Undergraduate Institutions

[LowlyPremed]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hello everyone:
How important is your undergraduate institution when you are applying to medical school? I attend a college that is mostly unheard of and I am worried that it will hurt my chances of getting into a good medical school.
Thanks for any words of wisdom!

 

[acab]

With a very good gpa and mcat, you'll be just as competitive as another applicant. But those numbers need to be quite high (over 3.7 & 32) for you to compete for spots in top schools. Also research experience, volunteering and recs should be very good also.

 

[SunnyS81]

Depends on your stats and teh schools you are applying to. Some schools seek out name schools more than others. Just something I've observed from my friends and my experience.....

Either way, nothing you can do about it now, just apply and see.

 

[LP1CW]

as a Harvard student, I have not seen any true benefits during this process. I'm gotten interviews at top schools and a rejections from some "safe schools." So, I think it's the whole picture. If you add to their program in some way, I think you'll stand a solid chance. Honestly, I wonder if it's better to go to a school that may not be that competitive and to standout in recommendations, activities, GPA, and to hit the MCAT. At some level, chemistry is chemistry. Just do the best you can, do well in your classes, be involved in things that you are truly interested in doing. I think it's best to excel at things that matter to you. If dance, then dance. Be an interesting person.

 

[jlee9531]

if you go to a challenging undergrad then you could get away with a lower gpa because you will be able to justify you lower gpa with an mcat that is higher or at the same level of someone with a higher gpa at a lesser challenging school.

but if you get both low gpa and low mcat...then oh well. 😉

 

[bigbaubdi]

Originally posted by LP1CW
as a Harvard student, I have not seen any true benefits during this process. ...

Harvard students do extremely well in getting admitted to top medical schools. At some med schools (esp. Ivies), the number of Harvard undergrads is extraordinarly high.

Is this b/c they are that much brighter than someone from a state school? Possibly, but regardless, someone from Harvard will have a much easier time getting noticed than someone from a state school.

 

[lola]

from personal experience, i think undergrad matters. but hey, that's just my experience...
that doesn't mean you won't get in if you are from an unheard of school. if you have good numbers and something to make you stand out, you can still get in.

 

[LP1CW]

However, my numbers are well above a couple of schools that just rejected me. It bothers me. It's not ego. I'm happy that I'm in, but still the same, it just bothers me. The process seems random. I honestly thought that my application was solid and that I would get at least an invite from a school that rejected me. I have a friend at Rutgers that has done very well getting interviews and he's in at a top school too. I think it helped that he did well; he did some sort of honors program in psychology. He's a senior. He's been working in a psych lab since last year. I think he's just as competitive. His recommendations are solid. He's doing very well. My sister's boyfriend, an asian guy from Brown didn't get in last year. He had a 30 MCAT and 3.5 GPA. I'm not even sure what's weak with his application. He's taking postbac classes this year and trying again. So, the Ivy didn't help him. My friend from Rutgers has had much better luck.

 

[Tezzie]

Sigh! Once again ...

There are many things that matter MORE during the application process than your undergrad reputation. GPA/MCATs/LORs/ECs/Research/Awards ...

After ALL of that is said and done the school name might help you stand out a little.

Big name schools do great because they attract very bright hard working people. That doesn't mean that if they slack off and graduate with a 2.8 and score a 25 MCAT they will make it in a top medical school just because they are from X prestigious university.

Work your ass off. You know the process and you should be fine.

 

[sgilani]

LP1CW... state schools will often reject strong applicants from top undergrad institutions because they feel that the students apply to state schools as safetys and thus will most likely not attend a state institution

 

[jlee9531]

Originally posted by LP1CW
However, my numbers are well above a couple of schools that just rejected me. It bothers me. It's not ego. I'm happy that I'm in, but still the same, it just bothers me. The process seems random. I honestly thought that my application was solid and that I would get at least an invite from a school that rejected me. I have a friend at Rutgers that has done very well getting interviews and he's in at a top school too. I think it helped that he did well; he did some sort of honors program in psychology. He's a senior. He's been working in a psych lab since last year. I think he's just as competitive. His recommendations are solid. He's doing very well. My sister's boyfriend, an asian guy from Brown didn't get in last year. He had a 30 MCAT and 3.5 GPA. I'm not even sure what's weak with his application. He's taking postbac classes this year and trying again. So, the Ivy didn't help him. My friend from Rutgers has had much better luck.

