<p>I am a junior in high school, and I am starting to look into colleges....I am very interested in Brown....but recently have become interested in Princeton also......I have heard that your chances of getting into medical school are better if you go to an Ivy league school.....do you guys agree with this? And does anybody know which school has more students go on to medical school? Thank you so much for your help!</p>
<p>FYI:
There are only two MAJOR factors in medical schools admission - your GPA and your MCAT scores. To a lesser extent, some pre-med related real world experience. To an even lesser extent, where you did your undergrad. </p>
<p>Most observers say, it is FAR MORE PREFERABLE to have great grades/scores from a so-so school, than so-so grades/scores from a great school.</p>
<p>"I have heard that your chances of getting into medical school are better if you go to an Ivy league school.....do you guys agree with this?"</p>
<p>There is no evidence for this whatsoever. What can be said with a reasonable degree of certainly is that your chances of getting into medical school are enhanced if you have the intellect/drive to have gotten into an Ivy League School - whether you actually go there or not.</p>
<p>There is some limited evidence that suggests, for the same student, one's chances are enhanced by NOT attending an Ivy-caliber school. That is because 1) your GPA will likely be higher; 2) your class rank will be higher; 3) for the star student, there will be more research opportunities and better mentoring; 4) there will be fewer students to compete with for top recommendations.</p>
<p>Princeton's acceptance rate to med school is 90%+ and Brown's is purported to be 90%+ as well. Go to the school you like better.</p>
<p>Is it true that Ivy League schools have more grade inflation than most other schools.....and doesn't this grade inflation help you get into medical school? </p>
<p>Thank you guys SO much for your input, it means a lot, my friends think I'm crazy because I get so nervious over this whole process but I don't take decisions that will decide what my future holds lightly, but hearing other people's opinions helps!</p>
<p>"Princeton's acceptance rate to med school is 90%+ and Brown's is purported to be 90%+ as well. Go to the school you like better."</p>
<p>wow, that is really high, that is very good to know!! If I do end up going to a non-Ivy league school than I could still apply to Brown Med.....but I would imagine that that would be even harder to get into.</p>
<p>If you're interested in Brown, you should check out their PLME program.
<a href="http://bms.brown.edu/plme/%5B/url%5D">http://bms.brown.edu/plme/</a></p>
<p>Northwestern has a similar program.
<a href="http://www.medschool.northwestern.edu/hpme/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.medschool.northwestern.edu/hpme/index.html</a></p>
<p>warblersrule86 - thank you for your suggestion...I requested to have a brochure sent to me from Brown and I am going to look into the Northwestern one more as well, however I have not yet taken physics and I noticed that that was necessay to attend the Northwetern one, I'm not sure about Brown....I guess I will have to take Physics next year as a senior...but then it may be to late to attend that program. But I will look into both programs more, thank you!</p>
<p>Not all the Ivy League schools have grade inflation.</p>
<p>"Not all the Ivy League schools have grade inflation."</p>
<p>Is there a site i could go to to find out which ones do? is grade inflation really that helpful...or do med schools compensate for the inflation?</p>
<p>Again, and this absolutely cannot be stated enough, if you have the drive and intellect (and test scores - b/c standarized test taking translates to all standardized tests) to get accepted to an Ivy League school that translates well towards you getting accepted to medical school. Obviously it's no guarantee, but it's a good starting place. I believe it is nigh impossible to tease out exactly how much a school helps you in getting into medical school b/c of the selectivity factor that is highly variable from undergrad institution to undergrad institution. </p>
<p>To further expound on that, choosing a college simply based on its perceived value in helping you to medical school is the absolute dumbest thing one can do. The life of a pre-med is tedious, difficult, and there are high levels of attrition - so make sure you go someplace that you'll love even if you change your major to something completely different. I imagine it would really be horrible to go someplace you weren't totally committed to b/c of your med school aspirations (and you thought the school would help in that department) and then decide that medicine wasn't for you.</p>
<p>As usual, bigred is right. Most people who enter college as premed never apply to med school. Choose places that fit you. If medicine remains a goal, and you do well at any decent college, you have a great shot at getting in. The high acceptance rates at places like Princeton and Brown is due to the high talent of the students who are admitted there.</p>
