<p>I'm in the middle of picking where I'm going next year.</p>
<p>My dad keeps telling me to go to Iowa where I'd get a high GPA and stuff. However, I could get into better schools, such as Michigan and McGill for sure... and I even have a shot at some tougher ones like Northwestern and Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>I keep telling him that, for example, Michigan would be a great place for college. But he says it doesn't matter where I go - I just need a high GPA. </p>
<p>So... does it truly not matter where I go as a pre-med?</p>
<p>No I don’t think it matters all u have to worry about it’s to Get Good grades in prereq. and do extra activities
Yes he is right… if school would matter that much it means all this colleges in USA are not worth it lol</p>
<p>Basically, no it doesn’t matter where you go to undergrad*, but to assume that you’ll automatically do better/have a higher GPA/ have to work less hard at Iowa than Northwestern is a huge fallacy.</p>
<ul>
<li>Assuming your school is not some unknown, small school with limited facilities, course offerings and research opportunities.</li>
</ul>
<p>OP, Unless your family is more well off than most families, money could be a concern if you will likely go to medicine, as it would cost 200K, easily, to finance the cost of attending a typical medical school after you get into a medical school.</p>
<p>Michigan is quite expensive for an OOS student (it is called a public ivy for two reasons: its quality as well as its cost.) NW and Vandy may be even more expensive for most students. Prestige and its perceived quality are for somebody who can afford it and is willing to pay for it.</p>
<p>I dont think anyone would say Iowa and Michigan are going to be viewed as peers. Undergrad name does matter to some degree, but not worth it if you cant maintain a high gpa or if you have to go into debt. I go to a no name school and have good results so far this cycle. It’s not where you go, but what you do with the opportunities available to you.</p>
<p>I dont think anyone would say Iowa and Michigan are going to be viewed as peers.</p>
<p>I would say that they are viewed as peers by med schools. No nudge for UMich over Iowa.</p>
<p>I think that maybe the top 10-20 schools might be thought of as special and deserving of a slight nudge…but from about that point on, unless the school is pathetic in the sciences, med schools are going to be rather blas</p>
<p>I DOES matter. You should go where you feel you belong. You should go to UG that matches your personality and wide range of interests. It is hard to maintain high GPA at the UG where you feel “out of place”. Forget ranking, medical school and other people opinions, it is you, who needs to know where you should go.</p>
<p>It does matter if you want a top med school, but it doesn’t matter as much as some people think. We’ve been flat out told by a couple of top 15 med school admissions folks that they will only interview people from a list of schools they consider worthy. That list is not limited to Ivies (or similar), but they don’t interview from lower level colleges (at least, the two of the top 15 we talked with don’t - there are 13 others).</p>
<p>For “general” med schools and less than top 15 state med schools I’ve been told they go by stats and sometimes look for variety (though sometimes that variety is “state resident” based upon state regs).</p>
<p>All of the above can make you a doctor. You need to decide which path you’re looking for and how much you can spend toward it (or what kind of aid you get).</p>
<p>EVERY single doctor I’ve talked with has told me to go to the best place you can afford and like. Do not go into debt or excessive debt for an undergrad school of any caliber.</p>
<p>If you’re comparing places you can afford, ask them which med schools they’ve gotten students into lately. That’s the best way to gauge their caliber based on med school reps.</p>
<p>OP, I graduated from a practically unranked school (a Cal State). I haven’t had any problem getting interviews from top 15 schools. I’ve even been accepted to a couple of top 5 schools so far this cycle. Seek out opportunities wherever you go and you’ll be fine. With that being said, if you can swing a good school without going into debt (and maintaining a good GPA), it can only help!</p>
You must be a premed who has done somerthing right because not many applicants could get into “a couple of top 5” schools by December time frame.</p>
<p>This reminds me of an applicant (with 4.0/33) from some non-flagship state school in the south near the border who got into multiple top medical schools last cycle (some even with a larger than usual scholarship which is announced earlier than usual), while many excellent applicants from the flagship state school or the honor program of another state school with a strong science program (including one with 4.0/41) did not fare so well so early – Some of these successful ones from flagship state school or the honor program could manage to get into one or two top 20 by this time frame, definitely not “a couple of top 5”. I heard that the majority of top NE elite medical schools announce the bulk (or all) of their acceptances in Spring, unless they really want to “lock in” a particularly strong applicant.</p>
<p>Yeah, a lot of those NE schools are non-rolling and don’t start accepting until the Spring.</p>
