<p>I know, it "doesn't matter" where you go to undergrad, because you can still go to med school. And I know it "doesn't matter" what medical school you go to, because you will still be a doctor.</p>
<p>However, for financial reasons, my only option is Ohio State University. And I want to work for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, and to do that I have to be an excellent candidate, which means going to a top medical school, such as Harvard (I just use that as an example - I realize there are about 20 other schools of similar caliber).</p>
<p>Does anyone know if Harvard will even look at an OSU applicant? I can get a good GPA there, and I'm sure that taking the right courses can lead to a good score on the MCAT, but will the "state school" aspect factor into my application negatively?</p>
<p>Any advice, even anecdotal, is much appreciated! I am having a lot of trouble finding any statistics about undergraduate acceptance rates, so even a website would be great.</p>
<p>If you have somewhere between a 3.85-4.0 you should have a chance* at harvard even though its rediculously hard. i don't know the stats, but you should be able to get an interview definitely if you do well on the MCATS and volunteer! hope that helped, if you have any more specific questions PM me.</p>
<p>The Ohio State profiles on mdapplicants are pretty weak (mostly 3.5 GPA, sub 35 MCAT scores). Not surprisingly, no Harvard acceptees. But yes, a 3.8 and a 35 from Ohio State will capture the attention of Harvard if you have good EC's as well.</p>
<p>Yes, they will most certainly look at an OSU applicant. I won't tell you whether you're playing completely on a level playing field - for the basic reason that I don't know - but yes, you would most certainly be ON the playing field with strong numbers and extracurriculars.</p>
<p>Anecdotal evidence: As I travel around the country on my interviews, probably only about 30-40% or so of the kids I see on the interview circuit went to private schools. The rest all come from all kinds of publics - from UC Irvine (if I'm not mistaken, the UC's weakest branch out of 8 or 9) - to the usual suspects in UVa, etc. If I'm right in assuming that OSU is right in the middle of that pack, then I've seen many of those sorts of students around.</p>
<p>Thank you so much! Any more reassurances would be great, but now I feel a lot better about having to go to Ohio State (not that it's not awesome of course...just unprestigious)</p>
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Anecdotal evidence: As I travel around the country on my interviews, probably only about 30-40% or so of the kids I see on the interview circuit went to private schools. The rest all come from all kinds of publics - from UC Irvine (if I'm not mistaken, the UC's weakest branch out of 8 or 9) - to the usual suspects in UVa, etc. If I'm right in assuming that OSU is right in the middle of that pack, then I've seen many of those sorts of students around.
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<p>Of course that has a lot to do with the simple sheer numbers of undergrads attending public schools. Private schools are a drop in the bucket compared to the behemoth populations at the public schools.</p>
<p>For example, the Arizona State University system (all 3 campuses) has more undergrads than do the top 10 USNews universities combined (and all of these schools are private). And that's just talking about Arizona State, which is only 1 public school system in the country, and isn't even close to being the biggest one. Other leviathan public school systems like the California State University system or the State University of New York system have several times the students of Arizona State.</p>
<p>So you would naturally expect to find lots and lots of public university students on your interview rounds, just because of the sheer numbers of them to begin with. The overwhelming majority of college students go to public universities.</p>
<p>Of course - the odds are much better coming from a private school.</p>
<p>Just to reemphasize to the OP: I don't know whether you're on an EVEN playing field. All I know is that it's possible to be ON the playing field with the Harvard and Stanford undergrads, no matter where you come from.</p>
<p>I looked them up - according to USN, he's right. I was really surprised, too.</p>
<p>So just substitute several of the lower-ranked schools - Michigan State, University of Missouri, whatever - I've seen a lot of these schools on the interview circuit.</p>
<p>Is sakky right in pointing out, "duh, there's a lot of public school students in general"? Of course he is.</p>
<p>I'm just pointing out that it's not IMPOSSIBLE. That's all.</p>