<p>I'm going to Rutgers-Newark and if I am able to get a 3.9 GPA, 40 MCAT, and enogh leadership and volunteering is it still possible for me to get into the two med school mentioned in the thread above????</p>
<p>Or do these schools discriminate against those who went through state school?</p>
<p>It's not impossible to make it to a top med school from a state school, just harder. Top private schools generally have greater name recognition, advising programs, more research opportunities, better name professors to write recs, and theoretically should provide better education for you to achieve a better MCAT score. Either way, whether you have a 3.9 40 MCAT from Rutgers or from Harvard, you are not guaranteed a spot at a top med school. Your numbers will get you in the door. Your recs, EC's, and personal statement will carry you the rest of the way.</p>
<p>From a state university, I heard it is SO IMPORTANT to take the initiative right from the start. Seek out for the best research opportunities, achieve that 3.9/40, and you should be alright.</p>
<p>The numbers you cite, if matched with appropriate health related experience- research, volunteering, or other, would make you competitive to get into top medical schools. Admission at these places is so difficult that it would be foolish to focus on only two schools. Great as they are, there are plenty of others that will give you just as good a start on a career. So, this sort of record will give you a good chance at admission to a top 10 school, if you apply to all 10. There is essentially nothing you can show on your application that will assure admission to Harvard or Hopkins specifically. Of people with this sort of credentials, these two schools will turn down more than they accept.</p>
<p>I agree with what's been said by others. Top grades from any good college combined with top standardized testing will give you a shot at a top medical school. But admission rates are low at all the top schools so that the chances of getting into any specific med school will not be so good. Generally speaking, the top kids from good but non-ivy schools will be chosen over average kids from the ivies. I'm not sure how going to Newark as oppposed to New Brunswick affects your odds. I think that RU New Brunswick will be perceived as a more competitive origin, but again if you do very well at Newark you should overcome that bias.</p>
<p>I believe Newark has the more prestigious science program.</p>
<p>I don't think so. Not to disparage RU-Newark, but the science and math program at RU New Brunswick in many areas is among the very best in the nation. There may be specific fields of study in Newark where that is true, but I don't think that the 2 programs are comparable for overall quality. It's like comparing UNC-Chapel Hill to UNC-Greensboro. You can still do well at the latter and get into a graduate school; it's just harder.</p>