<p>Is it better to do well at a pre med school not so prestigious or to not do as well but at an advanced and prestigious pre med school? For example, is it better to have closer to a 4.0 at say, UC Berkely/UCLA or Georgetown (I know that's not easy) or to be further from a 4.0 at possible Ivies or Hopkins or Stanford? I get that getting into medical school is like a numbers game, so should I focus more on being the best at lesser schools? Or rather should I depend on the prestige and teaching from more advanced schools to make my application look better? </p>
<p>First of all, you should read previously posted threads. That question has been answered many many times over. And second UC Berkley if notorious for its grade deflation so getting a 4.0 there will be very difficult. </p>
<p>momworried, I have read previously posted threads, and all of them are either older than I would like or have resulted in arguments that provide no clear information whatsoever. Thus, I thought to create a new thread. Also, I know that getting a 4.0 isn’t easy at UCB, but it’s obviously harder at more rigorous schools, even more reason for my question.</p>
<p>Gaining entrance to med school is more than just a “numbers game”.</p>
<p>It’s a common myth that having great numbers (GPA & MCAT) is an automatic acceptance. It’s not. </p>
<p>See this thread for list of common misconceptions about what it takes to get in to medical school:</p>
<p><a href=“Biggest Pre-Med/Medicine Career Misconceptions - Pre-Med Topics - College Confidential Forums”>Biggest Pre-Med/Medicine Career Misconceptions - Pre-Med Topics - College Confidential Forums;
<p>(NOTE: the posters catalystik and goro who are quoted in that thread are both long time medical school admission officers)</p>
<p>FWIW, the importance of undergrad prestige in helping one gain an acceptance to medical school is very, very small. </p>
<p>A med school acceptance is about what you do in college, not what college you went to.</p>
<p>Jsut get 4.0 at any place, if this is your goal, why to calculate and how one can?</p>
<p>With the exception of course requirements/MCAT info, none of the info on here is out of date.</p>
<p>There’s no such thing as a “premed school”. </p>
<p>mom2collegekids, I know that. I simply mean schools that would be good to go to before entering medical school. </p>
<p>I’m not entirely sure where you came up with the idea that going to a state school means you will be more likely to get higher grades and going to an elite school means you will be more likely to get lower grades. You should keep in mind that while the “average Joe” student at a state school may not represent much academic competition for someone as dedicated to school as I’m sure you plan to be, the “average Joe” student is not your competition. You will be competing with the best and brightest students regardless of where you choose to go because they are the ones who will choose the same classes you do. So I disagree with you that the dichotomy you suggest is even true. In fact, I challenge you to provide meaningful evidence that your claim of “it’s obviously harder at more rigorous schools” to get a 4.0, and I also challenge you to support the claim that those schools you listed are indeed more rigorous.</p>
<p>Of course it is important to get good grades and earn high test scores as those numbers are important to med school admissions. However, like previous posters have mentioned, those remain a small piece of the overall portfolio that you will build to convince med schools to accept you. It is dangerous to assume that a lackluster GPA can be made up for by attending a prestigious school or selecting a notoriously challenging major or multiple majors. Your best bet, as stated multiple times in the threads you claim to be out of date, is to select a school and a course of study that are a nice fit for you. It’s nearly impossible for a bunch of internet strangers to provide meaningful advice about which school you should attend because none of us knows you personally. The general themes of selecting a school for undergrad apply to everyone though. The most important factor, in my opinion, is cost, because med school debt is crippling.</p>
<p>Check out this post, full of sound advice, about selecting a school: <a href=“Bluedevilmike's Ten Step Guide to Picking a PreMed School - Pre-Med Topics - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1122176-bluedevilmikes-ten-step-guide-to-picking-a-premed-school.html</a></p>
<p><<<
the “average Joe” student is not your competition. You will be competing with the best and brightest students regardless of where you choose to go because they are the ones who will choose the same classes you do. So I disagree with you that the dichotomy you suggest is even true. In fact, I challenge you to provide meaningful evidence that your claim of “it’s obviously harder at more rigorous schools” to get a 4.0, and I also challenge you to support the claim that those schools you listed are indeed more rigorous.
<<<<</p>
<p>Kristin is exactly right.</p>
<p>You’re sadly mistaken if you think it’s “getting into medical school is like a numbers game.” Are GPAs/MCAT important? Absolutely! Initially they tend to offer an arguably objective way to evaluate if an applicant can cut it in med school. Lots of applicants can cut it but still get rejected every year in large part because space is limited. Every part of your application will get scrutinized. Med schools like diversity. They don’t want to fill their incoming class with nothing but bio majors with the “numbers.” Will your app reflect something unique and make adcoms take notice? Will you be able to articulate in a PS compelling reasons why you want to pursue medicine other than you got a play stethoscope at Xmas as a 4 year old and you “just knew” you wanted to be an MD; or other than because you watch Dr Oz’s NY Med TV show and “just know”; or other than because you really want to help people? Will your ECs offer some evidence that you actually know what you getting into (e.g. shadowing, volunteering, etc)? Or applying to a research heavy institution will you proudly list your 2-3 college summer med research experiences not realizing that other applicants with similar or better stats have Masters, PhDs and extensive research/publishing backgrounds? Will you get profs to write you strong LORs? At interviews will you come across as robotic or will you actually be able to hold a conversation? Will you show up at interviews with cocky, arrogant, entitled attitude thinking that because I’ve got the numbers, I went to a good school, I’m in? Applicants with very strong “numbers” do get rejected on basis of poor interviews. A competitive med school is not merely a “numbers game” but entails many other aspects. All this assumes you survive the premed gauntlet and actually apply. Good luck.</p>