<p>Searching through old posts i am seeing both sides of the argument. Some people say that Swat screens its pre-med's so that's why their rate is so high (8x%+). And I've heard that many have to therefore apply after they graduate, which i dont want to do. I've also heard that there is some pretty harsh grade deflation, which scares me, seeing how med schools are so GPA oriented.</p>
<p>Can anyone here shed light on my worries?</p>
<p>Thanks a lot.</p>
<p>(And maybe a comparison between my chances at going to a good med school vs more safety-level schools like BU, Northeastern, Rutgers, UMD, UPITT and my chances at swat).</p>
<p>I suspect that in recent years, alumni/senior ratio may slowly inch toward 60/40 (from 50/50) at some top privates.</p>
<p>I heard Swats tend to have more social activists (before and after graduate) due to its Quaker’s root. Also, most top LACs seem to produce more students who pursue PhDs percentage-wise, even more than comparable research universities.</p>
<p>1) virtually all med schools in the US are “good med schools,” so it doesn’t make much sense to compare your odds of getting into a top med school coming from a small liberal arts college vs coming from a larger (private or public) school. YOU are much more the variable there than your school is, and while each undergrad school offers slightly different resources for students (ranging from academic to service to social, all of which you’ll need to harness in order to get into med school eventually), by and large you’ll be able to find what you need at just about anywhere you’d attend. you may just have to work a little harder at some schools. </p>
<p>2) nearly every aspect of your application is more important than the name of your undergrad institution. that’s not to say your undergrad institution plays no role; it probably varies by medical school and is likely to be somewhat more than those at bottom-tier colleges want to admit, and somewhat less than those at top schools wish. i’ve never heard of an instance where a student with a glaring gap in their application, but coming from a top institution, was granted admission (which isn’t to say that’s never happened, just to say that it’s certainly not common enough to bank anything on). </p>
<p>all of this is basically to say…go to the school that makes the most financial sense (no sense in spending all your academic dough on undergrad, when med school’s insanely expensive), that is the best fit (ie, where you feel the most comfortable on multiple levels), and will provide you with a challenging and exciting undergrad experience. that school can be a top school or a small school or a huge school or a far away school…the fun part of senior year is finding it!</p>