<p>I’m not going to pretend that it’s easy coming from an unknown school. Most successful applicants at those elite schools come from elite schools. But it’s not impossible, and you won’t be ignored based only on your undergrad.</p>
<p>*We’ve been flat out told by a couple of top 15 med school admissions folks that they will only interview people from a list of schools they consider worthy. That list is not limited to Ivies (or similar), but they don’t interview from lower level colleges (at least, the two of the top 15 we talked with don’t - there are 13 others).</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>Which med schools are making these claims and which undergrads are they limiting their interviews to?</p>
<p>I know that the med school applicants from my kid’s undergrad have interviewed at H, Y, Columbia, UChi and a host of other elites this year, and during last year’s cycle, a number were accepted to these elites…so scratching my head about your post…unless they meant that their list includes names that they’re familiar with, but they don’t interview kids from directional podunk U. </p>
<p>I really doubt that these schools’ lists are that limited…probably include 300 schools or more. When you consider the top 150 National Univ, the top 50+ LACs, the 100+ top regional schools…that’s a lot of schools.</p>
<p>I think you thought that their words meant some list of 50 or so schools…when that’s not likely the case at all.</p>
<p>This is actually my impression from what we were told. That’s why I mentioned it’s limited, but not as limited as many people think.</p>
<p>I seriously pondered mentioning the schools since we were in group sessions when they told us, but, I guess my final thought is that others can ask themselves and get the same answer. Someone did ask if one school would share the list, but that was declined. The answer there was to consider “very selective” or “selective” schools. This admin person specifically said it didn’t have to be Ivy, but should be a “good” school. Personally, I have a pretty good mental image of what they were trying to convey - at least I think I do. When looking at undergrad schools, we have asked where recent graduates got in… Places my guy has applied to have “passed” the test for being able to get him into anywhere he wants to go (if he can meet the expectations, of course). We nixed all Ivies since they weren’t a need and he has stats (Ivy stats) to get nice merit aid from other places.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t put it past any med school to consider an individual with an extremely strong hook of some sort no matter where they went, but I think we were being told generalities for “average” med school applicants (“average” in quotes due to all med school applicants already being top class).</p>
<p>I think that oging to a top tier private school, a la Northwestern or Vanderbilt will definitely net you brownie points, especially with top med schools (and NW med or Vandymed in particular). That goes without saying. But you also have to remember the competition will likely be stiffer there, and there is a chance your undergrad gpa will be less competitive. At the end of the day, a 4.0 from Northwestern will be a bigger deal than at Iowa, but will you still get a 4.0?
Also, really consider your financial needs. I really don’t think going to a state schoolo is frowned on by med schools. If anything, they’ll know that you won’t already be fighting a load of debt, which is good since they’ll be piling some on you.</p>
<p>I have never heard of one with 2.5/27 (as an example) from Ivy’s got into any Med. school, let alone top Med. School. People who think that UG name will make it easy, are incorrect. As far as I know, schools will not interview below certain GPA/MCAT no matter UG name. On the other hand, D. did not have a problem getting into couple top 20 after graduting from state UG, and had a good chance at one top 15 (interviewed), but withdrew (did not see herself going there, too different from what she was looking for).</p>
<p>*I seriously pondered mentioning the schools since we were in group sessions when they told us, but, I guess my final thought is that others can ask themselves and get the same answer. Someone did ask if one school would share the list, but that was declined. The answer there was to consider “very selective” or “selective” schools. This admin person specifically said it didn’t have to be Ivy, but should be a “good” school. Personally, I have a pretty good mental image of what they were trying to convey - at least I think I do. When looking at undergrad schools, we have asked where recent graduates got in… Places my guy has applied to have “passed” the test for being able to get him into anywhere he wants to go (if he can meet the expectations, of course). We nixed all Ivies since they weren’t a need and he has stats (Ivy stats) to get nice merit aid from other places.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Can you clarify? Your child is still in high school and yet you’re going to med school sessions? </p>
<p>Anyway…the problem when reps use vague words like that, people will walk away with their own definitions of what was truly meant. Those who insist on elite undergrads are going to hear those words and think…hmm…got to be top 20 undergrad or bust. Yet, if they did any kind of reality check, they’d realize that these elite SOMs are selecting from about 300 (or more) schools.</p>