well i know many people will disagree but if got rejected from your "safe" schools its not because its random but because they rather give their spot to someone who would actually go to their school and not someone who is using them as a backup. if your numbers are way above at some schools then its kinda obvious that you are using them as a backup school. sure this may not be true for some people but for the most part i think it is.

for the brown guy. did he think he was gonna get in at a top school? cause a 3.5 and 30 isnt top school material even with badass ecs cause there are people with badass ecs that have higher gpas and mcats and top schools will probably take them. my friend went to brown and she has interviews at top tier schools and she says that ivys do take care of their premeds more so than students at a state school.

the ivy name helps you get recognized. enjoy the benefits and dont get mad that you didnt get into your backup because most likely you will get into a school that is more to your liking.

 

[Cantal]

I don't think the original post was asking if a person with a 2.8 and a 25 on their MCAT coming from an ivy would make it in to a top10 school. I think the question is if two people have very similar stats, will the applicant coming from a no-name school be at a disadvantage. At least that's how I interpreted it 🙂

Originally posted by Tezzie
Sigh! Once again ...

There are many things that matter MORE during the application process than your undergrad reputation. GPA/MCATs/LORs/ECs/Research/Awards ...

After ALL of that is said and done the school name might help you stand out a little.

Big name schools do great because they attract very bright hard working people. That doesn't mean that if they slack off and graduate with a 2.8 and score a 25 MCAT they will make it in a top medical school just because they are from X prestigious university.

Work your ass off. You know the process and you should be fine.

 

[LP1CW]

If two applicants with similiar numbers and one was a top 20 school and the other was podunk U. I think top 20 would be considered the better choice because their premed program would be considered stronger. That perception may or may not be true, it's just that Podunk U. is probably not known. However, if Podunk U. kid has parents that only finished the 8th grade and he's the first in his family to go to college, I think that he might get the benefit. I hope that they look at the whole applicant and evaluate her/him. My hope is that no matter what that we have a system, on the whole, that produces the best doctors possible.

Also, my friend from Brown did apply wide. He got rejected from Temple, Drexel, and top schools like Columbia. He thought part of it was because he was asian. Who knows.

 

[meanderson]

lp1cw, your friend is a ***** if he thinks part of the reason he got rejected is because he was asian. A quick check of the numbers shows that asians and caucasian matriculants have almost the exact same stats(asians a tad higher on the physical mcat, whites on the verbal).

There is nothing outstanding about a 3.5 and a 30. For allopathic NON-URM matricultants, those numbers are *slightly* below the averages(3.57 and 30.5?) Is a 3.5 and 30 plenty good enough to get in for a non-URM? Of course. But those numbers aren't such a sure thing that we need to conduct an investigation and try to conjure up reasons as to why he didnt get in.

 

[bigbaubdi]

Originally posted by LP1CW
...Also, my friend from Brown did apply wide. He got rejected from Temple, Drexel, and top schools like Columbia. He thought part of it was because he was asian. Who knows.

Brown is a great school but I have no idea how well Brown does w/ med school admissions. I think it is reasonable to say that Brown doesn't do nearly as well as Harvard or Yale.

Without knowing the details of your friends application, it is tough to say whether or not he deserved to get in or not. Maybe he didn't interview that well, maybe his LORs weren't that great, maybe he didn't have enough volunteer experience. I hope everything works out for him though.

 

[Tezzie]

Originally posted by bigbaubdi
I think it is reasonable to say that Brown doesn't do nearly as well as Harvard or Yale.

I don't agree with that statement. You can say that statistically Yale students have better % of acceptance to *A* medical school.

Although graduating a top college can be rewarding on various ways (taking courses with famous professors, great networking, etc etc), in the end it comes down to the individual.

*YOU* are the one who has to take the MCAT and prepare for it - NOT Harvard.

*YOU* are the one who has to shadow a physician - NOT Yale

*YOU* are the one who is going to do the research - NOT Princeton.