undergraduate school?

[pakbabydoll]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

How did you decide which undergraduate school to go to?

 

[searun]

How did you decide which undergraduate school to go to?

I wanted to attend one of the top small liberal arts colleges....where I could play varsity soccer for 4 years and get a fantastic education. That is what I did. Extremely happy with my college experience. Now I am in med school.

 

[Twiigg]

My decision on what undergraduate school to go to was based solely on whether or not I could move away from home. In then end, I'm happy where I am at because I am learning more about myself than anything else by living out of state.

 

[Bacchus]

I saw the college's slideshow and "knew" that was the place for me. Looking back on these past 3 years, I would have to say I made a good decision.

 

[Techmed07]

I thought of a place would I be able to shine and get a good education.

 

[nonesuchgirl]

Commonwealth College at PSU: I thought they were what I wanted and I got in. (only place I applied to)

Turns out I was wrong, so I applied for a transfer to Hopkins: hometown, hardcore science, little gen eds with weird disciplines that I like...

 

[ChubbyChaser]

How did you decide which undergraduate school to go to?

Full ride to a school no one has ever heard of. I turned down acceptances to Duke and some other "elite" schools to go to a school alot of ppl have never heard of, but I am glad I did it. Medical school will provide more than enough debt for me so no need to add to that with debt from undergrad as well.

 

[Rotinaj]

I went to the local 2-year college: Johnson County Community College

Crazy cheap at about $75 a credit hour.

Small classes.

I didn't have to move to a new city.

If you want to be an MD, don't worry about going to a "top 20" school and wasting tons of money on a name. I know way too many friends at my community college that blew 30k+ on their first year of college with the tuition, cost of living, moving, etc before they came back. They all have to live with tons of debt now. I keep hearing of horror stories from students with 120k debt for their bachelor's alone, that's insanity when I can do it without ever leaving KC for about 30k.

Bottom line: it's just not worth it, because med schools don't care as long as you have a good GPA/MCAT. If you have a 3.6/30MCAT or higher, clinical experience and a good personality, the odds are heavily in your favor for a med school to take you. People who are obsessed with the "best" schools (and med schools) usually find out that they just wasted a ton of money for a name.

 

[Ashers]

I got a good scholarship to mine, where I paid instate tuition, so it was cheaper than my state school, and they had a good marching band (which I was in for a year).

As for being pre-med, I didn't decide til my senior year (my 5th year, I was a super senior -- too many minors can do that to you), that I wanted to go into medicine, but my scholarship made sure I had good grades. I majored in bio because I intended on going into marine biology or micro/immunology research.

 

[batman1983]

I went to the local 2-year college: Johnson County Community College

Crazy cheap at about $75 a credit hour.

Small classes.

I didn't have to move to a new city.

If you want to be an MD, don't worry about going to a "top 20" school and wasting tons of money on a name. I know way too many friends at my community college that blew 30k+ on their first year of college with the tuition, cost of living, moving, etc before they came back. They all have to live with tons of debt now. I keep hearing of horror stories from students with 120k debt for their bachelor's alone, that's insanity when I can do it without ever leaving KC for about 30k.

Bottom line: it's just not worth it, because med schools don't care as long as you have a good GPA/MCAT. If you have a 3.6/30MCAT or higher, clinical experience and a good personality, the odds are heavily in your favor for a med school to take you. People who are obsessed with the "best" schools (and med schools) usually find out that they just wasted a ton of money for a name.

Totally agree. For medicine, undergrad school really doesnt matter. If anything, going to a higher ranked school might actually hurt you since it will usually be harder to maintain a good GPA. As for my school, location, costs, and flexibility/strength of its academic programs (I was not premed originally), were my major reasons for choosing it.

From my experience, undergrad school really only seems to matter when you are looking to enter the job market afterwards. Thus, for business (finance, accounting, consulting, etc) and engineering, school matters. But, if you are going to grad school, as long as you have the stats, the undergrad school doesnt seem to matter. To some extent, it might make a difference for lawyers, since its another selling point for them.

 

[armybound]

I was very disappointed in my public education in high school and always thought I'd get a better education at a private school, so I applied to a private school. I also wanted a smaller school where I could get more 1-on-1 with the professors, unlike high school.

Baylor was really close to home (~35 miles) and a "good" private school, so that's where I applied.

 

[MDRus]

I wanted to attend one of the top small liberal arts colleges....where I could play varsity soccer for 4 years and get a fantastic education. That is what I did. Extremely happy with my college experience. Now I am in med school.

Williams? Amherst?

