Would a medical admissions be more impressed with a...?

[Near]

Student with a bachelor's in history from a small liberal arts college, or a bachelor's in history from a large university?

This question could also be asked like this:

Would a medical school be more impressed with the mentioned degree above from USF, UF, or would it be more impressed with the mentioned degree from "New college of Florida"?

I just don't know if a degree from New College would help or hurt my chances when compared from a degree from a larger university.

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[Near]

Which would impress medical admissions more?

Would a medical school be more impressed with a history degree above from USF, UF, or would it be more impressed with a history degree from the "New college of Florida"?

I just don't know if a degree from New College would help or hurt my chances when compared from a degree from a larger university.

 

[DrYoda]

They would be more impressed by the whichever student has the higher GPA and MCAT.

 

[Near]

They would be more impressed by the whichever student has the higher GPA and MCAT.

Let's say the GPA of the student and other qualifications are the same.

 

[Habeed]

They never are. Pick the program that gives YOU the highest chance of a high GPA. It should consist of courses that are interesting enough to make you study, but they should not be difficult. If essay based, a lot of each class should get an A. I would stay away from essay based academic programs, though, as subjective grading causes a lot of variance, which lowers your GPA. You can't get above an A for a brilliant essay, but you can get a B or C for an essay the professor didn't like....

Honestly, I would ditch history entirely. Pick something with more cut and dried multiple choice tests. (biology is like that) Surely you have more interests than just history?

 

[WeAreNotRobots]

Let's say the GPA of the student and other qualifications are the same.

even with the numbers all being equal, it would never get to the point of an ADCOM having to compare applicants based on their undergrad institution. so many other things are more important: personal statement, letters, interview, personality, fit with school...

and to answer your initial question: applicants rarely, if ever, "impress" ADCOMs.

 

[RySerr21]

Which would impress medical admissions more?

Would a medical school be more impressed with a history degree above from USF, UF, or would it be more impressed with a history degree from the "New college of Florida"?

I just don't know if a degree from New College would help or hurt my chances when compared from a degree from a larger university.

med schools could care less about a degree from school X compared to a degree from school Y, especially if you are talking about such a general major is history. The bottom line is this: do well in school and you will be a competitive applicant. It doesnt matter what you major in, where you go, or anything like that. History degree from USF, UF, New college, it doesnt make a difference. Go where ever you are happiest and make the best of your 4 years in college

 

[QofQuimica]

Which would impress medical admissions more?

Would a medical school be more impressed with a history degree above from USF, UF, or would it be more impressed with a history degree from the "New college of Florida"?

I just don't know if a degree from New College would help or hurt my chances when compared from a degree from a larger university.

Hi Near,

I am a New College alum now in my third year of med school. My experience is that there will be no problem applying to any of the FL schools. They all know about NC and have taken students from NC before. Applying OOS might be more of a challenge if you apply to schools that aren't familiar with the college. What I did was photocopy my evals from all the prereqs and send copies of them to each med school. I also wrote a one-page description of the curriculum and grading system and sent that to the med schools along with my evals. Be aware that you will need to make sure you have a competitive MCAT score, since that is the only number they will have for you. One option you might consider if you really want to go to NC but are worried about not having grades is to take a year of classes at USF or some other school that gives grades before you apply. That way you get the best of both worlds. I think if I could do it all over again, that's probably what I would have done.

I really loved NC and it was a great fit for me, but make sure it's the right environment for you before deciding to go there. It's a very different kind of college experience versus what you would get at a large state U like USF or UF! Feel free to post here or PM me if you have any questions, and best of luck to you.

 

[rama kandra]

Liberal arts colleges tend to produce students with better writing and critical thinking skills. Don't flame me for this post - I know I majored in science at my school and they stressed writing and liberal arts coursework throughout the program. My writing has been noticed and it tends to help in that respect.

From what I know, many of my liberal arts college buddies have suggested that you get to hone in on your humanities and writing during interviews. Many of these people also spent some time discussing their undergraduate institution and it was a positive thing for them.

However, do not go to some funky strange college just for that reason - go where you will thrive best.

 

[Brandqn]

redacted

 

[Lukkie]

large university

 

[146233]

large university

Patently false. The OP should go to the school at which they feel they can do the best, enjoy them self, and thrive. Pre-meds in general would do themselves worlds of good if they'd stop making decisions based on what would "impress the admissions committee."

 

[boggvir]

Some of those small liberal arts schools have notoriously hard curves, they are not known for grade inflation.

In the end, your enjoyment and interest generally determines your grades, but in the end, your GPA > your enjoyment, if you want to get into med school. Sad truth.

 

[justdoit31]

You need to go to whichever school you see yourself succeeding in- if that is big do it, if it is small do it...

They don't care as long as it is a respectable school (ie- pre-reqs at community college not smart)- seriously I went to a large public school that is not nationally known because we have no football and got into a public school OOS that most likely had never heard of my undergrad

 

[JJMrK]

It may be harder to get involved in research at a small liberal arts school.

 

[NotAndrew]

As long as you can do well at the school, go with the one you like better.

 

[Caesar]

Merging with similar thread in hSDN

 

[QofQuimica]

It may be harder to get involved in research at a small liberal arts school.

Not at New College. All of the students are required to do an honors thesis that is about the level of what would be required for an MS. Plus, since there are no grad students, you work directly with the PI. To be fair, there probably won't be much in the way of biomedical research on campus, but a lot of us did our research off campus anyway.

 

[45408]

Would a medical school be more impressed with the mentioned degree above from USF, UF, or would it be more impressed with the mentioned degree from "New college of Florida"?

No. Neither. You can't really isolate these variables to this extent.