<p>Sorry if someone else has already asked this question, but...</p>
<p>Does the prestige of the undergraduate school you go to impact admissions for medical school? Right now, I've narrowed down my choices to Penn and UCSD. I know, I know, but before you slap me and tell me to go to Penn, please hear me out. UCSD is #2 in Bioengineering (which is the undergrad major I want to do) and is #11 overall in engineering. Penn, however, is PENN. It's an Ivy League, and it's #8 or #9 in BioE (still very good, but not as good as UCSD). So, overall, although Penn has a better reputation due to its Ivy League distinction, UCSD is better for what I want to study. I visited both campuses and I like both, so what it's really come down to is deciding which one will give me a better advantage for med school. Despite the excellent bioE aspect of UCSD, would the prestige of Penn overshadow this in the med school admissions process?</p>
<p>No it doesn't matter. If you do the work and have your application in order you can get in from anywhere. The only possible way that prestige might matter is if you're GPA is not so hot and you can try to convince the schools during your interview that it was due to the greater academic rigor...who knows if they'll really buy into that.</p>
<p>Would the prestige of med school matter?</p>
<p>Especially in getting residencies or actual jobs?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Bluedevil mike seems convinced it does for academic med...I however am not so sure. But since you're dealing with other doctors, who likely have an opinion, it probably plays a tiny role, but again, they will care more about board scores, and reccomendations and how you come across in an interview than simply where you went. </p>
<p>Also, keep in mind about what schools are prestigous when talking about putting out PC docs (US News breaks down med schools by primary care - which basically means what quality of doctors they produce - vs. research)...it's not your Ivies, so don't just assume that people are going to swoon about you being a Yale MD product.</p>
<p>Again though, the proof of yourself is in your performance, not where you went to school.</p>