 

[TexasTriathlete]

Bevo came to me in a dream and told me that he'd gore my heart out if I didn't come to Texas. It was an easy decision after that.

 

[sharmei17]

How did you decide which undergraduate school to go to?

the best one in the country🙂

 

[jbrice1639]

How did you decide which undergraduate school to go to?

52 fraternities, 26 sororities, 13 bars on campus and in-state tuition so i'd have money left for beer.

ah, the simplicity of making decisions based on the important things when you're 18 🙂

 

[MDRus]

Totally agree. For medicine, undergrad school really doesnt matter. If anything, going to a higher ranked school might actually hurt you since it will usually be harder to maintain a good GPA. As for my school, location, costs, and flexibility/strength of its academic programs (I was not premed originally), were my major reasons for choosing it.

From my experience, undergrad school really only seems to matter when you are looking to enter the job market afterwards. Thus, for business (finance, accounting, consulting, etc) and engineering, school matters. But, if you are going to grad school, as long as you have the stats, the undergrad school doesnt seem to matter. To some extent, it might make a difference for lawyers, since its another selling point for them.

c'mon. a 3.3 from Harvard is scored as a 3.8 by med schools. a 3.3 from no name schools is scores a 2.8 by med schools. fair? maybe. reality? yes.

if i were a med school i would do the same thing.

 

[batman1983]

c'mon. a 3.3 from Harvard is scored as a 3.8 by med schools. a 3.3 from no name schools is scores a 2.8 by med schools. fair? maybe. reality? yes.

if i were a med school i would do the same thing.

How do you know that(in particular, the amount of GPA boost for undergrad school)?

 

[greg1184]

I checked my blood and saw green and orange. 😉

 

[AggieSean]

I wanted to go to a big state school. There are pretty much 3 of those in Texas. My rationale for choosing A&M was:

1. Don't go to Texas because my ex-girlfriend of 2 years went there and I might see her and it could be awkward.

2. Don't go to Tech because it's in Lubbock

3. Therefore, A&M is the most logical choice

 

[emttim]

c'mon. a 3.3 from Harvard is scored as a 3.8 by med schools. a 3.3 from no name schools is scores a 2.8 by med schools. fair? maybe. reality? yes.

if i were a med school i would do the same thing.

I find this hard to believe, given the fact that a lot of med schools have automatic cutoffs below a certain amount (isn't it 3.5 GPA at a lot of schools?) which would mean your 3.3 would cause you to never even be looked at; regardless of whether they consider it a 3.8 or not.

 

[nonesuchgirl]

c'mon. a 3.3 from Harvard is scored as a 3.8 by med schools. a 3.3 from no name schools is scores a 2.8 by med schools. fair? maybe. reality? yes.

if i were a med school i would do the same thing.

I demand citations!

 

[Drogba]

c'mon. a 3.3 from Harvard is scored as a 3.8 by med schools. a 3.3 from no name schools is scores a 2.8 by med schools. fair? maybe. reality? yes.

if i were a med school i would do the same thing.

This is what people from the ivies (and similarly regarded schools) tell themselves to make them feel better 🙂

I've always wondered how much going to a "top ranked" school helps in med admissions, as have many others. I hope it counts for a lot but I'm pretty sure it doesn't. I wouldn't be entirely surprised if some med schools organize undergrad institutions into tiers for some obscure way of comparison. I doubt harvard has its own tier though.

 

[TexanGirl]

Actually, many of the people I've met at Ivy League and other top-ranked schools have actually been quite humble. I think the level of reverence Harvard assumes is disturbing, but probably more due to the inferiority complexes present in people at less prestigious institutions than actual self-touting from Harvard.

And MDRus, that sounds bogus. In the first place, Harvard probably has more grade inflation than your average state university. The Harvard name, sure, does carry--but for how much, it can't be known.

 

[0Complications]

How did you decide which undergraduate school to go to?

$$$

 

[MDRus]

Actually, many of the people I've met at Ivy League and other top-ranked schools have actually been quite humble. I think the level of reverence Harvard assumes is disturbing, but probably more due to the inferiority complexes present in people at less prestigious institutions than actual self-touting from Harvard.

And MDRus, that sounds bogus. In the first place, Harvard probably has more grade inflation than your average state university. The Harvard name, sure, does carry--but for how much, it can't be known.

i used Harvard not as Harvard, but as symbolic of top schools. and the numbers i made up, but i have been told that it is roughly that.

By TOP, i mean Harvard, Stanford, Yale and Princeton. End of list.

