I know that research, clinical hours, LORs, MCAT, and GPA are all very important for med school admissions. In addition, I was wondering to what extent the rankings and prestige of undergrad institution can influence the admissions process into med school. Would attending a T20 be of significant advantage as opposed to, say, a T100?
It may matter more for your âplan Bâ in the likely event you do not get into medical school, if your âplan Bâ is a path that is significantly college-prestige sensitive.
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I guess it depends on what kind of medical school you try to get in.
Less than your grades and mcats. Do you know where your doctor went? That said, you might contact your chosen school and check their track record and compare it vs. other schools.
I do not think that it matters much at all. If you look at the students at very good medical schools, they have graduated from a very wide range of undergraduate programs.
Admittedly my experience is more in DVM admissions, which is similar with overlapping undergraduate requirements but is not the same thing. Someone I know well attended a university that is not quite in the top 100 in the US for undergrad, and it about to start at a âtop 5 in the worldâ DVM program after getting 4 acceptances and only one rejection. Relevant experience and references appear to have been a big part of this.
Expect your premed classes to be tough, and full of very strong students. Do have a âplan Bâ in mind just in case.
The highest ranked universities do get a higher percentage of their incoming freshmen into medical school. However, this is probably due to the strength of the students who start at the top ranked universities.
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Iâm of this mind set, maybe even more extreme. Iâd remove âmuchâ from the sentence. 
I do agree it might matter for Plan B, but prestige sensitive jobs, like investment banking are rare and donât generally align well with pre-healthcare (human or animal) jobs.
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Four of my daughterâs close friends are currently in med school. Three did their undergrad at UNC-CH, one at UGA. All were competitive on MCATS. None of the four were successful at getting into med school in the first round. The three from UNC-CH went on to get post-grad degrees in medical-related programs from other universities and subsequently were admitted to med school at UNC-CH, Georgetown & ECU (East Carolina U). The fourth spent a year working as a medical assistant in a clinical setting and was admitted to ECU.
I donât believe prestige in undergrad played a role - although the one at Georgetown did a post-grad program there that is supposedly a âpipelineâ to G-townâs med school with a certain percentage of participants being accepted to the med school. It worked out for him.
By âpost gradâ at Gerogetown are you referring to a post-baccalaureate program?
If so I would add that you can major in anything and then to a post-bacc program for prerequisites for med school.
I have no idea but in some cases is there an advantage to that? If the post-bacc is at a university that has a med school?
Iâm not sure what the technical term is for it. It was a year-long program with a relatively high rate of acceptance for the top performers from that program, into G-townâs medical school. His journey to med school was the longest of the group. He graduated with my daughter in 2017 and just finished his first year.
Whether thereâs an advantage probably varies by school and may have no credibility other than being anecdotal. Georgetown made no guarantees.
Check with schools you are considering to see where recent graduates have been accepted to med school - specifically where to be sure itâs not Caribbean or some other medical related deal as some will include it all in their acceptance rates. If youâre content with the list, the school is fine to attend for pre-med if the student does their job getting the grades, etc.
Another thing you can do is look at these lists from U Rochesterâs med school - if you scroll through their Class Profiles they list schools their students came from. Itâs a varied list, but I expect their list would match many otherâs (allowing for geographical preferences).
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@WayOutWestMom can you post what is important in terms of medical school applications?
To the OPâŠ.medical schools donât weigh your undergrad college in terms of how they evaluate your application. Med schools look at Gpa, sGPA, Mcat score as a first sweep. Then LOR, and things like volunteer work (especially with needier populations), and eventually your interviewing skills if you are invited for an interview. Research isnât at the top of the list either.
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CREEKLAND, thanks for those Univ of Rochester med school acceptance profiles for the '24, '23 and â22 admitted classes. Results do reflect that successful applicants tend to come from the selective colleges and universities â likely because those students are already high-performers. But I also have to believe that admissions committees look back at their med school studentsâ performance relative to where they did undergrad.
We have two children who are entering allopathic med schools next month. One, a Carleton College graduate. was accepted upon first application and after one year of working at a clinic as a med tech with direct patient care. Our other, a Univ.
of Wisconsin-Madison grad, accepted upon second application (waitlisted previously), having worked two years as a certified nursing assistant in a hospital and involved with direct patient care.
Both did significant research and were traditional bio majors. Medicine had always been their sole goal, with no 'Plan B." Persistance is needed, and both displayed this. Grades and MCAT appear central to acceptance, but personal characteristics and humanistic experiences seem to be a tipping-point with admissions.
