<p>Not only my D., but every one of her pre-med friends at her state public UG (no top 50 at all) got accepted to multiple SOM and my D. actually had hard time deciding between 2 top 20s (while she had applied to only 8 schools). More so, the adcom of the SOM that she had finally selected had called her pre-med advisor expressing a great hope to have her and one of her pre-med friends as Medical Students there and apologizing at the same time for inability to offer any Merit award because of unbelivable caliber of applicants coming with advanced degrees (including PhD from Harvard, several Masters of Science (some from JHU), lawyers…etc).<br>
D. had 2 aceptances in her hands couple of hours after midnight on the day that SOM could let them know (I believe it is Oct. 15 or 16). One of them was a personal call from the Dean of admission.<br>
Importnace of the UG rank and reputation seems to be a myth…at least in many many cases around us. D. had many frineds in her private HS who had MD parents. And these families do not care at all where their pre-med kids are going to UG, as long as it was a cheapest (in many cases free) option. They did not want their kids to deal with loans the way that they had. I have talked to several of them.<br>
Paying for UG in case of the top caliber student who is planning to attend a Med. School seems not a good idea by many (most) around here who get acceted to Med. Schools relying strictly on their hard working ethic.</p>
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I would guess most (but not all) families who do not care at all where their pre-med kids are going to UG must not be CCers, because CCers surely are a paranoid bunch – always paranoid about whether their kids (high school or college) are “ahead.” LOL.</p>
<p>I notice a “trend” at DS’s school over 4 years when DS was there though:</p>
<p>If the kid’s parents are well-established (e.g., already quite sucessful in their own careers but not super rich), (s)he may still choose to go to a cheaper /free school, even if (s)he was admitted to HYPSM. An example: A kid whose parents were both lawyers decided to attend the public school instead of Harvard – which costs too much from his family’s point of view.</p>
<p>However, if the kid’s parents are new immigrants (especially Asian Americans, who happen to be not particularly poor), without ANY exception, the kid will attend one of HYPSM if (s)he is lucky enough to be admitted to such a school.</p>
<p>I think the latter parents are like many paranoid CC parents, who are always concerned about whether their kid will have an “edge” in all stages of their education career or in their future job career. In a sense, these more paranoid parents are not as confident as the parents who send their kids elsewhere in order to save money. An analogy is that some parents just want to buy the “best” things (e.g., the more expensive iPhone instead of other cheaper cell phone, iPad instead of other brand like Kindlefire) for their kids. It is not purely a financial decision.</p>
<p>This is just my observation, based on observing a sample size of just one high school over 4 years or so.</p>
<p>Here, I did not claim that one way is better or worse than the other way.</p>
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I wouldn’t say it’s a myth but I don’t think there is as much advantage as some may believe. An acquaintance of mine who attended Cornell MS and served on the admissions committee for a while indicated that it would get a notation in the applicants file and might equate to about a .1 - .2 bump for their GPA. This is only for the top schools (i.e. HYPS).</p>
<p>MCAT, well-said, well-observed</p>
<p>Per admissions committee member of our state school in response to the question: yes, it does make a difference where the applicant attends UG. Declined, however, to say how much, or to name specific schools.
And I note with some level of amusement: it’s always someone else’s UG that has grade inflation…</p>
<p>“However, if the kid’s parents are new immigrants (especially Asian Americans, who happen to be not particularly poor), without ANY exception, the kid will attend one of HYPSM if (s)he is lucky enough to be admitted to such a school.”
-Very much agree with this observation. Many examples of these in D’s Med. School class (predominantly Asian). Another example - granddaughter got accepted into very selective HS (73% Asian) in NYC. When I asked what colleges she migh eventually consider, she said many in her future HS will consider HYPSM, but she believes it is a very expansive option (proud of her being so mature, but she also has a great example of our D. who also very willingly went to public state and still claims it to be one of the best decisions she ever made). So, granddaughter is planning to work very hard to avoid HYPSM, she does have a plan, she is talking to people, including some teachers (in regard to their own kids).
The funny part is that one of the reasons (tiny part) why D’s Med. School wanted her was that Dean of admisiion has graduated from D’s UG (my assessment, D. has mentioned that he still appreciates her being there). You never know, but following your own reasons and then do your best at any place seems to be working time and again.</p>