Look, i know it isn't politically correct to say, but do you know how crazy smart and hard-working you have to be to get into those 4 schools right now? it is out of control. if i were a med school, i would certainly take that into account as i am going thru the subjective process of assessing the whole person. if you do not believe that, YOU are deluding yourself.

and, yes, a few large states schools have a gpa cutoff, but most look at the whole person.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

Only DO schools look at the whole person.

Places like Harvard, Princeton, etc. have been traditionally notorious for grade inflation. I've head that high GPAs from places like that are sometimes looked at skeptically. Not that a 3.8 from Harvard is going to be a disadvantage. Just that med schools are not automatically wowed by it the way you might think. That's why we have the MCAT: to put everyone on a level playing field.

 

[TexanGirl]

i used Harvard not as Harvard, but as symbolic of top schools. and the numbers i made up, but i have been told that it is roughly that.

By TOP, i mean Harvard, Stanford, Yale and Princeton. End of list.

Look, i know it isn't politically correct to say, but do you know how crazy smart and hard-working you have to be to get into those 4 schools right now? it is out of control. if i were a med school, i would certainly take that into account as i am going thru the subjective process of assessing the whole person. if you do not believe that, YOU are deluding yourself.

and, yes, a few large states schools have a gpa cutoff, but most look at the whole person.

LOL. Whatever happened to the other Ivy League schools? Columbia, UPenn, Dartmouth, Brown, and Cornell don't cut it? Nor do MIT, Duke, UChicago count as "top schools?" I find it very laughable that there would only be 4 schools in the nation that merit prestige.

Yes, the applicant pool will most likely be stronger coming from a stronger school. But to say that you're getting a huge advantage for attending a top school (or conversely, that you're put at a huge disadvantage for attending a lower-ranked school) is a bit of stretch.

 

[MDRus]

Only DO schools look at the whole person.

Places like Harvard, Princeton, etc. have been traditionally notorious for grade inflation. I've head that high GPAs from places like that are sometimes looked at skeptically. Not that a 3.8 from Harvard is going to be a disadvantage. Just that med schools are not automatically wowed by it the way you might think. That's why we have the MCAT: to put everyone on a level playing field.

IT'S NOT GRADE INFLATION!!!!! THEY ARE ALL SCARY SMART AND WORK THEIR BUTTS OFF. If they all get the answer right, they get an A!!!!!!!! simple as that. hard to curve that down.

Most of these kids have never had a B+ or lower in their lives. do you think they show up at Yale and become C students? It's ridiculous.

I am a college professor at a very prestigious (not Ivy) school. Out of 20 students in a section, i give about 10 As, 9 Bs and a C. Why? Because THEY ALL GAVE FANTASTIC ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS I ASKED ON THE EXAM!!! If I taught at Harvard, it would probably be 15 As and 5 Bs.

You guys are living in a deluded world of your own making because you have Ivy-envy. There, I said it.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

I'm a college professor at Harvard, and I inflate grades.

 

[Drogba]

Princeton has viciously attacked grade inflation with some crazy policy that caps the proportion of As in a class regardless of the class size or topic, to my understanding. Certainly this will hurt their students in grad and professional applications.

I agree with TexanGirl that the perception of the Ivies is largely formed by students from other schools and the odd ocassional prick who goes about saying how much better they are than others based on their undergraduate schooling. This negative perception of Ivy students though seems to be very prevalent amongst many groups.

 

[nonesuchgirl]

IT'S NOT GRADE INFLATION!!!!! THEY ARE ALL SCARY SMART AND WORK THEIR BUTTS OFF. If they all get the answer right, they get an A!!!!!!!! simple as that. hard to curve that down.

Most of these kids have never had a B+ or lower in their lives. do you think they show up at Yale and become C students? It's ridiculous.

I am a college professor at a very prestigious (not Ivy) school. Out of 20 students in a section, i give about 10 As, 9 Bs and a C. Why? Because THEY ALL GAVE FANTASTIC ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS I ASKED ON THE EXAM!!! If I taught at Harvard, it would probably be 15 As and 5 Bs.

You guys are living in a deluded world of your own making because you have Ivy-envy. There, I said it.

Um, dude. Citations, pls. And uhhhhh.... legacy status counts for a whole heck of a lot more than "grades" from super-inflated high schools and crazy-college prep people.

Ivy-envy? Is that like penis envy? 'Cos I hear that Freud made most of his **** up to "explain" incest et al.

 

[pakbabydoll]

Thank you so much guys....
I want to transfer to UF but I think I am going to transfer to UCF instead. Reasons
Its cheaper! UF annual cost is around $20,000 instate and UCF is $13,000 instate.
They have the major I want (UF does not) but UF is with Shands hospital and cancer research.
They offer PTK members transfer scholarship while UF does not.

