<p>I'm a sophomore premed student at Oxford College of Emory. I'm considering transferring to Georgia State University. My GPA is not as high as I need it to be for M school and my classes this year are not going to help, I think. I want to know if I transfer to GSU, will the fact that my GPA will go up help my chances of getting into medschool or will it look bad that I transferred out of Emory, but still got a better GPA? Doesn't a good MCAT score show my competence of premed material? If so, then would my undergrad school really matter when it comes to M school admission? </p>
<p>Please help me out guys! I am really confused and need to make a decision soon!</p>
<p>OP, In general, you need reasonably good GPAs as well as reasonably good MCATs – this is especially true if you are an un-hooked applicant.</p>
<p>In my opinion:</p>
<p>1) Coming from a significantly “lower-ranked” college, you may need to be in, say, the top 20% of the applicant pool from your college. If you are from a “higher-ranked” school, you may be able to pull it off if you are in, say, the top 30% of the applicant pool from your college. (The number 20% and 30% are used as an example only. Only the applicants from that school would likely know the true percentage.)</p>
<p>2) The lower ranked college you are from, the more likely you need to really shine in some area outside your GPAs and MCAT.</p>
<p>The point is that you can succeed from most places. It is likely equally challenging but the challenge is in a different way. (e.g., An analogy here: is it easier to achieve 790 in SAT math subject 1C or 780 in SAT math subject test 2C? It depends on the individual.)</p>
<p>With this said, sorry to say this: coming from the Oxford part of Emory probably does not give you bonus points in this medical school admission game.</p>
<p>I’ll be transferring to Emory’s main campus next year, since Oxford is only a 2 year college. But it IS a part of Emory, so why would it not benefit me in the same way it might benefit someone from Emory’s main campus? I’m not taking any offense here, I am honestly curious. </p>
<p>I’m still not completely clear as to what you’re saying. Will I have a better chance at getting into a med school from GSU since my GPA will be higher, or will staying at Emory with a lower GPA give me a better chance at med school? My thinking was that if I could get a higher GPA from GSU and get high MCAT scores, then that would be better than if I had a lower GPA from Emory. I had been reading in many places that M schools barely care about which undergrad school you’ve been to and what the course rigor was there (hence a lower/higher gpa). So what do you think? And could you please give me any sources or other places I could look up these answers as well? </p>
<p>I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my question!</p>
<p>^ What I was saying is indeed confusing. This is just because, not living close to that part of country, I do not have much knowledge about either Emory or GSU.</p>
<p>I think being from Oxford and then transferring to Emory will not give you any disadvantage, other than the possibility that the competitors in your first two years are not as competitive as those in Emory for the first two years (so you as a premed may not be as “hardened” as those who are in Emory in the first two years). If you do not show any academic weakness in your 3rd year in Emory and also get a competitive MCAT score, I think you are as good as those who start their college career from Emory campus.</p>
<p>A year or two ago, there was a thread here that turned into almost like a “putting Emory down” thread because the medical school acceptance rate for Emory’s UG students was much lower than that of other comparable brand-name private colleges. Some speculated at that time that it is the Oxford’s students who pulled down their acceptance rates as the pool of students at Oxford might be not as good as the “traditional” Emory students in taking the standardized tests like MCAT or are not as good as ECs due to the lack of research opportunity in the first year. (Please do not take it as my malicious attack to your beloved Oxford – everybody is supposed to love his own school, right?! I just recall what might be posted here like 1-2 years ago.)</p>
<p>“My thinking was that if I could get a higher GPA from GSU and get high MCAT scores, then that would be better than if I had a lower GPA from Emory.”</p>
<p>Well, I hate to say it, but if you’re not getting good grades at Emory, then chances are that you won’t be getting a good score on the MCAT (since the MCAT, well, pretty much covers all the science classes that you’ve taken so far). Don’t assume you’ll get a high MCAT score. Also, even though your GPA at GSU will start fresh, medical schools will still average in your grades from Oxford.</p>
<p>Do you really think that the Emory-Oxford classes are that much harder than what you’d get at GSU? What’s your major?</p>
<p>It sounds like you will have done most/all of your pre-med pre-reqs at E-O by the time you transfer, so I don’t see how transferring is going to be a big help unless you don’t think you’ll do well in your upper division courses either. What’s your major? </p>
<p>The fact that you’re not doing well (or as well as you’d like) at E-O suggests that maybe you’re over your head with your career ambitions.</p>
<p>What courses/grades have you gotten so far?</p>
<p>What are you taking this semester and next semester?</p>