<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/642875-what-does-take-not-get-medical-school.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/642875-what-does-take-not-get-medical-school.html</a></p>
<p>so i guess i’m overestimating the competition?</p>
<p>osprey, I don’t think you are going to find that many 32-34’s and up at directional state U. </p>
<p>Flagships (and in those states with more than one upper-tier state school, near-flagships like Wm and Mary or Texas A+M )? Sure. But from </p>
<p>
there are just not going to be the top MCAT scorers in the same percentages as the more selective schools. Yes, there will be some. Just not as many.</p>
<p>You are not just "overestimating the competition? ", you are counting the birds that you do not have in your hands. Complete waste of your precious time. Enjoy your summer while it lasts. My D. is at school right now, taking classes. Appreciate what you have, do not worry about what is ahead, it will work out as long as you work hard. Any place will be fine, any UG will appreciate your efforts and open many doors of opportunities for you.</p>
<p>Oh, Curm., your assumption is just an assumption. State U. is just fine, many got accepted to very top schools after they got awesome stats and everything else. My D’s pre-med friends from her state UG were among them.</p>
<p>Your kid didn’t go to a directional state u did she, Miami? She went to a very good school. 
By directional state u, I meant specifically that.</p>
<p>^I have no idea. She went to state school. We did not check any tier or rank, she just went where she felt comfy and it worked out. She has 3 others from her UG at her Med. Schools. They seemed to have good choices, several acceptances. D. said that their pre-med advisor was very happy.</p>
<p>In fact she went to the #34 Public school in the nation. #79 National Research U. Not chopped liver. ;)</p>
<p>My position stands as to regional or directional state u’s. There won’t be many top 10% MCAT scores coming out of there. That may say something about the instruction, advising, or the quality of incoming students. Or all 3.</p>
<p>Edit: Not all state schools are created equal. ;)</p>
<p>^Wow!! I did not know that. What is the link? I know that her school has very respected Business school and all resources are devoted basically to that. My D. was sad that they even had an awesome grand piano at the entrance hall that never being used.</p>
<p>thx for the inputs everyone. I asked the question comparing the two scenarios because I go to a top 15 university (according to USNWR) and have a 3.7 gpa after my first year but I read in another thread that state med schools (which is the ones that i’m targeting) do not really differentiate from a 3.7 at a top school vs. a 3.7 at a state/regional/w/e school. Obviously, i know that attending a top UG probably does help in some way but what i’m getting is that it’s not gonna be that big of a deal. </p>
<p>Therefore, I assumed that there would be a lot of 3.7+ from state universities since classes in state universities generally have more generous curves since there are more of the “i don’t care” people in state universities than there are in top universities. </p>
<p>So if you add up the number of 3.7+ from state/middle tier universities and the number of 3.7+ from top colleges (assume both groups have 31/32+ MCATs), wouldn’t there simply be too many applicants “qualified” for med school? </p>
<p>if this is the case, how do adcoms select within these two groups? I would assume that whoever has a 3.7+/31+ would probably have decent ECs/volunteering/LORs/all that good stuff. I guess a better way to phrase my question is how do med schools select who gets the interviews (before the socially inept get weeded out) amongst this large group of qualified applicants? or are there actually not this many 3.7+/31+ applicants?</p>
<p>thx</p>
<p>Just go to usnews.com click on rankings. Click on National Uni’s. Here’s some more : </p>
<p>(I get a little obsessive with stats lol)
From the CDS that would include your D as an incoming freshman:</p>
<p>the 75th percentile SAT is a 640/660.
top 9% and 11% are 700 and over CR/M.
49% have a CR 600 and over.
61% have a M 600 and over.
41 have a GPA 3.75 and over
72% are in the top 25% of their class</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Highly questionable assumption, IMO. But in any event, there is no reason to believe it true. By definition, Podunk State U’s don’t have a lot of students with high test score ability. While the mcat is not published by college (that I know of), the LSAT is…and the mean LSAT scores of law-school-wannabes tracks very nicely with the USNews ranking. Of course, there is no surprise that HYP has the highest mean LSAT scores…HYP has the highest mean SAT/ACT scores. In essence, HYP selects for good testers, i.e., high scoring students.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No. You are underestimating the MCAT.</p>
<p>so if i get 3.7+/31+ and have decent ECs, LORs, etc etc, I stand a very good chance(i know it’s not guaranteed) of getting an interview for some mediocre/in state schools?</p>
<p>^^According to amcas, Table 24, a 3.6/30+ has a 71% chance of admission. Obviously, the chances are lower if you live in a highly competitive state such as California, or below average ECs. Conversely, your chances will increase if you have a hook, or truly outstanding ECs.</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/download/157450/data/table24-mcatgpagridall2008-10.pdf.pdf[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/download/157450/data/table24-mcatgpagridall2008-10.pdf.pdf</a></p>
<p>“state med schools (which is the ones that i’m targeting) do not really differentiate”</p>
<p>-State and private, including top 20s. I do not know about top 10, top 5, etc. My D. did not care much, she wanted to be close to home. Accomplished, top 20 and 2.5 hrs. away. However, her college GPA was 3.98. And she had a decent MCAT. Few others from her state UG were also accepted to the same with a bit lower stats, but I do not know details. They had good choices.
It is very early for you to consider anything, though. BTW, lots of assumptions here are pretty incorrect. Yes, many of very top HS kids go to whatever state school for various reasons. Mostly, for Merit awards and some even want (or their parents want them) to live at home. I even know very very wealthy families with very top caliber students from very expansive private prep. HS’s. Most kids’ parents of my D’s very expansive prep school were either MD’s or lawyers who knew very well that kids will do well at any UG and they also will be very challenged at every UG. So, they send them to local UG on Merit awards and then to free local Med. School (most of them have some kind of working relationship with local Med. School that I do not clearly understand, so Med. School is free for kids). They simply do not want to spend money while having the same results.</p>
<p>I am currently a rising high school senior aspiring for a future MD. My family is in that difficult spot where we won’t get much financial aid because of income but at the same time cant pay for an Ivy League education, thus im looking for reputable institutions with great premed programs such as USC, Vanderbilt, University of Miami, and WashU in St. Louis who give merit aid? Do you happen to know which of these is best for premed? any others I should be looking at? How about NYU?</p>
<p>NYU is well known for giving bad FA. WashU likes to use merit aid to attract URMs and students from states that are under-represented in their student body.</p>
<p>Any of the schools you listed (plus just about any college/university ranked in the top 150) will adequately prepare to apply to medical school.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for your advice. Do you recommend/suggest any schools to add to my list similar to those mentioned above?</p>
<p>lasagna, i would consider adding Creighton University to your list. They give out absurd amounts of merit aid and have an excellent premed program. Also, Creighton med school loves their own undergrad students. The chances of getting into Creighton med as a creighton undergrad are about as good as getting into your own state school,which is pretty ridiculous if you think about it. </p>
<p>Also, many of the schools you listed are very expensive, arguably in the same ballpark as the ivy leagues. You don’t have to be a URM or have a hook to get awesome scholarships at creighton. As long as you have excellent stats, Creighton will throw money at you.</p>