So I think UCF makes lots more sense then UF, even though I would have loved to work with Shands people...


DECISION MADE!

 

[HumidBeing]

c'mon. a 3.3 from Harvard is scored as a 3.8 by med schools. a 3.3 from no name schools is scores a 2.8 by med schools. fair? maybe. reality? yes.

if i were a med school i would do the same thing.

Um, yeah. That's what you get when you pull comments out your........um, hat.

There IS no standard score weighting from one med school to the next. They each do their own thing.

You make some good comments, sometimes. Not this time. When you throw the bull like that, though, you ruin your credibility. Omitting all the caps in your post, except for the "H" in Harvard, gives us a peek into what YOU value - nothing else.

If you REALLY are a prof at a prestigious school, please learn to hit your shift key & stop setting a bad example.

 

[sunsfan]

the best one in the country🙂

UP Diliman, eh?

 

[HumidBeing]

Only DO schools look at the whole person.

Not true. There are state med schools who also judge the applicants as whole people. There may be others, as well. It's likely that most applicants aren't familiar with the admissions process at those state schools, though, because they accept few students from beyond their state borders.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

That was a joke.

 

[Drogba]

Um, dude. Citations, pls. And uhhhhh.... legacy status counts for a whole heck of a lot more than "grades" from super-inflated high schools and crazy-college prep people.

Ivy-envy? Is that like penis envy? 'Cos I hear that Freud made most of his **** up to "explain" incest et al.

Citations, pls. Does legacy help applicants? Probably (increasingly helpful with increasing donations). Is the effect greatly overstated? Vastly. Are Ivies the only institutions that have a legacy bias? Absolutely not!

I think the perception of legacy favoritism is greatly informed by historical practices of the Ivy league which are no longer in effect. If you think any part of my question and answer session is not reasonable feel free to find your own citations.

I'm not saying legacy doesn't ever play a part, but saying its counts for more than grades, SATs, EC etc is crazy. Statistically, I would think very few alumns carry enough weight that their children will get in with substandard applications.

 

[nonesuchgirl]

Citations, pls. Does legacy help applicants? Probably (increasingly helpful with increasing donations). Is the effect greatly overstated? Vastly. Are Ivies the only institutions that have a legacy bias? Absolutely not!

I think the perception of legacy favoritism is greatly informed by historical practices of the Ivy league which are no longer in effect. If you think any part of my question and answer session is not reasonable feel free to find your own citations.

I'm not saying legacy doesn't ever play a part, but saying its counts for more than grades, SATs, EC etc is crazy. Statistically, I would think very few alumns carry enough weight that their children will get in with substandard applications.

I get bored and read books and then I forget what ones they were. Something in the 363.somethings. IDK, omg. My siblings and I are the first to go to uni and we don't give a **** about the ivies.

I did exaggerate a bit, your comment is probably more in line with current practices. 🙂 IDC, though, in general. I need a hobby.

 

[batman1983]

c'mon. a 3.3 from Harvard is scored as a 3.8 by med schools. a 3.3 from no name schools is scores a 2.8 by med schools. fair? maybe. reality? yes.

if i were a med school i would do the same thing.

I want to know if this is true (especially a .5 GPA boost) and please show proof? I have heard about ppl from my school getting a slight boost in consideration relative to others with similar GPAs/MCATs from low tier schools, but Im calling BS on that .5 GPA boost just for going to a harder school. I know many ppl from Cal with great ECs, high MCATs(34+), but low GPAs, that are either unable to get into medical school or are getting into some lower tier medical school due to their GPAs(3.0-3.4). Just look at these profiles. If what you said was true, these ppl should have gotten into better schools based on that .5 GPA boost and their MCAT score (all profiles either went to Harvard, Yale, or Princeton, Caucasian(eliminate any URM boost), high MCATs, and GPAs from 3.0-3.5).

http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=2267
http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=421
http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=1020
http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=4056
http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=5606
http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=1931
http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=1165
http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=4760
http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=326


Now, I personally believe that higher tier undergrad schools should get a GPA boost to compensate for the increased competition/difficult of the school. Even with "GPA inflation", I believe that for the majority of people that get a 3.0 or above at a top tier school could get a 3.7-4.0 at a lower tier school. But honestly, if you look at the top 20 schools, there isnt much difference in terms of GPA/SATs for selection. Thus, to get into those top 20 schools, other factors are considered, including legacy status. Now, Im not saying that everyone that got into those schools was due to legacy status(I got into a couple of those schools and I wasn't a legacy), but it does make a difference for many ppl.

