<p>He said undergrad prestige does play a role in medical school admissions. He's been in this field for decades and I rarely find his wisdom to be misleading. </p>
<p>I keep on reading prestige doesn't matter, but I also keep on reading that it does. What is it really?</p>
<p>Well here is what my future SIL told me. He went to Cornell for MS and spent some time on the admissions committee. He said a top Ivy might give you a slight boost (i.e. a notation on your application) but that’s about it. You could equate it to about a .2 increase maximum on your GPA. In other words, not significant enough to warrant paying more to attend UG there. If however you could attend a top school cheaper then go for it. ;)</p>
<p>kdog is right. same thing about med school prestige for residency programs</p>
<p>Exactly. Do not conflate “doesn’t matter” with “not a significant impact”</p>
<p>You got to choose what you personally want. If you personally want prestige, then pursue it. Frankly, for others pretty campus is more important criteria to consider. Everybody isdifferent. The only common ground is that happy UG has a higher chance of being successful in UG (higher GPA, better MCAT score), but again, I might be worng, maybe some are “happy” to feel miserable.</p>
<p>Undergrad prestige does not matter at all! It’s all about your MCAT and GPA and your ECs. No one cares if you went to Harvard for undergrad or something. You should go to a school that has a strong premed program.</p>
<p>Well, one thing to consider, they all end up in the same Medical School class, the ones from Harvard, the ones with PhD, lawyers, the ones with Msters in Science from the very top colleges and the ones from regular public state UGs, they are all together and they are all EQUALLY challenged, none seem to have an easier time in Medical School. Again, I only know about my D’s Medical School, other Medical schools might be different.</p>
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<p>This isn’t precisely true. Prestige does matter, but probably not as much as the other things you listed. It may not matter more than debt or location or other preferences for some students, but to say altogether that the name of the school has no bearing on any decision made about the applicant is, simply, false.</p>