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I often share them with kids from our school who are eyeing pre-med. To us they show that itâs good to have a ânameâ college that many in academia recognize, but it certainly doesnât have to be Top 20 or even Top 50/100. Washington & Jefferson, Penn St, Geneseo, U Arizona, and similar are right there alongside Brown, Columbia, and U Penn.
Iâll let med school admission officers do the talking.
On p. 14, there are results of a survey of allopathic med school Dean./Asst Deans where they rate the relative importance of various factors when deciding which students to interview and admitâ
https://www.aamc.org/media/18901/download
Selectivity of undergrad is rated being of âlowest importanceâ along with undergrad major, participation in intercollegiate athletics, being a TA/tutor, legacy status, gender, fluency in multiple languages, and a variety of other items.
Like @Minnesotadadof3 I have 2 daughters who went to med school. One attended a public state U which is ranked around #200 in USNews; the other attended a top 35 research U. (Same one Creeklandâs son did ) Both were accepted on their first application cycle and both had multiple acceptances.
Med school admission is really all about the student and what they do and achieve during undergrad, not where they went to college.
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T20 vs T100, no. T100 vs bottom 1,000, yes.
Edit to add: The indifference is greater than 100. Likely somewhere in the 500-1,000 range. Also, if you are interested in the tippy top med schools, something beyond just grades/MCAT is likely needed. Many have an MS or PhD.
Reading from the Class of 2024 link I posted above, this strikes me as outside of the âusualâ things (shadowing, local volunteering) people often mention with med school acceptance. Iâm wondering if itâs solely URâs focus or is a trend elsewhere too? (Bolding mine)
"Your desire to deeply and meaningfully work in communities around you
has led you to work in AmeriCorps, Teach for America and as Fogarty
awardees. 45 % of you worked or learned in an overseas setting. From
India to Sierra Leone, Peru to Copenhagen, Beijing to Guatemala, you
have been impacted by what life looks like outside the confines of your
hometowns and you are better for it. The University of Rochester
celebrates your diversity and we hope an equal or greater number of you
continue your global reach in this phase of your transformation.
In order to be accepted to this school, it is a must that you worked outside
your comfort zones; that you have shown heart and passion surpassing the
average applicant. Many of you have worked with the agencies in our inner
cities, tribal reservations, and prisons, reaching out to those who suffer the
greatest disparities in health care in our world. All of you have volunteered
in various outreach programs, alternative summer breaks, health care
brigades and other college or religious sponsored organizations, to make
an impact on health and wellness of communities. If there is a hospital unit
or clinic available, someone in this room has volunteered in it and more
importantly, LOVED working within it. The Class of 2024 has reached out
to those in need, regardless of pandemics, distance or personal hardship
encountered.
You have unique interests and accomplishments as well. To name
just a few: you have delivered water in the desert by backpack to save the
lives of hopeful immigrants, you have worked in legal aid clinics to support
those who can not afford justice, you have been lead administrators of
urban HIV clinics, you have created business models to clothe the
homeless, been Slam Poets and have written books supporting religious
and ethnic minorities. Your creative and innovative spark is the essence of
how progress is made. The University of Rochester is fertile soil for your
ideas to take root, donât lose the opportunity to harness the power of your
classâs talents and skills to be collaborative innovators.
Oh⊠and the class of 2024âs previous lives are fascinating. Many of you
are EMT trained. Dr. Rueckman will be delighted to know we can staff an
entire squad of pre-hospital care providers. You have been professional
audio-engineers, IT systems managers, architects, lawyers, fashion writers,
Australian Football professionals, investment bankers, EPIC software
designers, full time musicians and physical therapists. Most of you have
had jobs and know the value of clocking in and clocking out and living
paycheck to paycheck as office workers, baristas, research coordinators,
food service workers, and nannies.
Thereâs more, of course, including talking about researchâs importance for this particular school (itâs not so important at others). Itâs a very worthy read for anyone looking toward med school.
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Thereâs also this one from Georgetown, which I actually thought was the program you were referring to:
This assures admission to Georgetownâs medical school after sophomore year if you get accepted. But it doesnât sound like you need an extra year or two.
Anyway, there could be other programs like this as well for OP to consider for undergrad, regardless of whether the college is considered prestigious or not.
Not easy to define âprestigeâ but some medical schools do consider where the UG experience was obtained in terms of âacademic rigorâ;
cf from Emoryâs website " we do recognize that some schools are more academically rigorous than others" with âWhat you do accomplish during your undergraduate career speaks more highly of your preparation for medical school, than does a degree from a particular institutionâ also from Emoryâs website.