

Hope that helps a bit!

Hahahaha.

You forgot the part about adding 0.1 to it if the formula is executed on a full moon.

 

[phospho]

Hahahaha.

You forgot the part about adding 0.1 to it if the formula is executed on a full moon.

hahaha

that's some funny s.hit dude...

 

[longhorn09]

Even LizzyM has answered this question many times before.

 

[slowbutsteady]

Sorry if this has been discussed ad nauseum on here. Is that what you were getting at or are you as frustrated as much as me with the lack of a definite answer to this question? If it has been discussed on here (I'm new) - is there a specific thread you can direct me to??? Thanks.

First, you are at the school you are at, so the question really matters very little.

Second, if you are NOT at a "top" college, don't worry about it. If you are a strong candidate (grades, gpa, ecs) you will do great in the process regardless of your undergrad.

Third, if you ARE at a top college and you have below a 3.4 gpa and below a 30 MCAT, the prestige of your school will likely not help you. Good luck!

Fourth, the only people, therefore, for whom this question is relevant are Harvard/Yale/etc grads with good, but modest, apps. These people are hoping that their highly prestigious undergrad will give them a little boost.

Fifth, if you are one of the people referenced in #4 above, the answer is a resounding YES, your undergrad will help!!!!!! No question. A 3.5/33 Harvard student will do much better than a 3.5/33 no-name student.

This should answer any/all threads on this topic.

Done.

Your welcome.

 

[Az1698]

here i go


agreed.

they will know that underwater basketweaving is less rigorous than a more demanding major (like EE) from a good school that has a good program (eg. MIT with EE).

WTH?!?!?!?! Underwater basketweaving requires so much hand eye coordination and skill - that is much harder than a degree from MIT. CHeck your info, I got accepted with underwater basket weaving major with a 2.7. Take that for those who say majors are not considered