<p>Does this happen a lot? Because I will most likely be going to a public university (not well known) because of scholarships, and I was wondering, that is it almost impossible to go from a regular public university to an Ivy school for med/grad school?</p>
<p>Get good grades and do well on the tests (Mcats, Lsats). In the end, it all comes down to the individual and not the college, although the college name does give a boost.</p>
<p>Look at some biographical info of some of todays leading researchers and experts. A good percentage started at a state school but went and got their PHD at an up tier school.</p>
<p>You can certainly get into a name med school from a state u....but there is no need to...med school education is just as good in general at a state school.</p>
<p>You will not have a problem with that and many admission officers at top medical and grad schools are looking for diversity in backgrounds including private vs public undergrads.</p>
<p>Oldman is right, unless you want to practice on Park Ave or you have some very specific research interest that is shared by a professor at a particular university, you will get as good a medical education at your state uni. The prestige factor comes in when you are picking residencies - top grad from a state med school can get "Harvard" residencies (the prestige of residencies is more related to the accomplishments of the particular faculty members, one hospital may have the top program in the country for say urology, but their radiology may be only average). Save your money if you decide on med school - lower debt will allow you to pick the specialty that suits you best without having to worry about how much money you will make, and will allow you to compete for the best residency in that specialtythat you can find, without worrying about the cost of living in a particular city.</p>
<p>Law school and grad school - that may be different.</p>
<p>The only issue is whether or not the medical/law/grad school admissions office has familiarity with your undergraduate institution, and that could come from a top or well-known public university. If the admissions office can feel confident that the GPA you get means something and that the quality of the courses is good, you will be fine. So it is really not a given that just because you get a good GPA at any school you will be taken seriously. Some people think your GPA is taken as the same no matter which school you go to, so just go to the easiest one, but that is NOT true. If you do go to a lesser-known school, your MCAT will be weighted more heavily because it is a standardized test. That said, many publics would be considered "well-established" to most medical school admissions boards and you should be fine at those.</p>
<p>I would also agree with Oldman and cangel about the quality of medical education being basically the same no matter what medical school you go to (in the US and select foreign ones). But also don't take as given that you will graduate with less debt from a public medical school. Some privates give much better financial aid and you can actually end up with the same, or in some cases less, debt as at a public med school.</p>
<p>Ay_Caramba, I didn't think there was much financial aid for med students, other than loans. If I'm wrong, I'd really like to know. I dod know that in-state tuitions can vary dramatically, read the thread on the Parents Forum about tuition hikes at UVa, it discusses grad/med/law school tuitions toward the end of the article.</p>