The Truth About Elite College and Medical School Admissions

Applying to College Admission Stories
1

Okay people… I see a lot of misinformation out there in reviewing these posts about elite college and graduate school admissions. So here are some truths based on my personal experience after many years at elite private colleges and graduate schools. Hopefully it will help students and parents out there grasp the often unpredictable nature of admissions, but also offer some stark realities. The list applies to both elite college and graduate school admissions.

Before I begin, a personal sidenote: I am a graduate of Cornell University & Johns Hopkins Medicine

<ol>
<li>There is no way you can predict the outcome, no magic formula for admission</li>
<li>Perfect GPAs and test scores do not guarantee acceptance. Too many candidates have those.</li>
<li>GPAs and test scores are equally important</li>
<li>It is to your advantage to attend a LESS competitive high school and be at the top of your class rather that attend a HYPER competitive high school and be in the middle or bottom of your class. Of course, if you can be at the top 10% of your class at a HYPER competitive high school, kudos to you. Anything less than that will not help you and may acutually lower your chance of admission. Parents and students like to debate this one a lot, but sorry, this is the reality of the situation. That is also not to say that attending a more competitive high school may benefit you in other ways such as a motivated peer group or connections for the future. There is also research to back this up: <a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/~tje/files/Frog%20Pond%20Revisited%20Espenshade%20Hale%20Chung%20Oct%202005.pdf”>http://www.princeton.edu/~tje/files/Frog%20Pond%20Revisited%20Espenshade%20Hale%20Chung%20Oct%202005.pdf</a></li>
<li>Private high school does not confer significant advantage over public high school, especially if there is no name recognition that goes with it</li>
<li>The following groups are given preference but still need strong credentials: star athletes, legacies (parents only NOT grandparents, siblings, aunts/uncles, etc.), African Americans, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, first generation applicants, underrespresented states (geographical preferences)</li>
<li>Asians are at a disadvantage and have a nearly 30% lower rate of admission compared to Whites with equal credentials. Being Asian and from California is a double whammy (sorry, but again reality).</li>
<li>A multitude of superficial extracurricular activities will not be looked upon favorably. You should have ONE passion to which you devote your time and do exceedingly well. </li>
<li>Letters of recommendations & personal statements are EXTREMELY important. Spend your time on them! There are codewords in the LORs that we can use to determine if you are just good or “the best.”</li>
<li>Do not waste your time on expensive college summer programs & trips to Europe. </li>
<li>Admissions can also figure out if your Mom & Dad bought you an experience at that orphanage in Africa. That is a dealbreaker.</li>
<li>Admissions know which colleges grade inflate and deflate and can adjust for that in medical school admissions.</li>
<li>Go to a college where you will do well and can graduate with a high GPA and MCAT score. That is more important for medical school admissions than whether you went to an Ivy League College.</li>
<li>Do not apply to medical school unless you have a GPA above 3.5 and MCAT above 30.</li>
<li>It is to your advantage to apply to medical school 1-2 years after you have graduated from college and done something productive that demonstrates your committment to medicine.</li>
<li>It will help if you have done research and volunteered in a medical setting if you apply to medical school</li>
<li>Schools like humble people who aren’t full of themselves</li>
<li>Choose a college major that you enjoy and will do well in but can also get a reasonable paying job if you don’t get into graduate school</li>
<li>Medical school admissions want your Organic Chemistry Grade to be an A</li>
<li>Plenty of people who end up doing just as well if not better than Ivy League graduates attend state colleges and graduate schools</li>
</ol>

Good Luck!

2

Valuable advice! Thanks.

3

I’m a little confused about number 11. I know it isn’t a strong extracurricular to go somewhere in Africa and volunteer for a summer and that temporary medical tourism doesn’t actually help much, but why would that be a deal breaker? Clearly you shouldn’t have it be a focus of your application, but what if you just wanted to go?
I spent a couple weeks in Zambia and I loved it, I don’t see how that’s a terrible thing. In fact, I actually got to have patient interaction there and administer first aid, etc. which is more than I would’ve done sitting in an ER in the US cleaning hospital beds.

4

Having it be a “deal breaker” is probably too strong a phrase but I agree with the OP in saying that if you went on one of these excursions do not use it as a premier experience. No matter your personal growth from the experience or how much you liked the hands on aspect, too many pre-meds take these trips for them to be meaningful when applying to med school. In conversation at a party I once had a med school admissions person refer to them as pre-med summer camp.

5

All good bits of advice. I’d add that unless you are from a state with a state medical school that has a high rate of acceptance for in-state students, apply to 20 or more medical schools.

When choosing an undergraduate university, choose one with a medical school or one in an area with lots of hospitals. It will help getting a volunteering clinical experience.

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"12. Admissions know which colleges grade inflate and deflate and can adjust for that in medical school admissions.

<ol>
<li>Do not apply to medical school unless you have a GPA above 3.5 and MCAT above 30."</li>
</ol>

So does that mean applying to med school with a 3.5 at Princeton is a crapshoot even though med schools account for deflation?

“13. Go to a college where you will do well and can graduate with a high GPA and MCAT score. That is more important for medical school admissions than whether you went to an Ivy League College.”

I always hear conflicting views about this. Some people say the prestige of a school really matters in med school admissions, that a lower GPA at an Ivy is better than a high GPA at a lesser-known school.

7

It’s not necessarily prestige, but rather if the school is known for deflating/inflating grades, or at least that’s what I was told by various med school adcom members at events.
So no, applying to med school with a 3.5 from Princeton is most certainly not a crapshoot. I’ve known people with a 3.5-3.6 who’ve gotten into top 20 med schools.

8

Heh, my roommate here in Rutgers is a chemistry student, graduating summa cum laude with a slew of awards, solid recommendations, pretty good work experience/research, 34 MCAT, and he got rejected everywhere. He even got an A in OrGo! I was amazed at his misfortune because he seemed to be the perfect applicant, but it looks like this whole med school admissions thing isn’t as straightforward as I thought.

9

Wow this is scary. Apparently most med school applicants apply to 15-20 schools…getting rejected from all those schools would be devastating especially if you are a competitive applicant…

10

is applying for med school like applying for undergrad college, except its 10x worse? Applying to 15-20 schools and getting rejected from every single one seems unreal…if someone applied to that many in high school theyd get into at least one.

11

Was he a white or Asian male? If so, that could contribute to why he got rejected.