please help me decide whats best for me

College Search & Selection
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<p>I've already submitted my intent to enroll at San Diego State as a freshman next year, and I am signed up to schedule my classes and begin to pay tuition next week. But recently I've decided that I want to become a doctor, and now my main priority is to become a perfect candidate for a good med school. I realize that SDSU is not exactly a top pre-med school, although they do have a pre-med program. I want to move out into the dorms next week SO bad, but I'm beginning to think it might be smarter to pass up SD and stay at home for another two years and attend a California Community College. Wherever I go, I am very confident that I can get good grades. I know I could maintain near a 4.0 at a CCC for two years, and that that would open the doors to a UC or USC, etc. Is it very important that I come from a great school when applying to med school? Also, what are the chances I could spend a couple years getting straight A's at SDSU and then transfer to a better school from there? THAT would be my perfect option, but I'm not sure how possible that is. I want to move away so bad but I'm worried that it isnt the smartest choice for my med school ambition. THANKS!</p>

<p>ps. Or what if I got above a 3.6 at SDSU for 4-5 years and got a good grade on the MCAT? would I still be able to get into a top med school? how much would coming from SDSU hurt me?</p>

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<p>Coming from a fellow pre-med, you need probably a 3.7+ gpa, good MCATs, and stellar ec’s. Also, letters of Rec need to be outstanding and it’s harder to establish a good rap with professors when you’ve only studied two years under them and haven’t done significant research. Also, CC’s offer no research opportunities.
But if youre talking about a top med school, you probably should be coming from a four year university where you done a lot of research and ec’s</p>

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<p>do well at sdsu and as ptontiger says…get a great gpa, score well on the mcat, do research, shadowing volunteering etc… i wouldnt suggest the cc route if you are able to go to a 4 year university now</p>

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<p>Search the forums for pre-med or best pre-med and you’ll see this topic has been discussed frequently. The consensus seems to be to go where you will get the best grades and be able to do well on the MCAT. Going to a “better” school could mean more competition for grades. And like ptontiger says, you can start working on the relationships for research opportunities and recommendations.</p>