<p>Sakky, I currently am a sophomore at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. I am considering transferring to a few other schools that may give me more of a "shot" at medical school. I am however, doing exceptionally well at Grand Valley. I believe I can maintain a 3.9 GPA throughout this year (And if I stayed here the rest of my schooling I assume), and will be able to sport that on an application. My first question is, if I can't get into HYPS, but can manage to get into other top 20 schools such as the ones that I'm applying for (Emory, Notre Dame, Vandy, Northwestern, Cornell, WashU, Rice, Dartmouth) would it be worth going? I'm wondering if it would be worth it to attend a top 20 school because I imagine it would give me more options, but would it really? lets say my GPA goes down at those schools, would it all be in vain, and would Grand Valley in bum**** Egypt really help me out more than a top school (Not HYPS). Furthermore, Dartmouth is a reach for me. </p>
<p>Here are my stats
Highschool GPA/ACT: 3.85 and 29 (Can retake and probably get a 32+)
College GPA: 3.9
College extracurriculars:
RA'ing
Community Council member
President of Grand Valley Students for a Peaceful Africa
Co-Captain of relay for life team
Captain of intramural volleyball team
Volunteer at nursing home
Volunteer tutoring children at local elementary</p>
<p>I could not pm him because his inbox was full. Also, Co-captain of a relay for life team at my university means that you, along with someone else, lead a team in the relay. You can have any sort of team.... dodgeball club team, varsity volleyball team.... and on and on. I happened to do a team with a friend for three of the dorms on campus.</p>
<p>I want Sakky to answer the question because I think he's proved himself as a knowledgeable individual regarding this types of questions in the past. My question is a little more specific than what i've read of him before, but i'm sure he can help me out. Also, I do not mean to imply that any of you have any less knowledge or can/will be anyless helpful than sakky. I just know that he has a knowledge base and I do not know the same from others.</p>
<p>bluedevilmike..... the same to you... i believe you have established yourself as a very knowledgeable poster.... to bad i am too dumb for duke :D....</p>
<p>Sakky is going to tell you that medical school is very, very hard to get into. Which is true.</p>
<p>But based on several threads I've read, it seems that GPA and MCATs are the primary deciding factors. Research always helps, volunteering and helping people out proves you enjoy helping people, but other stuff like leadership and multicultural club involvements are a wash.</p>
<p>It's definitely a plus, but if you are member of 20 other clubs and honors organization, grad schools aren't going to accept you because you're a member of Asian American students association AND the korean students association.</p>
<p>If they are choosing the future physicians of America, they are going to favor MCATs and GPA more.</p>
<p>Since Sakky isn't answering, I'll add in my $.02. My D is applying to med school this cycle, so I've been reading widely on the issues this past year. </p>
<p>My advice: If you have a 3.9 now at Grand Valley, you should stay put! If you transfer somewhere like Cornell or Duke or Emory, you are almost certainly not going to be able to maintain that GPA as you complete your med school requirement. Those colleges are going to be much more competitive than Grand Valley. </p>
<p>If you are able to keep the high GPA AND get a high MCAT score, you will have a good shot at med school acceptance. Don't worry so much about the big-name schools. Keep on with your studies and EC's, and get some more clinical experience in the nursing home or a hospital as well as shadowing. Since you are in-state in MI, if you keep up your grades and do well on the MCAT, you'll have a shot at UM for med school with in-state tuition and acceptance advantage. That is the path you should be focusing on now, as it's your all-around best shot at a very prestigious med school.</p>
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Sakky is going to tell you that medical school is very, very hard to get into. Which is true.
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<p>Medical school is indeed very very hard to get into. </p>
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Sakky, I currently am a sophomore at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. I am considering transferring to a few other schools that may give me more of a "shot" at medical school. I am however, doing exceptionally well at Grand Valley. I believe I can maintain a 3.9 GPA throughout this year (And if I stayed here the rest of my schooling I assume), and will be able to sport that on an application. My first question is, if I can't get into HYPS, but can manage to get into other top 20 schools such as the ones that I'm applying for (Emory, Notre Dame, Vandy, Northwestern, Cornell, WashU, Rice, Dartmouth) would it be worth going? I'm wondering if it would be worth it to attend a top 20 school because I imagine it would give me more options, but would it really? lets say my GPA goes down at those schools, would it all be in vain, and would Grand Valley in bum**** Egypt really help me out more than a top school (Not HYPS). Furthermore, Dartmouth is a reach for me.
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<p>I agree with what some of the other posters here have said, in which if you're sure you want to go to med school and if you can continue to pull top grades in whatever school you're at, you should probably stay there, barring some super deal elsewhere (i.e. Harvard is offering you a full ride + stipend because you're poor). </p>
<p>The main reason to transfer elsewhere is if you're not that sure that you want to go to med school and hence you want to broaden your options. For example, if you are actually seriously contemplating going into management consulting or investment banking, then you should definitely try to transfer into a school of the caliber of HYPS.</p>