<p>Hypothetically, if I attend a SUNY undergrad [pre-med program] such as Geneseo/Stony Brook, what are the chances of getting into Columbia medical school? Assuming that GPA/MCAT are at the acceptance point.</p>
<p>I know pretty well that your undergrad school will affect your acceptance into medical school but I'm unsure how to weigh a SUNY [Geneseo] in comparison to a private university (such as Boston University)</p>
<p>While a SUNY will help me save money for medical school, BU offers more co-op opportunities and is larger in name which means an advantage for medical school (or not?) </p>
<p>I'm so confused >.< I also read online that most SUNY pre-med students go to SUNY medical schools.</p>
<p>As a point of reference–MOST medical students attend med schools in their home state. It’s not just true of NY. It’s true everywhere. (Except maybe CA since there are sooooooo many med school applicants from CA.)</p>
<p>Why? Because state med schools have an enormous bias towards accepting state residents. And state residents often attend state med school because the COA is less (often significantly less) than private med schools. There is little FA other than loans for med school and even for a doctor it’s not a good thing to graduate with a $250,000 debt.</p>
<p>Undergrad college only plays a minor role in med school admissions. There are maybe a handful of prestige colleges where the name might be a plus in admissions. (HINT: neither SUNY nor BU is one of that handful.)</p>
<p>What matters most is your GPA/MCAT/sGPA, followed by your medically-related ECs (research/volunteering/physician shadowing), non-medical ECs, LORs, interview skills, how well you present/express yourself in your personal statement and secondaries. (Please notice the name of your undergrad is nowhere to be found on that list…)</p>
<p>What you’ll need to decide if the increased cost for BU is balanced by a significant difference in opportunities available ONLY at BU and not a SUNY.</p>
<p>I can’t answer that question for you since I don’t know what your family finances look like or what kind of aid you’ve been offered at each school.</p>
<p>Columbia P&S is one of the more prestige conscious medical schools out there (although all top Northeast med schools are to some extent). However, we’re talking about Duke for college vs. a state school, not BU vs. a SUNY. That distinction is unlikely to make a difference.</p>
<p>Another thing to keep in mind is that while there is great variation among schools for undergrad–that is, not many people would argue that an Econ degree from Harvard is more impressive than an Econ degree from big state u–that’s not exactly the case with medical schools, and I think it can be hard for high school students to understand that (after all, your frame of reference is probably undergrad universities–and if there’s such variation in them, shouldn’t there be similar variation in med schools?).</p>
<p>I’m sure there is a difference between med schools. I know some are regarded as more impressive than others by the general public. But by and large, any med school is a great one, and everyone realizes that. Plus, by the time you get to med school, there’s a lot more at stake than just the name of the school–I’m sure you’ll come to find this. </p>
<p>What I’m trying to say is, focusing your efforts on one particular med school (or even one small group of med schools) is probably premature. I can see the point of wanting to prepare yourself to go to any med school, the “best” ones included, but I think you’re a little misguided because I bet you’re unaware of how similar (and similarly selective, I might add) all medical schools in the US are.</p>
<p>Columbia has a few kids from SUNY every year. If you have the talent, they have the seat.</p>
<p>I know pretty well that your undergrad school will affect your acceptance into medical school but I’m unsure how to weigh a SUNY [Geneseo] in comparison to a private university (such as Boston University)</p>
<p>How do you know this??</p>
<p>And, yes, most kids probably do go to their instate SOMs because of cost.</p>