<p>OK...I know there are a lot of threads on this, but I have a specific question..
I am a junior in high school and i majorly screwed my GPA by taking 3 AP sciences plus calc this year...soo...im thinking about deciding between umich(if i even get in), purdue, mich.state(mayybe), and ohio state..basically in that range.
I want to go to a better medical school, because that is after all what matters, right? I have this feeling that i would screw up my GPA if i went to umich even though it is my dream school....i think i am smart enough, but i know myself and i get distracted very easily, and i think i would do better academically at a smaller school...so my question is, would it be better for me to go to like Ohio state and get a 4.0 or close to it, or go to umich and get like 3.5? Im aiming for school like jhu,umich, ...stanford(:)) for medical school..
Any thoughts would be appreciated</p>
<p>I'd suggest Ohio State or Michigan State. Somewhere you know where you can get a great GPA. If you know you will get a 3.5 at UMich and closer to a 4.0 at Ohio State, choose the one with the higher GPA.</p>
<p>Check out <a href="http://www.mdapplicants.com%5B/url%5D">www.mdapplicants.com</a> and search for both schools and see which would be better.</p>
<p>"I want to go to a better medical school, because that is after all what matters, right?"</p>
<p>Not really.</p>
<p>Unless you're going into academic medicine and hoping to be a "star" (ie teach/research at some of the big names), then "better medical school" isn't that important b/c they're all excellent schools that will provide you with the knowledge and experience to make you an MD.</p>
<p>A better med school usually does allow for slightly better residency positions no?</p>
<p>Except that those don't really matter either, unless you're going into academic medicine and hoping to be a star.</p>
<p>oh ok..well i guess just getting into medical school in general is important to me, because its not exactly easy anywhere....i guess what i am asking is whether name or GPA counts for more...im guessing GPA?</p>
<p>Obviously that depends on how large the gap in GPA is that we're talking about. If we're talking 1.5 GPA points, there's not a school in the world that will salvage that. But within small discrepancies, some schools do seem to be able to get students in with lower GPAs. How big those discrepancies are between any given pair is very hard to say, and it's even harder to say how big the discrepancy would be for you, anyway.</p>
<p>In the absence of any such information, it's better for you to go to the school where you think you'll get the better education, including co-curricular activities. Learn as well as you can and let the chips fall where they may.</p>
<p>I thought certain residencies take into med school prestige into consideration greatly (e.g., ophtho.).</p>
<p>So all residencies worry at least a little bit about medical school. The thing is that the prestige of your residency isn't a particularly big deal for private practice physicians.</p>
<p>Again, as I've tried to explain over and over again, there are a few specialties where the residencies are all so selective that you need every advantage you can get, including medical school "brand".</p>
<p>They're all pretty small proportions of doctors, and they're certainly not the glamour fields of medicine in any case.</p>
<p>Yes, optho is one of them.</p>
<p>If you are not able to get your "dream" residency and the only one you were matched for was something common like internal medicine.</p>
<p>Can you complete your internal med residency, and then apply for your dream residency again? Would you have a better chance since now you are far more experienced than those applying right after med school?</p>
<p>First, you only ever match for one. The way it's set up, there is no choice once the rank lists are in. You open the envelope in March, and that's it.</p>
<p>Second you don't even have to finish the residency before applying again. You can repeat the application the next year. One thing that is important to note is that most of the super competitive residency fields require a general PG1 year, either gen surgery or internal med or transitional (where you rotate through a lot of stuff) year before starting on the specific field training. There are some programs which are "categorical" in nature and include that first year of training while others aren't and as a student, you have to find a single year PG1 program.</p>
<p>That's kind of confusing. One of my really good friends matched to Arizona for Anesthesia which operates like ophtho and derm and many of the surgical specialties. He will begin his anesthesia program in July of 2008. Arizona was not a categorical program and so he had to find his on transitional year program. On match day he found out he had matched to a community based program in Des Moines (which is where he wanted to go b/c they would pay for his housing) and will be starting there this July. </p>
<p>What this means is that many of these PG2 programs are actually filling spots 2 years out. Knowing that, many of the students may be matching to one year programs. What I'm not sure about, is if the PG2 programs hold spots for people coming that very next year. I suppose if you went into a medicine residency, it wouldn't matter, you'd apply during your first year, and if you matched on that attempt, you could remain in your medicine program for another year and then in year 3, you'd move to your ophtho program. I assume that would be okay but I'm not sure. </p>
