<p>This thread has been talking about what makes a top medical school and what the pro/cons of going to them are rather than if undergrad matters. Pretty sure this thread has been off topic for a while so I think your scolding is out of place. If anything, his post is more on topic than ours have been :D</p>
<p>No, I wasn’t out of line to say something. It is one thing to follow a line of conversation that has gone off topic and quite another to post a long text that amounts to a chance me statement.</p>
<p>Well, if you say so. Don’t let it ruffle your feathers though, the pre-med forums are low enough traffic that a off the topic post or two isn’t going to result in chaos.</p>
<p>OK, my feathers don’t feel ruffled.</p>
<p>I feel this topic has been discussed so many times in both CC and SDN</p>
<p>I remember LizzyM discussing what schools are considered well recognized by adcoms by SDN.<br>
[Student</a> Doctor Network Forums - View Single Post - What is considered a well-recognied school?](<a href=“What is considered a well-recognied school? | Student Doctor Network”>What is considered a well-recognied school? | Student Doctor Network)</p>
<p>obviously the bigger question is how large is the marginal benefit of the prestige, which none of us will ever know since we arent adcoms and there are too many variables. However like others, i cant imagine it would really matter if any as long as your “overall package” looks great.</p>
<p>Post hoc, ergo propter hoc.</p>
<p>To the OP: 'Tis “A lot”, not “Alot”.</p>
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<p>I really feel like this post adds a lot of value to the topic. I wish more posts were like this.</p>
<p>I wish this thread would die :D</p>
<p>
Thanks. I’m so happy I could make such a wonderful contribution to the thread. :)</p>
<p>
haha agree. well at least that “What is considered a well-recognized school?” finally died in SDN</p>
<p>sorry to bring back an old thread but does that mean if I go to say, UVA (from out of state) over georgetown/cornell or vanderbilt I won’t get into a top med school even if I have a 3.9 and 37 mcat?</p>
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<p>No. With the requisite ECs, letters of recommendation and an MCAT well within their score range you would be as well qualified applicant as anyone.</p>
<p>Certainly not. UVa is an excellent school.</p>
<p>“3.9 and 37 mcat” are great for ANY Med. School in the USA (if other requirements are taken care of). Both 3.9 and mcat=37 are rare, combo is even more rare.</p>
<p>All right thanks for quelling my fears a little bit :)</p>
<p>The admissions standards to get into a top 20 medical school are pretty standard. GPA above 3.6 and a high MCAT score. The most important aspect of your application is not your ugrad but your MCAT score. Attaining a high MCAT is no walk in the park, and frankly it is mostly those kids from Harvard and Yale who get those high 35+ MCAT scores. That is why they are over represented at the elite medical schools. Harvard does not get 37s on the MCAT for these kids.</p>
<p>Medical schools today put smaller and smaller emphasis on your undergrad schooling. Most adcoms could care less what classes you took and some don’t even care about your GPA once it gets above a certain level. The MCAT bears the most significance. Students are ranked based on their MCAT scores and that is how they are selected for interview and for acceptance.</p>
<p>the order of importance is:</p>
<p>1) MCAT ~40%
2) individual MCAT scores ~ 40%
3) GPA/school ~ 10%
4) ECs ~10%</p>
<p>So yes, the MCAT is 80% of the decisions. AA is the only way around high MCAT scores.</p>
<p>You are entirely incorrect.</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/download/261106/data/aibvol11_no6.pdf[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/download/261106/data/aibvol11_no6.pdf</a></p>
<p>MCAT score are ranked slightly below cGPA and sGPA in importance by med school admissions officers when it comes to offering interview invitations. It falls to the 6th most important factor when it comes to tendering admission offers. (Interview recommendations, LORs, sGPA, community service and cGPA are all ranked as more important factors than the MCAT score).</p>
<p>Again, please believe me. This is all propaganda put out by AAMC. It is a polling, and we all know how accurate polling systems are. </p>
<p>No one wants to admit that the MCAT is all that matters, but it is. How fair would it be if I went around telling naive little under grads that their 4 years of schooling mattered very little in reaching the next level. It wouldn’t be, so we don’t. </p>
<p>Behind closed door, the MCAT is scrutinized very closely. You want to know why that kid in the first post didn’t get into great schools. Because he had TWO sub 30s already on his record. </p>
<p>Schools want a one time 33+ applicant. Retakes are even scrutinized. Everything revolves around how good of a test taker you are.</p>
<p>WOWMom, OR is obviously just trolling</p>