<p>Hi… I’m a high school student currently and I had a couple questions about med school entrances…</p>
<li><p>Is it easier to get into a good med school if you’ve attended a really good school for your undergraduate (ie. ivy league)?</p></li>
<li><p>Is it true that many med schools accept the most number of med students from the students that graduated from their university’s undergraduate program? For example, some people told me that if you attend Johns Hopkins University for undergraduate (pre-med), you have a higher chance of getting into their med school. (I heard that Johns Hopkins “officially” picks approximately 50 percent of their med students from students graduating from their undergraduate program).</p></li>
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<li><p>Not necessarily. But top schools do tend to have more resources, better advising, more research opportunities, etc. But the number one reason for the high med school placement rates of Ivies is that they have smart, driven students.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes, this is true. But it does not necessarily mean that the med school gives preference to its own undergrads (in fact, most don't). It just means that a larger proportion of the applicant pool is made up of its own undergrads.</p></li>
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<p>Thank you for the great advice...
So it's in fact more difficult to get into the med school of the university you attended for your undergrad?
I'm guessing then that Johns Hopkins "officially" picking most of their med students from their undergrad program is probably rumor too?</p>
<p>First, there's no way on earth that half of Hopkins' class is from JHU undergrad. Absolutely no way. I would guess that at most we're talking 20%, and even that would be gigantic. It's higher because many more kids apply and many more of the admitted kids matriculate, generally, to their home institutions.</p>
<p>Second, as has been mentioned a few times, it varies from school to school. Some do, according to rumors, favor their own (Northwestern, Emory). Others are rumored to put their own at a disadvantage (Columbia, Stanford, WUSTL, Duke).</p>
<p>As for the second question...this is a matter of statistics as already mentioned.</p>
<p>Also, in the case of state schools, there are very real and very significant advantages given to in-state residents regardless of undergrad institution. There are several states in which you must be a state resident to attend (Oregon, Arizona and New Mexico I'm pretty sure). Now, in the more populated states, this may not help (particularly CA) but in the midwest it can be a very sizable advantage (and you get to pay far less). This doesn't mean that you can't get in from out-of-state, just that if someone has equal scores as you and are in-state they are likely to be picked ahead of you. That said, some state schools do have an interest in taking out of state students. Iowa is a good example of this from what I've heard. I believe my own school (Nebraska) will likely be increasing the number of out-of-state students in the coming years (mainly due to an increased size of the entering class which is probably due for the entering class of 2008).</p>