Strength of undergrad program

[SUNY Geneseo]

How much do med schools take in to account the strength of your undergrad school? I go to a tier 2 liberal arts school. Right now Im a biochem major/math minor. I have a chance to do a 3-2 program where Id get a BS in Chemistry from my current school, then a BS in Chem Engineering from Columbia. I just got hammered my freshman year by weeder classes and my GPA right now is only a 3.2.

I just saw my schedule for my 3rd year and its gonna be death (P Chem, Inorganic chem, Analytical Physics III, and a 300 math) plus I've heard horror stories of Columbia SEAS. Assuming I get 30+ on the MCAT (Im a good test taker), if I can only get my GPA up to a 3.3 or 3.4 will a double major in science and engineering from two selective undergrad schools give me a little leeway with the GPA?

The other thing I could do is transfer to UB or UAlbany and get a 3.7 in biochem in my sleep.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[kweekes80]

of course they look at each course you took, your courseload, major, school you went to, strength of progam at school, etc. they aren't stupid, and will give more weight to a 3.2 in your program than a 3.2 in education or something.
i would just make sure you do well in those core sciences-bios, chems 1,2 and physics 1, 2.
personally, i would continue on as that major if you enjoy it and if thats what you want to study in college. Try to take some easy As in the liberal arts elective stuff you can take, this can't hurt.

i personally think that makes you a very attractive candidate-someone who is taking such a rigorous and intense courseload at a prestigious school. Do the best you can of course and things should work out fine.

 

[SUNY Geneseo]

Good to know. It's frustrating seeing my friends get 3.5's at other schools doing no work and Im struggling to keep myself in the game. Hopefully it'll pay off.

 

[student1799]

How much do med schools take in to account the strength of your undergrad school? I go to a tier 2 liberal arts school. Right now Im a biochem major/math minor. I have a chance to do a 3-2 program where Id get a BS in Chemistry from my current school, then a BS in Chem Engineering from Columbia. I just got hammered my freshman year by weeder classes and my GPA right now is only a 3.2.

I just saw my schedule for my 3rd year and its gonna be death (P Chem, Inorganic chem, Analytical Physics III, and a 300 math) plus I've heard horror stories of Columbia SEAS. Assuming I get 30+ on the MCAT (Im a good test taker), if I can only get my GPA up to a 3.3 or 3.4 will a double major in science and engineering from two selective undergrad schools give me a little leeway with the GPA?

The other thing I could do is transfer to UB or UAlbany and get a 3.7 in biochem in my sleep.

I'll take the other side of this one. I know Columbia very well because I did my postbacc there. Take my advice and STAY AWAY FROM THERE--it's a total meat grinder, especially SEAS. Definitely go for your "UB or UAlbany" option, because you'll be a lot better off when it comes to med school admissions.

When looking at where to do postbacc, I foolishly thought that Columbia's reputation would offset any downward pressure the school might put on my GPA. I think I was wrong there. I had a 3.98 or so in the first year of postbacc (where you take chem, physics and math), but the second year--orgo and bio--was like hitting a brick wall at 100 miles an hour. Those classes are BRUTAL. I had to put in up to 90 hours a week studying (morning till the wee hours, 7 days a week), and I still ended up with a bunch of B's and B+'s, only getting A's in the labs. (They were hard too, but not as impossible as the lecture courses.)

So now I have a 3.62 postbacc GPA (which AMCAS has haircut to 3.59 because my A+'s don't count), which is considered quite good around Columbia, but decidedly mediocre in the wide world of med school admissions. It seems that despite what people would have you believe, med schools make virtually no allowances for the fact that you went to a tough school--at least not in the initial screening process. So if your GPA ends up below some school's cutoff, they're going to toss your app in the reject pile without ever giving you a chance to explain yourself. If you go to an easier school and get a 4.0 or close, as well as a decent MCAT score, you'll get a lot more interviews.

So listen to the voice of experience and go to SUNY. You'll be really glad you did.

P.S. Columbia is also a really miserable place, and no one's happy there--they all trudge around looking at the ground. Who needs that misery, when premed classes are hard enough as it is?

 

[SUNY Geneseo]

Hmmmmm. Interesting. Thanks for the first-hand info. I think I was leaning towards doing the 2 years at UB anyways considering UB is 15k a year and Columbia is 47k. I guess the Ivy league grade inflation doesn't apply to science and engineering? Does anyone know if UB likes to take their own undergrad students? Because they would be my first choice for med school.