<p>For years ive planned on going into either clinical or research medicine and every1 has told me to go where it is cheapest and just pull good grades. Now im hearing that i need to go to a big name school to get into med or grad school. SO how important is undergrad if your planning on doing grad school, med school...</p>
<p>The name is not important. But the quality of your four years is. And by that I mean having a fulfilling four years experientally and academically. You will never have the opportunity to repeat those four years and you will short-change yourself if you to not take full advantage of everything the college offers. Carpe diem!!</p>
<p>With regard to academics, formulate as challenging and interesting an academic plan as you can handle. Get to know a few faculty in your major well. Get involved in undergrad research and independent study as early as possible. If the college offers a senior thesis option, take it. Some of course require it.</p>
<p>And above all have fun.</p>
<p>I think it also good to keep in mind that the undergrad school should have strong academics -- not all schools are equal. You may be able to pull a 4.0 at a no name, fourth tier state school -- but if that school focuses on agriculture and ballet and even the professor has trouble with organic chemistry, you won't be prepared for med school (nor will you probably get in).</p>
<p>you don't have to go to a top tier school -- just make sure that your area of interest is solid at the school you want to attend.</p>
<p>you might also consider that after organic chemistry you could change your mind about medicine... make sure the school is strong enough in other areas so that you can have a satisfying four year experience even if your plans change.</p>
<p>I know adults who are now a patent attorney, statistician at a pharmaceutical company, and a Venture Capital investor who focuses on Life Sciences and biotech, all of whom started college determined to be pre-med. Maybe that will be your path and maybe it won't.... but you don't want to get locked into a career path at 18. The attorney has a JD, the statistician has a PhD in applied math and statistics, and the VC investor has an MBA (from a top 3 B-school). So-- keep some options open.</p>
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Get to know a few faculty in your major well. Get involved in undergrad research and independent study as early as possible.
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<p>Imo, these are two of the most important keys to getting into a good grad program. Sometimes people think it's the name of the school that got someone in, but it was actually the opportunities available to do research and to know professors at those schools that made the difference. Letters of recommendation are critical for grad school admissions.
And of course, having the opportunities won't help if you don't take advantage of them.</p>