<p>I'm a sophomore at a low tier 4-year public university. I have the option to transfer to a very prestigious university, but fear my gpa will fall once I start attending courses there. I'm currently doing great at my current university. I'm ranked number one in my class, with a 4.0 GPA, but do not like the university or the city around it. I plan to go to a top medical school, but also fear that even with the best grades/resume at my current university I wouldn't be able too. Is medical school truly all about numbers, or would it be best for me to transfer and possibly sacrifice a few points off my GPA in effort of matriculating into a top medical school?</p>
<p>How prestigious is the university? You seem to think that merely going to a better undergrad will give you a significant boost. But unless it’s an Ivy, it wouldn’t make much of a difference so I would just stay at the public school. Even if you’re aiming for a top med school, the name of your undergrad has a little effect on your application anyway compared to GPA, MCAT, and ECs, though it certainly will help.</p>
<p>
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.</p>
<p>I’d say go to MIT. The opportunities with an MIT degree are amazing compared to many colleges, especially an unknown public. If your ultimate goal is med school it won’t matter that much where you go, but in the event you change your mind, going to MIT will open up so many doors.</p>
<p>Assuming that your undergrad school has no bearing on your MCAT scores, the only benefit of going to a “better” college are:
increase research opportunities and chances of being published
increased clinical experience opportunities (hospital on campus vs going to a college in the middle of nowhere)
LORs from faculty that are much more respected in their fields. This matters more for PhD programs, but I’d guess that it might look a little better if the professor writing your LOR collaborates with faculty at the med school you are applying to.
Better advising
The better name recognition and connections might help you get a research position after graduating if you want to take 1-2 years off to build your resume before applying to med school.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t be too afraid of a GPA drop from attending MIT. It is very unlikely that you will maintain a 4.0, but there are plenty of premeds at MIT who are able to maintain strong enough GPAs to get into the best med schools.</p>
<p>Thank you. 
I just want to be sure that what I decide is the best for me. You can definitely see why it such a hard decision for me regardless that I could go to MIT.</p>
<p>how bout you fish for compliments a little more… gj, ur in arkansas. im sure demographics had nothing to do with it.</p>
<p>For the medically focused I’d say the ideal plan would be this. Get into the best college you can. Go there for a year or two, during which you make really good friends, and thus are well connected. Then transfer into an easy university and dominate the grades scene. This idea actually sounds terrible, but it made sense when I thought of it. I recommend that no one actually does this. And yes, I am assuming that the friends you make in your first year will be closer than friends you make afterwards.</p>
<p>I disagree with the idea of transferring solely because of name on so many different levels. For almost all cases I can imagine, transferring is not a good choice.</p>
<p>The reasons are many, but the most important one comes from the loss and subsequent remaking of connections. If you’ve done well at your current school, that generally means you’ve made an impact in some organizations, you’ve met with professors, perhaps started research, done some volunteering and generally have positioned yourself well to continue the pre-med track through to the end. Plus, you’ve developed friendships, a social life, and other significant relationships while on campus. Transferring throws all of that away, and then you have to go through the process of rebuilding everything. Going to a notoriously difficult school on top of all that only makes that process more complicated. And you’re also competing against the other students at your grade level who have well established social capital at your new school, making it even more difficult to climb the ladder, since you’re not working against the freshmen who are in the same situation as you. Whatever benefits that might occur by transferring (of which none are guaranteed), they likely won’t outweigh the negatives associated with the move. </p>
<p>Now, if you’re truly miserable at your current school, to the extent that you believe it’s hurting your ability to perform, and that a change of scenery will actually lift a burden so that you can reach your full potential, then a transfer might be worth it. And of course situations in which your physical or emotional safety are threatened, a transfer should be pursued…but those are really the only couple of reasons I think justify a transfer.</p>
<p>I agree with Bigredmed. My general opinion is that one should transfer sometime in freshman year, and even if needed, early of your sophomore year. I am not sure if the original poster means that he/she is already a sophomore or going-to-be a sophomore, but if he/she is going to be a junior, then I would highly advise not to. I mean, the simplest thing is that you’re doing well on your undergraduate although I’m not sure how you say you’re “number one in the class” since most undergraduates don’t really have such “number one” thing as in high school. Regardless, transferring to MIT will bring your grades down not because you will slack, but because you will face other students who are so intelligent.
LORs from good PhD professors are pluses, but that is all assuming that you can make an impression to them, and get to know them well. I say that unless you’re absolutely sure, don’t. And, as much as MIT is a great institution, I’m not sure how much of an effect it will have for students applying for medical school. I thought CC’ers commented that the name of institution is not that big factor.</p>