 

[HumidBeing]

The Big Name schools attract, and have, many awesome students. They also offer many awesome opportunities.


Not all Awesome Students attend Big Name U's. Not all students at Big Name U's take advantage of the awesome learning opportunities.

 

[lord_jeebus]

I will be the first one to admit that I picked because of a big name.

It worked out fine, except the cost. At the time I was applying I had no idea cost would become such a big issue, however.

 

[Drogba]

I get bored and read books and then I forget what ones they were. Something in the 363.somethings. IDK, omg. My siblings and I are the first to go to uni and we don't give a **** about the ivies.

I did exaggerate a bit, your comment is probably more in line with current practices. 🙂 IDC, though, in general. I need a hobby.

You should be very proud of yourselves.

I really don't understand why people have such an emotional negative response to Ivies, though. Its confusing and bothersome. Some of the students are arrogant douchebags, but there are plenty of those everywhere. There are plenty of great qualities that these schools have and I don't see any reason to deny these. At the same time you can get a wonderful education nearly anywhere if you put the effort in.

 

[Drogba]

The Big Name schools attract, and have, many awesome students. They also offer many awesome opportunities.


Not all Awesome Students attend Big Name U's. Not all students at Big Name U's take advantage of the awesome learning opportunities.

This is... THE TRUTH, stated simply and succinctly.

Another point I wanted to make is that the cost of Ivies is about that of any private school in the country. Ivies however have the resources and committment to make themselves accessible to those who are not well off. This doesn't mean they will subsidize education for the higher middle class and beyond. These are the groups that should really be worried about the financial aspect of private schools.

Interesting fact: It would have be significantly more expensive for me to attend my state school than the school I attend now. Most private universities are much more generous to those with demonstrated financial need, which ends up making them cheaper to attend then some state schools. State schools cater primarily to the middle class and/or less competitive highschool students. Of course there are the exceptions with certain generous merit scholarships, but statistically this is not what determines the economic makeup of the school.

 

[Jolie South]

I haven't been reading this entire thread, but I want to point out that great schools and public schools aren't two mutually exclusive domains.

My undergrad, the University of Texas, is consistently in the Top 50 schools in the country. I feel like I had tons of opportunities there and was well prepared for my graduate education. Much more so than some of my classmates that went to JHU.

I think what Drogba said is true about the financial end of things. My family made way too much money to qualify for financial aid, but there was no way in hell my parents were going to shell out the money for an Ivy. I think UT was a great value and if I had to go back and do it again I would still go there. For kids whose parents don't give them anything and make good money, going to this type of school is great. Low loans, great education. I should note that most kids in my high school ended up going to state schools because our state has good ones. Hardly anyone went OOS or to an Ivy. This isn't because we didn't have smart kids because we did. There were plenty of national merit scholars, etc.

For my kids, I'll probably send them to a similar institution. I see no point in paying all that money when they could get a great education at a school like mine.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

Did you do Plan II at UT?

Plan II >>>>> Anything Ivy has to offer (if for no other reason than cost)

But super hard to get into.

 

[nonesuchgirl]

You should be very proud of yourselves.

I really don't understand why people have such an emotional negative response to Ivies, though. Its confusing and bothersome. Some of the students are arrogant douchebags, but there are plenty of those everywhere. There are plenty of great qualities that these schools have and I don't see any reason to deny these. At the same time you can get a wonderful education nearly anywhere if you put the effort in.

We are. 😀

Eh, IDK. I like other places better so I never considered them. That plus being non-trad from HS up kind of crossed them off my list.

 

[Jolie South]

Did you do Plan II at UT?

Plan II >>>>> Anything Ivy has to offer

Nope, just did a BS in Microbiology, but I was still leaps and bounds ahead of Ivy kids in grad school.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

I think the weed-out environment at UT can create students who are extremely well-prepared for medical school. It can also burn out otherwise promising students who would have flourished in a smaller school.

 

[154465]

I don't understand the notion that Ivy League students somehow get a better education, or have more opportunities. I loved my state school and would not have traded my education for all of the prestige in the world. It also helps that I have like 5k in loans, and my school was super heavy in research so I was afforded every opportunity. I don't like the sense of entitlement that some people seem to have on this site, it gets really annoying.

 

[PatchesNBrownie]

Financial reasons. As many people already mentioned, undergrad definitely does not matter as much as where you get your MD, PhD, etc. OBVIOUSLY you can never deny that a top tier school ALWAYS has a nice ring to it...

BTW pakbabydoll - I love the quote in your "signature." Is that from Tyson on an episode of the Universe?? I vaguely remember him saying something like that on the show... I'm another "space freak" here. 😀