<p>1.) Re: staying in-state for med school: No objections from me. Which program is "the best" depends on how you define best. I picked Penn because they're my personal favorite. (And no, I don't go there.)</p>
<p>2.) Sure, experience related to the field -- or which you can potentially argue is related to the field, as I did with my economics major -- is what counts. I was responding to your original question:
[quote]
is it more grade oriented than applying for undergrad schools where EC and other little things matter?
[/quote]
The answer is no, if anything it's less grade-oriented. If you want an objectives-obsessed application process, go pre-law.</p>
<p>4.) I don't like BS/MD programs as a general rule so I'll defer your question to someone (anyone) else.</p>
<p>5.) The first problem with your rankings is that it's not like they trade off. You can't compensate for a 2.8 with a 40. (Trust me, I've had friends -- well, a friend -- who've tried.) Certainly awards/honors are the least important. A 2.8 will disqualify you no matter what. A 24 will disqualify you no matter what. You can't use these factors to compensate for other ones, so I'm not sure how this ranking system is supposed to work for you.</p>
<p>6.) Second problem is that they vary from school to school. One school I know of hates students who do research because it thinks they tend to be bookish and nerdy. (Obviously, this school is not ranked very highly on USN's Research rankings, which I'm sure is just fine with them.) Most of the Research schools have 90+% of their students applying with research experience, so then it's basically a prerequisite.</p>
<p>7.) If you wanted to tell me you were within a school's average for everything and then way past them in one of those four things, there's only one field which I would never say is the most important: Awards.</p>
<p>Research is probably the most important at most research schools. A few state schools will probably value GPA most. I can't think of anybody off the top of my head who would put the MCAT first. But, then, I can think of several schools that would put either research or GPA last, too.</p>