<p>Basically the title</p>
<p>Does your undergraduate institution itself have any DIRECT impact on admissions to any of the top 10 Research Medical schools? (basically, does prestige factor in at all in med school admissions?)</p>
<p>You will see that top medical schools are heavily populated by students of the Ivy league caliber level. Of course, you have outstanding exceptions such as students with perfect GPA and high MCAT scores from University of Alabama and other lesser known caliber schools.</p>
<p>Think of it this way. This entire process is self actualizing. Students who attend prestigious schools are naturally talented and are bright students.</p>
<p>It is the students who get themselves into medical school. The school doesn't get you into medical school. The school says a lot of what you are but it is up to the individual to get a good GPA and high MCATs. The schools don't hand these things to you.</p>
<p>Thats the most likely reason why the top medical schools are populated by students from top schools. Its self selecting.</p>
<p>EDIT: Though I have heard former Deans of Admissions of Johns Hopkins say that it doesn't matter which school you go to, to some extent may be true, so long as you yourself are bright, the school you go to doesn't really matter. Just in general, top schools has a greater pool of premed applicants hat are of higher caliber, generally that is why they are well represented among the top medical schools.</p>
<p>great post, phead. i totally agree with it -- if you're good enough to get into a top school as an undegrad, then you're good enough to get into a top medical school, so on and so forth. what you do with your potential along the way is totally up to you, which is why you see the occasional ivy grad at a state school, but for the most part one's potential isn't wasted.</p>
<p>Yes, absolutely agree - undergraduate college really is not the determining factor. The same things that allow you to get into a highly ranked undergrad school will help in getting into med school. Good gpa, high test scores, strong time management skills, significant extracurriculars, strong volunteer record...it's all the same.</p>
<p>However, MolSysBio, I don't think you can dismiss an Ivy grad at a state school as "wasted potential". Quite frankly, given the cost of medical school, going to a state school is the smartest financial choice for the great majority of medical students. Getting into any medical school is accomplishment enough, and has such minimal implications on career choices for most physicians, that unless there are overwhelming aid packages elsewhere, state schools are the ideal choice.</p>
<p>Lastly, one thing that high ranking UG schools likely do impact is the places where people choose to apply. There is something to be said for peer pressure, and talented students at lower ranked UG colleges may throw a couple high rated med schools on their list, but their list won't be as thoroughly populated with high prestige institutions as someone who has 20 friends applying to the WashU's and Hopkins' of the world...Again it's a self-selection issue. There are a great number of very talented students at every state public, ones that certainly had the talent to be accepted to an Ivy caliber undergrad, but for any number of reasons the prestige wasn't an overriding factor in their decision, and 4 years later, prestige will likely remain a minor concern to them.</p>
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However, MolSysBio, I don't think you can dismiss an Ivy grad at a state school as "wasted potential". Quite frankly, given the cost of medical school, going to a state school is the smartest financial choice for the great majority of medical students. Getting into any medical school is accomplishment enough, and has such minimal implications on career choices for most physicians, that unless there are overwhelming aid packages elsewhere, state schools are the ideal choice.
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<p>Well, whats the "smartest" thing to do is to analyze risks as well as costs. Since med school admissions is highly risky, a prestigious undergrads' name would give a boost in job searching should the person fail to secure a spot in medical school.</p>
<p>I go to an undergrad school called UC Merced. We only have 1500 students for goodness sakes! I'm worried about this. Damn me for being a poor valley kid! :x</p>
<p>I really now look at myself and I say...Is it really worth the pain of getting a med school degree from a highly competitive research institution when if your going to special and go out into the workforce, your degree from top ten medical school doesn't neccessarily mean higher payroll compared to the guy down the hall... Just wondering. I'm now ready to become to realize that reputation of the medical school REALLY matters for academic medicine reseach....</p>
<p>How much am I right ....or wrong? Thanks.</p>
<p>And its SOOO hard to get even one acceptance from a med school....SO COMPETITIVE. Should ppl just be happy to be accepted at all?</p>
<p>Yes, you should be happy to get one acceptance. I've heard it said on this board that most people only get one. It's a small subset of applicants who get two or more.</p>
<p>Phead, MolSysBio and others....I respectfully dissent.</p>
<p>You indicate that ivy league students= top students= high achievers= med schools admissions. That's true to some extent. However, the reputation and prestige of the institution DOES play a role, whether subjectively or objectively in the individual adcom's decision.</p>
<p>U of Chicago students have lousy GPAs because of the well known grade deflation that the school has. However, at the time of comparing it to the 4.0 sate u student, coming from U of Chicago, has a definite advantage. Just an example...(from an adcom's point of view)</p>
<p>i think adcoms generally give uchicago students the benefit of the doubt in the admissions process. when i say "ivy league" i also refer to students from uchicago, duke, etc. they're just as good, in my opinion.</p>
<p>and there really isn't that much grade deflation there, well, according to a friend of mine who goes there.</p>
<p>okay so does it look better to apply from san diego state/arizona state or from UCLA/Berkley(having done associates at a community college)? Money is the real issue here, but which would be the best route to take?</p>
<p>The money. Go to a cheaper university for four years rather than an CC for two.</p>
<p>"You will see that top medical schools are heavily populated by students of the Ivy league caliber level. "</p>
<p>-This by itself leads to another question. Everybody assumes that all applicanst want to go to top medical school. Some very top applicants will definitely consider other criteria like location and possible scholarships vs prestige. More so, at the end, MD is MD and nobody is making more $$ or is a better MD for the reason of graduating from prestigious Med. School. The same office might have MD from Harvard and Wright State and they might be making the same money and MD from Wright State might be better, just because he is better for various reasons.</p>
<p>why are you aiming for a top medical school? If you want to be a practicing physican, it doesn’t matter where you went to medical school. It only makes sense to aim for a top medical school, if you want to go into academic medicine or healthcare administration (MD/MPH) or (MD/MBA)…(Healthcare administration employers might look more favorably on kids who did MD/MBA at a top school rather than someone from a lesser known school).</p>
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<p>Why would practicing physicians not want to go to top medical schools? Resources, facilities, faculty, research and the overall learning experience may be different. And it is all about that: the experience.</p>
<p>^I gave couple reasons in previous post. The name / prestige is simply NOT top priority for some, including very high caliber students. Some, will limit themselves to school withing certain distance from home with preference to cheaper options. I am not sure how much some people care about difference in “the overall learning experience”, since resources and opportunities at ANY american Med. School are awesome. It is evident even at UG level including schools that do not have Medical School. They still have ample of Med. Research opportunities, very interesting volunteering positions with extensive training. It looks that it more up to individual to get involved, seek opportunities.</p>
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<p>I would say its all about the medical education, but maybe thats just me haha. And any US med school will give you a good education. Research and your schools “facilities” aren’t going to make you a better doctor.</p>
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<p>I’d be willing to bet that the experience at say, Duke or UVa, would be a whole lot more pleasurable than that at Hopkins. :)</p>
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These tend to be very similar for most top medical schools, but the op simply said top 10 medical school, whats the difference between a school that is ranked 11 or 9? Not Much, so the reason I thought the op was a prestige whore, was because he/she simply said top 10 medical school, not a more generalized statement like “top medical schools” or “good medical schools”. There tends to be very little difference between a medical school ranked 14 and a medical school ranked 6th IMO.</p>