UNC Premed

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
21

<p>Brown and I come from pretty different academic backgrounds. Both of us are successful med students. I can see how the conclusion might be “well, since she went to a state school and he to an Ivy, and they both ended up in programs that fit them, then undergrad institution must not matter.”</p>

<p>I think that is a dangerous conclusion to make. Of course experiences vary by student and by school, but by and large the best students at their individual schools will fare fine in the end. As was recently mentioned, the difference between competitive schools and non-competitive schools is probably not the valedictorians (which isn’t to imply that either of us is). I think the point is that it’s important to be the best student you can be regardless of where you go, and to let your data and experiences do some of the talking.</p>

<p>I think it’s crazy to say that undergrad prestige is meaningless. While it is certainly not the most meaningful thing on an application, it surely matters some. The way I read iwbb’s original post was that med school admissions isn’t necessarily black (CRUCIALLY IMPORTANT!!!) or white (meaningless). There’s a lot of grey in between, and one of those grey areas is undergrad prestige. </p>

<p>I went to a state school. I go to a state school. I don’t have a chip on my shoulder about not going to an Ivy or not currently going to an elite med school. I personally think the people with the chips are way more intense than those of us (brown included) who are happy where we chose to go.</p>

22

<p>" if I gave everyone advice solely based on my experiences "
-Nobody is in any kind of position to give advice based on others’ peope experiences. Yes, all you have is your personal experience. Whoever needs advice, have to ask and state their personal info. If they take it as is based on somebody else asking, they might put themselves into trouble. Again, this is my prospective, I have no plans to change based on somebody else’s prospective, it would not make sense, it would dilute the differences between us, which are of extreme importance (again my prospective)
But mostly, all of these should not be taking for the important decision making. No internet research should. Need to check in person, get a feel of the place and people there and ask yourself if this is what you are looking for, does it fits your personally, not somebody else here on CC. Again, if I listen to others in my life, I would be in great trouble and I am much much older that most parents here and have lots or experiences that most would not even want in their lives. So, others might have a different take about asking for advice, I certainly do not even remember when I did, maybe never, not for important decisions, for sure. It is silly to ask others to decide your life for you.</p>