<p>Can I go on to medical school with a BA/BS degree major from a CSU? For example: CSUN, CSULB , CSUSM, CSUF, CSUP, SDSU etc. </p>
<p><a href=“Any CSU undergrads that got into Med school? - Pre-Med Topics - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1109139-any-csu-undergrads-that-got-into-med-school.html</a></p>
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<p>Yes you can. Students get into med school from CSU system. A strong med school app (i.e. competitive GPAs, MCAT, ECs, LORs, interviews) is a strong app. The name at top of your diploma will much carry less weight than other components (i.e, GPAs, MCAT etc). With the possible exception of research opportunities at UCs v CSUs, other med school app components (i.e, GPAs, MCAT, etc) are not so school dependent. But why not apply to a mix of both CSU/UCs and pick the school where you believe you can best fit in as you’re more likely to develop a strong app under such circumstances. Pick a major that actually interests you as you’re more likely to do well (aka high GPAs) if you actually like material. Depending on college acceptances, consider college where you can graduate from with as little debt as possible as the costs of med school tends to come from loans. Also realize that most CA students who start med school will attend med schools out of state, where if the med school is public, not private, as a non resident, med school costs (debt) will be that much higher, hence the importance of graduating from college with as little debt as possible. Good luck.</p>
<p>If you want to go to med school from a CSU, then I suggest that you only attend a stronger CSU…one of the Cal Polys or Long Beach, Fullerton, San Diego. </p>
<p>If you can’t get into one of the above, then do the CC to UC route. </p>
<p>funny thing is that I just happened to visit this school </p>
<p><a href=“http://usao.edu”>http://usao.edu</a></p>
<p>Because its low COA as discussed in one of m2ck’s thread.
On the front page of that school is an alumni of that school who got into med school and was matched with a competitive specialty. While nothing says a low COA represents a low quality of education, but that school probably is on the same level as “weaker” CSU?</p>
<p>I think if anyone went to a school with pre-med track and get nothing but As and score a 35 or 36 on Mcat, you will get into a Med school.</p>
<p>CSU Stanislaus is the only CSU that got into the Princeton Review of 2009 and it was my D’s safety then. She could attend it basically free tuition. Obviously, she did not go because other higher ranking alternatives. In retrospect, I think she might be better off going there and shin, in stead of butt head with all the best of the best and $300K later we are back to square one.</p>
<p>@artloversplus‌
I really feel for you and your d’s situation. It doesn’t seem fair, does it?</p>
<p>Yes, if someone gets a 4.0 and a 35 or 36 on the MCAT, then likely they will get into a med school, even if they attended a lower CSU. That said, I wonder if there are many such kids at lower CSU? I would guess a tiny number. Calif publics are still a bit old-school in the idea that UCs are “premed” and CSUs aren’t. And, when you consider how hard it is to be a Calif premed, why further handicap yourself by going to a lower CSU? At least if you attend a Cal Poly or a top CSU, you’d have more of a fighting chance. </p>
<p>As you have already concluded, your D probably would have fared better in the med school race if she had gone to a different undergrad (this is sad to consider), but I don’t think the choice was simply UChi or a CSU. Your D could have gone to a number of other schools: Creighton or Loyola Chicago or Tulane or Grinnell or SLU or any mid-tier school (with generous merit), and she would have likely gotten a better GPA and be accepted to a few MD schools. </p>
<p>I keep hoping that your D will get an II from a MD school because she deserves it. It’s not fair. You have spent a ton of money, your D did well, and you can’t help but feel that the results should be different. </p>
<p>I always get an uneasy feeling when I see prospective premeds looking for an undergrad to attend and they have their sights on top schools like ivies and UChi. And when they get accepted, they naturally celebrate and believe that this will be just the next step on their way to med school. But, then they find out that they’re competing with the best of the best.</p>
<p>When my son was a freshman in college, I ran into an old friend whose son was a frosh at Yale…of course she was thrilled that he was there. They were full-pay at Yale, while I paid very little for my son because of large merit awards. We both shared that our boys were premed. Her son and my son had similar high school stats. (I am nearly certain that she thought it was crazy for my son to go to mid-tier public flagship.) Within a couple of years, her son no longer had med-school worthy stats. They kick themselves for going that route. Naturally, they have concluded that their son would have had a better GPA at a school where he would have shined. I am not saying that going elsewhere would have been a cakewalk, it wouldn’t have been. It’s just that he would have likely had a few more A’s instead of B’s. </p>
<p>m2ck</p>
<p>I have no regrets, as D changed her course at the last moment. She was going to be in research.</p>
<p>Regrading Yale or any other school. The school is not a factor, what matters is the student. My cousin went to Yale UG premed, she got accepted med school everywhere, HYW included, but she choose NYU full ride plus stipend because of a special scholarship. She now owns a 20 doctors dermatology clinic with offices all over CT.</p>
<p>However, I think attending a better school such as UChi still has advantages. If you are dead set for med school and you know your scores will support the application, by all means attend a cheap school where your scores will shine. However, a better school usually will provide a better prospect for a student failed a premed track. My friend’s D did not want to do pre-med after she tried for a year at UChi and now is a hedge fund manager at a prominent firm. This kind of opportunity will not come easy if she went to a lower CSU. And MANY students failed pre-med track in their colleges.</p>