A 3.0 at a "prestigious" Pod school will not open doors that a 3.5 at an "average" or "sub-par" pod school will.
The terms in quotations are wildly subjective and will vary based on program directors experience with individuals and geographic location.
If there was a perfect Podiatry school, everyone would simply go to that school.
Yeah... I would agree here.
The bottom line is to be well prepared for clerkships. All of the schools teach anatomy, pharmacology, etc. By that clerkships time, you are reading journal articles and texts. The JFAS and FAI journals or the McGlamry and Myerson books are obviously the same at any school.
Back when I was more involved with students (clerks and core ppls visiting the place I was doing residency), it was pretty clear year after year that DMU and Western were a leg up on the other schools... vast majority of their students were prepared and well read (but those schools also had the lowest class sizes each year). A couple schools were also clearly lagging behind with many of their students being a step or two behind their peers (also, probably not coincidentally, the schools with 100+ class sizes). There were amazing students from every school, though. Every school had its few duds also. We would never exclude anyone with a decent rank/gpa simply based on schools. Pod school might have *at best* been a tiebreak for popular clerk months (ie, school X and school Y student are both middle of class and wanted August... pick school that has produced better clerks on avg). There are no always/never rules, as was said. The schools just give the basics: basic science, student clinics, clinical guidance, etc. The reading, work ethic, and teamwork is up to the individuals.
Now, I'm more at the hospital/group level, and school doesn't matter at all... residency/boards is much more telling. Still, you might have the occasional goofball from Inova or the occasional rock star from VA-Seattle or something. Again, there are exceptions to every rule.
...So yeah, I'd agree to go wherever you can minimize debt: lowest tuition + living cost... minus scholarship(s) and other income (TA, asst prof, etc job). All of the schools give adequate foundations. Some are better on basic science, some have busier clinics, some might have better potential mentor DPMs... but you're going to have to make up for some gaps regardless. It's just like residencies: some have more elective, some more trauma, some more academics, some have great mentors... none are perfect and you are always going to have to put in the work yourself to maximize results. Residency is well worth going wherever you need to get good training, though... cost of living or residency salary should not be a factor at all.