Undergrad school?

[rtmcad2319]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hello SDNers! I think this site is fantastic and have enjoyed reading your input for some time now. I have a question to propose: how important is an applicatants undergrad school? Does a top 10 med program care if your ivy league or not as long as your application looks great (+35MCAT, 3.9 BCMP gpa, research, etc.)? I only recently (freshman year) decided to persue a career in medicine, so when applying to undergrad college I did not put much thought into the process. I understand now what a great university (Med school) can do in respect to your professional career (resid programs, etc.). Thank you and I will be anxious to here your replies. Good luck everyone and have a good day!

:

 

[derf]

Hello SDNers! I think this site is fantastic and have enjoyed reading your input for some time now. I have a question to propose: how important is an applicatants undergrad school? Does a top 10 med program care if your ivy league or not as long as your application looks great (+35MCAT, 3.9 BCMP gpa, research, etc.)? I only recently (freshman year) decided to persue a career in medicine, so when applying to undergrad college I did not put much thought into the process. I understand now what a great university (Med school) can do in respect to your professional career (resid programs, etc.). Thank you and I will be anxious to here your replies. Good luck everyone and have a good day!

:

always understand that MCAT > undergrad school. But in general, schools favor the better school when the stats are similar. But a 3.9, 40R from podunk state is a better applicant than a 3.5, 28 from Harvard. this I'm assured of. don't worry about it.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Yeah but a 3.9 40R from podunk U prolly wont be favored over a 3.7 40R from top 20.

 

[krebse]

Does a top 10 med program care if your ivy league or not as long as your application looks great
:

Actually, the most important thing you can do, on your application and in your general life, is to strive to avoid being one of those people that perpetually types "your" when they mean "you're" 😀

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Correctly spelling hear also helps, but that's just a typo. 😉

 

[rtmcad2319]

wow..I'm glad to see so many English majors, maybe you can edit my PS.. 😛

 

[Vandyfox]

Grades, MCAT, extracurriculars are way more important than your undergrad location. I just finished up being at a "top 20" school, and I didn't feel that Vanderbilt's reputation was worth a damn during my application process (that's judging from mine, and many classmates' experiences in the process).
So, don't fret if your school isn't "renowned", cause it doesn't make that much of a difference if your other credentials are solid.
Good luck with the upcoming years!
-Vandyfox

 

[fullefect1]

Very elite top med schools favor IVY league undergrad institutions over state schools and other lesser known schools. The large majority of Harvard med students come from harvard and other top undergrads. The only big exeption is URM applicants. Once and a while they except student from lesser known school with exceptionally high stats, but it is still a small chance as compared to a well known university.

 

[raven]

Speaking form experience, getting into many top ten schools, where you go to school seemed important during the interview process since the majority of applicants where from ivies, and such. Yet, at my revisit at Stanford, kids were from all over the place, and speaking to my other top ten friends, this seems to be the norm. So if you go to a top school and get an interview chances are you are going to have lots of competition, yet if you are from an okay or bad undergrad and you get an interview you are better off than the ivy guys. And, to boot, the guys from the "better" school usually had better numbers. So a 3.8 35 from no where gets in over a 4.0 40 from harvard.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Yeah, that don't make any sense.

 

[samurai_lincoln]

Yeah, that don't make any sense.

To some extent it does. Adcoms are looking for some experiential and geographic diversity, rather than a class entirely composed of prep school kids from the northeast. And grade inflation has become so rampant at most top private schools (save for Swat, Cornell, Hopkins, etc.) that anything below about a 3.7 is not particularly impressive. Isn't the average bach GPA at HYPS hovering around a 3.3 nowadays?

Still, the top "feeder" are largely elite private institutions. Check this article out re: placement at top biz/law/med programs (see pdf files in middle of page):

http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/college/feederschools.htm

 

[Neuronix]

See my signature... Of course it's possible! Every year several people from my no-name state school undergrad end up at top med schools.

 

[greets fr. nyc]

yup. ditto to the above.

think of it this way.
just like in the real world, your grades, scores, schoolwork, and life experiences get your foot in the door for an interview. with med school apps so competitive, you have to convey by your experiences and maturity that you are not only qualified, but one of those "worthy" of being accepted at their school (i mean this in a sardonic way). would you make a good fit? what do you offer? what can we in particular offer you? why want to come to our med school over other schools?

then again, for all the super brilliant people, the interview process is just a formality. but for most others, it's really important.

gaining acceptances at med school is so random sometmes (look at some of the 2.0% acceptance rates! ridiculous!) you just have give it your all in a balanced way and then let it be.

i've known people who were way more qualified than me in terms of scores, etc. but in the end the five schools i was interested in and that i eventually applied to picked me. it can be SOOO friggin' random.


best of luck to you all.