State School to Top Med School?

[fullefect1]

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I do not see that many state college applicants getting into top med schools. What do you guys think about this? Is it because most of the lower state school applicants are not getting the high MCAT scores, or are the top schools biased about the state colleges average SAT scores?

When I say state school, I am not talking about the states major university, I am speaking of just any old state college.

 

[jlee9531]

where would you be getting your information?

 

[GTea]

I agree in that where you did your undergrad matters. In CA, there are a bunch of Cal State schools (not UCs), but I have heard that you really have to do well to get into medschools coming from Cal States. I don't know of any statistics backing this claim up, but personally I have not met any state school students at any of my interviews. But I do know there are students from these state schools that get into good schools every year.

Going through the application process, I learned that your undergrad matters. And yes I think admissions are biased towards well-known institutions (thats only natural). However, I think it is unfortunate that many schools seemed to weigh this too much. I know that top students at Cal States, for example, could really kick ass. The smartest person I know personally, by the way, went to a not-so-well-known school in CA.

 

[quideam]

I really don't think it's weighed that much... i'm from a very average state school, and I got into Pitt (top 20 school) and waitlist tier 1 at Penn, plust interviews at Cornell and Yale (the only other 'top' schools, besides hopkins, that I applied to).

So while I think that coming from an ivy league helps, coming from a state school definetely doesn't hurt you - it just doesn't help you either 🙂

 

[fullefect1]

Originally posted by jlee9531
where would you be getting your information?

Looking through the posts on mdapplicants.com, ya i know that there are many more that get accepted, I just never get to see where they are from. (I wish i could though)

 

[celticmists18]

I went to the University of California, San Diego and will be starting at Jefferson MC this fall (a med school that I consider to be very good). I interviewed at Drexel, Temple, Wake Forest and Georgetown. I really don't think your info is accurate. Many of my friends and fellow grads have been accepted to very good med schools (ie UCSF, UCSD). Though what you consider a good school (ie big name) may not be what I consider a good school.

 

[clowne]

Originally posted by fullefect1
I do not see that many state college applicants getting into top med schools. What do you guys think about this? Is it because most of the lower state school applicants are not getting the high MCAT scores, or are the top schools biased about the state colleges average SAT scores?

When I say state school, I am not talking about the states major university, I am speaking of just any old state college.

I go to a no name state school, and I have not received any acceptances from top medical schools, although I'm on a couple waitlists and also waiting to hear post-interview from a couple more. I definitely got some good interviews, but it may be a few months to see if I get accepted or not. I don't think my school hurt my application too much, but it's really impossible to know for sure.

I think it's ridiculous to choose applicants based on their undergrad institution. I know a guy that went to my school who is now at WashU and is practically at the top of his class. It's what you can do, not where you went to school, that should matter.

 

[efex101]

This did not affect my application at all, I go to a no-name small school in the South received interviews from top schools and was accepted to various.

 

[Lochmoor]

I agree with clowne. I think with a large state school, you can very easily get the perception that top schools do not accept many from state schools. With so many students, it's hard to know everyone that is premed and only a few get into to top schools. This is just speculation on my part, I went to a good undergrad. Despite many of my friends and acquantances getting into med school, I only know of ~10 that got into a top 10 school and only 3 that got into a top 5 school.

I think the region of you undergrad plays a big part in where you get in. i.e. I think east coast grads get into east coast schools easier than grads from midwest.

 

[spaz]

i met an ob/gyn who went to cal state and went to harvard med.

 

[meanderson]

I don't there is a whole lot of bias. I just think students who go to top undergrad schools are more likely to

1) have a big mcat score
2) want to choose a top 20 med school over their state school

People who are top students in high school don't typically choose to go to an unranked state school for undergrad and then a top medical school over their state medical school. Part of it is also self selection.

I don't have great numbers, went to Valdosta State University, and got into one top 20 school. I only applied to two, however. Didn't apply to any schools in the top 10. So I don't think it hurts that much, if any.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Originally posted by celticmists18
I went to the University of California, San Diego and will be starting at Jefferson MC this fall (a med school that I consider to be very good). I interviewed at Drexel, Temple, Wake Forest and Georgetown. I really don't think your info is accurate. Many of my friends and fellow grads have been accepted to very good med schools (ie UCSF, UCSD). Though what you consider a good school (ie big name) may not be what I consider a good school.

I wouldn't categorize UCSD into "any old state college."