<p>While I know that medical school is incredibly competitive, does attending a particular college have much of an effect of how your application will be perceived when applying to medical school so long as you have met the requirements and have experience in a medical setting? For the purpose of this post, I was planning to attend a small liberal arts college, not a major Ivy league school or anything of that nature. </p>
<p>Thanks,
Neunundneunzig</p>
<p>Overall GPA, GPA in the pre-med series, MCAT score, Letters of Recommendation, volunteer/research, etc. These are what matter. The name on the diploma barely matters at all.</p>
<p>What happymom said. If you search through the threads here you’ll most people say go to where you can get the best grades at the lowest price so that you have the money to pay for med school</p>
<p>S attended a LAC and had no problem at all getting into several highly regarded medical schools. The fact that he knew his profs so well and, as a result, ended up with a great committee letter was cited explicitly in one case (and I assume had an impact in the other cases, since it was the same letter.) The other big plus what that the pre-meds all knew each other well and were highly supportive of each other - no sharp elbowed competition. That’s what going to a LAC can offer you.</p>
<p>What does have a significant impact is your state of residence: Your best bet for admissions is almost certainly your state medical school - unless you are from California. There are some states that admit up to 30% of their in-state applicants and won’t admit anyone from out of state, so those students have a real advantage. </p>
<p>What that means if that if you are from one of those states, be very careful, where ever you end up going to college, to avoid jeopardizing your state of residence.</p>