I have two questions that hopefully someone can answer. How much weight does the quality of the undergraduat university pull when applying to medical school? I go to the University of Rochester w/ a GPA of 3.57, if I were to transfer to an Ivy league school for example like Cornell would this increase my chance of getting in? I personnaly think that UR is very good but this is more my fathers idea and I wanted to see what people say. Thanks
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Undergraduate School
- Thread starter maddog
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Many people will disagree with me, but I believe that the quality and reputation of your undergraduate institution means a lot, especially when it comes to interpreting that all-important GPA. A high GPA at URoch (which is a great school, by the way) is a heck of a lot better than a high GPA at some unknown school. Hopefuly, hwoever, your MCATs will back up your GPA.
Transferring to Cornell may put you on a slightly higher level, but coming from URoch won't make that much of a difference. I'd stay with URoch and just concentrate on maintaining a high GPA.
Tim of New York City.
Transferring to Cornell may put you on a slightly higher level, but coming from URoch won't make that much of a difference. I'd stay with URoch and just concentrate on maintaining a high GPA.
Tim of New York City.
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I pretty much agree w/Turtleboard. If you were at a much less competitive school, I'd say it would mean more to transfer to a more competitive school. However, UR is at least well respected. The other factor you'd need to consider--if you were to transfer to Cornell (or another more competitive school), would you be able to maintain a high GPA? After all, you'd be in a more competitive environment, so more likely your numbers (ie, GPA) would suffer somewhat. How this translates to admission--I don't know for certain.
All I can tell you is that the MCAT is a way for med schools to tell that a 4.0 at "Swamp Univ." doesn't mean as much as a 3.2 at "Stellar Univ."--most likely MCAT scores will give this away.
Just FYI, a friend of mine went to UR for undergrad and went to directly to Cornell for law school. (She's now out practicing.) Your dad means well, but you're the one who would have to do the extra work. If you don't go to med school, that's when the name of your undergrad might buy you more... Good luck to you.
All I can tell you is that the MCAT is a way for med schools to tell that a 4.0 at "Swamp Univ." doesn't mean as much as a 3.2 at "Stellar Univ."--most likely MCAT scores will give this away.
Just FYI, a friend of mine went to UR for undergrad and went to directly to Cornell for law school. (She's now out practicing.) Your dad means well, but you're the one who would have to do the extra work. If you don't go to med school, that's when the name of your undergrad might buy you more... Good luck to you.
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Just for the record...
I'm a Cornell student with a less than great GPA (3.3, with slightly extenuating circumstances). I had always heard that since _everyone_ knows how difficult Cornell is, med schools cut Cornell applicants some slack on the GPAs, as long as everything else was very strong.
However, one of my interviewers said that although he personally felt that the difficulty of the school should be taken into account, it wasn't. He told me flat out that they preferred a high GPA from "Swamp University" (he said something like that, actually
In any case, I (with my not-quite middling- high GPA) was wait-listed... but as I already have an acceptance, it's not a big deal.
Best of luck!
Paige
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What about a 4.0 from Gonzaga?
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Bobo, are you from Gonzaga College? For YEARS when I answer threads about what undegrad school to attend, I always compare Harvard and Gonzaga. And it wasn't until just a couple of months ago, on MEM, that somewhat with a gonzaga.edu address posted and I felt bad! Are you from Gonzaga?
Different schools will view different undergraduate colleges differently. If your undergraduate college happens to have a pretty good relationship (i.e., is considered a "feeder," then sometimes your GPA won't matter as much). Cornell is generally known nationwide as a heavily premed school. A good portion of my class is from Cornell, in fact, but all had GPAs higher than 3.3.
Tim of New York City.
Different schools will view different undergraduate colleges differently. If your undergraduate college happens to have a pretty good relationship (i.e., is considered a "feeder," then sometimes your GPA won't matter as much). Cornell is generally known nationwide as a heavily premed school. A good portion of my class is from Cornell, in fact, but all had GPAs higher than 3.3.
Tim of New York City.
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Tim,
No, I am not from Gonzaga. I don't even think I know where it is! I read your reply on MEM a while back and got a kick out of it - that's all.
No, I am not from Gonzaga. I don't even think I know where it is! I read your reply on MEM a while back and got a kick out of it - that's all.
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Maddog,
My experience was much like Naraku. I go to a decent school in Texas whose reputation stems more from partying than academics. I asked one of my interviewers point blank whether or not the reputation of the school mattered alot. In a word he said no. At least at this school percentage wise just as many people got in from small unknown school as did from the big famous schools. More people got in from UT because more people applied from UT. Of course more people were rejected from UT as well. Anyway that was my experience with it.
My experience was much like Naraku. I go to a decent school in Texas whose reputation stems more from partying than academics. I asked one of my interviewers point blank whether or not the reputation of the school mattered alot. In a word he said no. At least at this school percentage wise just as many people got in from small unknown school as did from the big famous schools. More people got in from UT because more people applied from UT. Of course more people were rejected from UT as well. Anyway that was my experience with it.
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