<p>i was wondering if it matters where you get your undergraduate degree if you are planning on going to med school... is it better to pick the more prestigious school that probobly is going to be harder or a less prestigious school that might be more fun for undergrad and get better grades?</p>
<p>i am debating between going to ucsd, ucd, and ucsb.. i want to go to ucsb but i do not want it ot jeopordize my medical school.</p>
<p>Hi Ohmeeed,</p>
<p>Here's the info from HMS admissions website. It provides an insight into admissions in one of the top med schools. Note that the class stats specify - students were accepted from 60 different institutions. </p>
<p>Sixty schools from 33 states would have to include 2nd and 3rd tier schools too since there are only 6 Ivys! </p>
<p>This link doesn't provide % of accepted students by school which would be ideal to have.</p>
<p>I meant to type 8 Ivys, not 6!</p>
<p>Im going to hijack this thread with a different question:</p>
<p>For overall gpa, would certain science majors be weighed more heavily due to the increased difficulty of classes. I know im making the generalization that science majors are harder but based on the classes i've taken i've found A's in science classes to be more difficult to attain.
Thanks</p>
<p>im sure that what matters more than prestige is gpa, mcat, extracurruculars, research experience, etc, and how good that school is at premed advising.</p>
<p>my question wasn't major preference but instead was the weight of gpa vs. undergraduate major. If overall gpa was guaged differently depending on major: for example physics vs. history</p>
<p>for example again:
3.7 in physics
vs.
3.7 in history</p>
<p>Since overall major doesn't matter, what that implies if you think about it is that even if one GPA is weighted higher in one major, it must get cancelled out by other factors.</p>
<p>That,</p>
<p>or that the average application gpa of science majors is less than the average application gpa of nonscience majors</p>
<p>
[quote]
it must get cancelled out by other factors
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yes, one of the possibilities is that a 3.7 in History is weighted less than a 3.7 in Physics, but that many more History majors have 3.7's than Physics majors.</p>
<p>How this comes about is basically moot. The data demonstrate that major -- with GPA and MCAT not controlled for, as it should be -- doesn't make a difference.</p>
<p>on a completely objective basis, i agree with you bdm that major doesn't make a difference. all the evidence you've stated on this board for literally years supports your conclusion. however, i tend to believe that subjectively, major and prestige of undergrad do matter...maybe from a psychological standpoint. but this would have to depend on who is reading your application when that time comes. strictly speaking, major and prestige don't matter, but they could in certain circumstances.</p>
<p>Well, I've never said that specific majors don't have advantages or disadvantages, only that whatever they may be, they seem to cancel each other out.</p>
<p>The example I like is this. Majoring in English is generally considered easier than majoring in Chemistry, and so an English major probably has a higher GPA. Reading comprehension is by far the most important element of the MCAT, and so English majors probably score a little bit higher on the MCAT too. (This last bit is confirmed.) However, English majors also have less access to research and their advanced science coursework might be a little lacking.</p>
<p>That's not to say that specific advantages and disadvantages don't exist -- only that they cancel out in the end. In other words, major may provide a gross advantage, but not a net one.</p>
<p>Two more caveats. If you see the data, you'll notice that majors are broken up into pretty broad categories. Within any given category, it's possible that some majors are preferred. For example, social sciences vs. physical sciences -- no advantage.</p>
<p>But maybe Sociology has an advantage over Economics. This would be ridiculous, of course. If Chemistry, Biology, Social Sciences, and Humanities are all the same, can it really be possible that some social sciences are at a disadvantage relative to others? Doubtful. But I don't have the data to disprove that.</p>
<p>There's a second possibility. It's possible that some schools prefer certain majors -- and that other schools cancel them out. For example, Case is known to prefer non-science majors. Since medical schools on balance do not prefer non-science majors, it must be that there's another school-equivalent which prefers science majors just as much as Case. (It might be two schools which demonstrate half the preference, etc.)</p>
<p>Again, I think that's a silly thing to worry about, because Case is the only school I've ever heard to state a preference. (If you have your heart set on Case, however, it might be important.) But just to make clear again, majors may provide gross advantages. It's just that all of them cancel out so that in the end, no major has a net advantage.</p>
<p>One final qualification. The AAMC gives no data on incoming SAT score and HSGPA for the different majors -- which means that it's possible that all the stupid kids flock to social sciences while all the bright ones flock to biology. If that's the case, then you want to follow the stupid kids, since their performance in the end seems to be about equivalent.</p>
<p>well hey, whatever it might be, do what you want to do. i don't like this stuff about people majoring in something because it'll supposedly mean success on the mcat or grade wise. do whatever interests you and go wherever you feel like going. in the end, it seems like if you want to become a doctor and you're truly dedicated to it, then you will become a doctor.</p>
<p>on a side note, major in physics...because i said so.</p>
<p>it's possible that all the stupid kids flock to social sciences while all the bright ones flock to biology.</p>
<p>i think i've read that somewhere in the washington post ;)</p>
<p>Humanities and social science majors who are admitted to medical school have lower overall gpa's, and lower science gpa's than science majors. They have lower science mcats, and higher writing and verbal reasoning scores.</p>
<p>It does not seem to matter what you major in. If you take the required courses, and certainly if you have a few more, you will have all the science you need.</p>
<p>The undergraduate college might matter. It is hard to separate this from the higher overall academic ability, on average, of students at the top colleges. Perhaps the reason there are so many HYP grads at HMS (and there are) is that they were top students going in. For a given high school student, are they better off going to a famous super elite, or somewhere else? I don't think anyone has information that could answer that question.</p>
<p>The best way I can say this is that the NAME of where you go to school does NOT matter, what you ACCOMPLISH there does. </p>
<p>Since it's based on accomplishments, there are some schools that will be better for the individual than others, but those certainly won't line up with the prestige rankings.</p>
<p>I had a great time and accomplished a lot at my midwestern state public, and wouldn't have had it any other way. If I had gone to Harvard or Stanford or Dartmouth, or even another midwestern state public it might not have been the same. </p>
<p>Some people need Harvard to accomplish their best, others need different places. So in that sense, it DOES matter where you get your undergrad degree.</p>
<p>The AAMC matriculant data breaks out MCAT data separately for biological science and physical science majors. </p>
<p>Humanities majors outscore biological science majors for writing, verbal reasoning and physical science; humanities majors best physical science majors in writing and verbal reasoning.</p>
<p>Social science majors outscore biological science majors for verbal reasoning and equal them for physical science and writing.</p>
<p>As previously noted, all majors except health science are admitted at roughly the same rate:</p>
<p>biological science 44%
humanities 53%
math 48%
other 42%
physical science 50%
social science 45%
health science 34%</p>
<p>Another thing to consider is whether you can "run from the front". Some can. Some can't. If you are not pushed do you still excel? Know yourself and choose your school accordingly.</p>