Undergraduate School Reputation

[Obnoxious Dad]

When medical school admissions committees evaluate applicants do they make any adjustments to gpa's based on the reputation of the undergraduate school? Do they adjust for the difficulty of the undergraduate major? Do they cut kids any slack if they took calculus and calculus based physics? Are there any schools that are famous/infamous for making such adjustments?

I know this is an obnoxiously elitist question but my daughter needs to know before she spends $gillions on applications. Let me put my helmet on before reply.

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[TexasTriathlete]

They claim to take the difficulty of the coursework into account. Also, courses taken at a major university also look better than courses taken at a community college. However, there is really no way to quantify this, so how much weight it gets will be at the discretion of whoever is reading the applications.

 

[belichek]

I had a 3.3 GPA w/ a 3.4 science from a prestigous tier 1 school, and ive gotten in places that kids with a 4.0 GPA from small tier 3 colleges have been rejected that had similar mcat's to me.

 

[Bacchus]

I had a 3.3 GPA w/ a 3.4 science from a prestigous tier 1 school, and ive gotten in places that kids with a 4.0 GPA from small tier 3 colleges have been rejected that had similar mcat's to me.

You may interview well, you may have great LORs, great clinical experiences, etc. Its not solely MCAT/GPA. That being said, if this was a "lower" tier medical school then the 4.0 may not have been extended an invitation do to the chance of he or she going to said school is probably nil.

 

[belichek]

You may interview well, you may have great LORs, great clinical experiences, etc. Its not solely MCAT/GPA. That being said, if this was a "lower" tier medical school then the 4.0 may not have been extended an invitation do to the chance of he or she going to said school is probably nil.

ur entirely right, i didnt meant sound like a jerk, all i was saying was that if there are two similar applicants(same mcat, same work/volunteer/research) then the applicant from duke will probably get in over the applicant from LSU.

 

[jiggz16]

With that being said would it be worth it to transfer to a higher ranked school? Or what if I transferred the last year would it really make a difference?

 

[Jpc984]

In my opinion, I don't think it would matter. You would be applying before the grades from your "first" semester at the new school come out.

 

[LauraDO]

It should not matter but all I can say is the minute I say 'graduated from Vanderbilt' the admissions people take on a different tone. That might be the one thing about me that gets me through

 

[dan1]

Most of the time there is not much emphasis placed on what undergraduate institution was attended unless it happens to be in the same state as the med school.

Also remember that the whole reason for the MCAT is to have a standard by which applicants can be judged. That being said your score on the MCAT is far more important than where you went for undergrad.

 

[Jpc984]

True, but the poster is thinking of switching after her junior year. She will be applying at the same time! All her grades will be from her previous institution.

 

[KMG365]

With that being said would it be worth it to transfer to a higher ranked school? Or what if I transferred the last year would it really make a difference?

Any school with a good enough name to make a difference to an admissions committee, probably wouldn't accept a junior, and certainly not a senior year transfer.


Plus, people on the committees weren't born yesterday- they'd be on to you.

 

[HrvatskiDoktor]

Also remember that the whole reason for the MCAT is to have a standard by which applicants can be judged.

Not that I don't agree with this statement, but I did have multiple med school admissions people tell me that they use the MCAT to judge how well the applicant will do on their boards (COMLEX and USMLE). They told me that, "it is a good measure at whether or not a person can handle the pressure of passing the boards. What's the point of training someone who won't be able to handle the qualifying exams."

 

[EEL08]

I would like to think it doesn't play that big of a role. I graduated from a small Bible College that probably very few people have heard of and my degree is in Counseling and Bible. If those are strikes against me then I'm in trouble.

 

[HrvatskiDoktor]

I would like to think it doesn't play that big of a role. I graduated from a small Bible College that probably very few people have heard of and my degree is in Counseling and Bible. If those are strikes against me then I'm in trouble.

I doutb that will factor against you as long as you did well in your science classes. Doctors should have more training in counseling, so that may even give you a leg up!

Good Luck!

 

[SmallTownEMT]

I went to a small college. A great school, but most people haven't heard of it. In one interview I was asked "where's that?", but in the end I don't think it mattered.

 

[KMG365]

The question wasn't whether it hurts you if you went to a small, relatively unknown school, but rather whether it helps you if you went to a well-known, "big name" school.

I don't think anyone would say that going to a small school hurts you, but I would definitely argue that there is a definite advantage to going to a well known school. All other things being equal, an application from Duke, verses Topeka Community College is more impressive. As it should be, people who go to schools like Duke, or whatever, have quite literally paid a premium to have that name on their diploma.

Given my UG GPA I have no doubt that the status and name of my UG institution in the educational community played a favorable role in getting me into the schools that it did.