<p>I'm also not sure about if you'd be at an advantage. Since residency programs are used to interviewing an overwhelming majority of candidates who all have the exact same level of clinical experience, I'm not sure it really enters their mind. Besides, residency is meant to be a educational entity, rather than a job. The residency programs are (or at least should be) operating on the idea that they are there to finalize your training, not use you as cheap labor (though that is a secondary benefit). It is about teaching still. </p>
<p>The things though that might work in your favor is having things like USMLE Step 2 results back which may not have been available when programs were finalizing rank lists. There might be some other results or activities that a student participated in that might help them the second time around...I'm just not sure what they are.</p>
<p>One example from TV about switching residency programs - if you remember the first season of ER, Dr. Carter (Noah Wyle's character) switched from surgery to ER. He would have had to reapply through the Match.</p>
<p>Also the Step 2 CS exam is the one that Alex on Grey's Anatomy failed. Most people take it earlier in their fourth year though and get the results back before they start residency.</p>
<p>I am currently a senior in high school. In fall of 2007, I will be entering Stony Brook University as an undergraduate. I have aspirations of one day attending medical school. However, I have also been offered a guaranteed transfer to Cornell for Fall of 2008? My question is should I take it. I want to go to a really good medical school, but I am scared that by going to Cornell, I will ruin my chances because nearly everyone who goes into Cornell wanting to do pre-med ends up changing majors. Also Cornell's medical school acceptance rate is pretty low because like 60 ppl apply and only like 30 get in. My parents are telling me to stay at Stony Brook and get a high GPA so that I could get into a good medical school. They feel that by staying at Stony I could get more sleep, be less stressed out, and have more time for Ecs such as research. I also have aspirations of possibly doing an MD/PhD in medical school and that program is extremely competitive. Would I have a better shot getting itno it from Stony Brook because I would get a better GPA and have more Ecs? Or should I go to Cornell and work hard and hope that the name along with the Ec's that I do there will get me in. I really want to go to Cornell Medical School in Manhattan and I have heard that it's harder to get in there from Cornell undergraduate then from another college? Please someone tell me what you think I should do. Thanks.</p>
<p>"Also Cornell's medical school acceptance rate is pretty low because like 60 ppl apply and only like 30 get in."</p>
<p>Say what? Try 174/232 last year and 159/210 the year before.</p>
<p>"I have heard that it's harder to get in there from Cornell undergraduate then from another college?"</p>
<p>Seriously, where do you hear this stuff? The dean of admissions at Weill Medical College says they like Cornellians. </p>
<p>What makes you think your GPA will be lower at Cornell? My Cornell GPA is a smidge lower than my high school GPA and is probably as high as what it would be if I had gone to any other college.</p>
<p>1.) Try it first before you think about transferring. You might like it.</p>
<p>2.) Grade inflation/deflation is not the only thing that matters. See the relevant thread.</p>
<p>3.) I doubt Cornell has a 50% admissions rate. (Waits for NCG.)</p>
<p>4.) Some medical schools do penalize their own. Would not surprise me if Cornell was one of them.</p>
<p>5.) Of course, some schools don't penalize their own. Some even favor their own. Apparently Cornell is one of these.</p>
<p>Again, goes back to fit. If you're worried that going to Cornell won't be conducive the way you feel your college life should go, or that you won't be able to "compete" for positions against Cornell students, then perhaps it's in your best interest to stay where you are.</p>
<p>I would just like to know is there a lot of time for ECs at Cornell? I mean the workload is of course extremely demanding, but do people how do pre-med have time for themselves or do people barely get enough sleep? Also, do professors care about their students, like are they accessible if you need help? See another aspect of the guaranteed transfer that is Cornell will only accept me if I pull off a 3.5 GPA and take basic pre-med reqs, with one of the requirements being molecular biology as my bio class. I mean that class will be extremely hard and I need to pull off a B in it. I am just scared that I wont do as well in it as Cornell expects. This is where all of my hesitation comes in. But even if I do stay at Stony Brook, I will still be considered for the good medical schools just like everyone else or do students in name schools get more preference?</p>
<p>
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do students in name schools get more preference?
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</p>
<p>See: "On prestige"</p>
<p>i plan on going to medical school and i got a guaranteed transfer from cornell and i was wondering which college would probably be better to attend my first year, umich or uci?</p>