<p>bigred & afan-----a agree with you both, i would never pick a college JUST because of their high acceptance rates of students to med schools, but i was just curious.....this whole process can be very confusing.....thank you for your help!</p>
<p>I would also consider the BU six year medical program and Case Western's combined B.A./M.D. program. I believe Pitt has a program in which students have guaranteed admission to their med school and are still free to apply elsewhere.</p>
<p>I was on the admissions committee at one of the top medical schools in the country. We took a lot of students from the Ivy League, particularly from our particular undergraduate college (about 15% of the class). However, Katliamom and Mini are correct. Grades and MCAT scores are very important-they get you in the door for an interview. After that, your interview, essay, and leadership/ECs count more. On the other hand, we always were looking for ways to diversify our class and look for outstanding students from any school, particularly schools that did not often send students to our medical school. Being number 1 or 2 from a state school or even third tier college may stand our more than being in the top 20% at an Ivy. You would need excellent scores to show that at a national level, you are as capable as top students at an Ivy League. Bottom line, top students generally will do well no matter where they go to college, whether it is to an Ivy, state university, or a lesser known school (where perhaps they received a generous scholarship).</p>
<p>The top of the top medical schools (basically Harvard, and also JHU, Penn, UCSF...) do weight your undergraduate school somewhat... this isn't to say that it's a huge factor but it is a small one. I know for a fact that Harvard has some kind of points system that they use to quantifiably weight undergraduate programs, though I don't know how they do this or exactly how significant it is. Princeton does have an edge in this department, but it is a tiny, tiny, tiny one. You'll get better grades and do better at a school where you're happier, and Princeton and Brown are very, very close in academic standard. Go to the one that suits you better; to do otherwise would be foolishly splitting hairs.</p>
<p>As far as the "top at a lesser school vs top 20% at an ivy"... perhaps that is true, but the effort involved in getting to be the top candidate from a lesser school and then making yourself stand out is more substantial than the effort to be in the top 20% in an ivy, assuming that the student is, in fact, ivy-calibur.</p>
<p>oh, and... "most people who enter as premed never apply to medical school"... couldn't be more true.</p>
<p>Dear Rocksolid,
I am not sure whether your information on Harvard Medical School is true-at least that was not the case 10 years ago. To my knowledge, there is no such point system in place. However, candidates must meet certain GPA and MCAT criteria unless there are some unusual and compelling reasons. </p>
<p>For undergraduate schools that had a large number of applicants, we generally compared them against students at their own schools. We wanted the best students from each school. We depended heavily upon the premed letters from these schools to help us sort this out. Many premed advisors helped us by identifying their best candidates. It was in their best interests to identify the best candidates for us since if they did well, we might take even more students from their school in the future. </p>
<p>It is not easy to stand out at a place like Harvard College. There will be a few incredible superstars applying from there (e.g. previous Westinghouse/Intel winners) but there also will be perhaps 100 other "qualified" superachieving and talented students all applying to the same top medical school. It is hard to sort them out. These students would certainly stand out at another school where most of the students are average students rather than high school valedictorians.</p>
<p>Having said this, I would advise students to go where they think they can best flourish academically whether it be an Ivy or Ivy-equivalent or state university. The choice of an Ivy league or state university (particular those that may offer honors program) or even a lesser known college will not make a huge difference provided the student excels and does well on the MCATs. At a less competitive school, it is possible you might even get more personal letters of recommendation and the whole-hearted support of the faculty because there are not many students like you. There are opportunities at many places to excel and good advisors/mentors to help you achieve your goal. Know yourself and the environment that works best for you. Ultimately, the student has to make it happen for himself/herself. </p>
<p>I also want to qualify what I have said by saying that it applies to the very top medical schools. There are many fine medical schools out there. Those that are less selective will take a much wider range of students. State medical schools will give high or even exclusive preference to state residents so admissions are based on different types of criteria. Ultimately patients do not care where you graduate from except that you are a knowledgable and compassionate physician.</p>