You can still go to medical or law school if your undergrad was not highly ranked

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my husband went to medical school at Hopkins from Delaware. Out of 100 kids in his class, there were about 80 undergrad institutions represented. His best friends went to Princeton, U of Oklahoma and St. Mary's College of Maryland.
In the end, they all got the same MD.
I was pre-med at a small no name liberal arts college. The school placed 90% of pre-meds into medical school.
The MCAT and doing very well wherever you are are what matters.

In some ways it can help to go to a small liberal arts college because the professors really know you and can write very detailed recommendations. That can help a lot for med school or grad school applications.

I went to big state U's. The only reason I had a single professor who knew me is because I helped with his research project -- but even that was limited interaction. My DD is going to U Mary Wash this fall. A completely different college experience than what I had. One of the things that the president has mentioned is how well their graduates do in getting into med schools -- because the professors actually know them when they write recs.

[Anonymous]

My friend’s kid just got into Med school. From FAU, which some might call a party school. That was she was a serious and good student there might stand out. She worked really hard and I’m happy for her!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was talking with my primary care doctor earlier this week during a visit. He graduated from Tufts medical school, which I knew, but I didn’t know his undergrad was Old Dominion Univ. ODU is a perfectly fine school but from a pure rankings standpoint is something this board with scoff at. My point of this post is a reminder that what you do in undergrad is far more important than where you go. Doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc come from all sorts of undergrad schools. Should be obvious but I think this bird often forgets.

It’s so weird that you (and this board) think this is a revelation. Just look at the undergrads of lawyers at the best law firms. They are largely not elite schools.

[Anonymous]

Also, the moon will rise tonight.

This is not news. Even when I went to a T3 law school in the late '80s there were students who came from undergrad schools you've never heard of. But most of my classmates were from Ivies, Ivy peers, top SLACs, and public Ivies. And I agree with the PP who noted that the students coming from the no-name schools did just fine. My school has an open admissions policy for law review, but Order of the Coif was not heavily tilted to any one category of undergrad institutions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was talking with my primary care doctor earlier this week during a visit. He graduated from Tufts medical school, which I knew, but I didn’t know his undergrad was Old Dominion Univ. ODU is a perfectly fine school but from a pure rankings standpoint is something this board with scoff at. My point of this post is a reminder that what you do in undergrad is far more important than where you go. Doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc come from all sorts of undergrad schools. Should be obvious but I think this bird often forgets.

It’s so weird that you (and this board) think this is a revelation. Just look at the undergrads of lawyers at the best law firms. They are largely not elite schools.

NP. There is the annoying feeder myth that comes up once every month or two in this forum, usually from high school students and sometimes from newer parents who do not have familiarity with these fields. There may also be confusion with the fact that prestige of the law school may carry great significance whereas undergrad carries virtually none.

[Anonymous]

I have written here before that--shocker--my child who went to UDC got into nine medical schools. (518 MCAT.)

Go Firebirds!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would guess it's more likely for med school because pre-reqs and MCATS are very objective data on which they can determine likely success in medical school. Law school is probably much more subjective and very much driven by prestige.

It is very driven by LSAT score.

I worked in law school ad missions for a while for a top fourteen. It’s driven by the LSAT, the GPA, but also the prestige level of the school. You absolutely need a higher gpa if you are coming from East boonf*$k State than you do if you are coming from, say, Amherst, Williams, Yale, Wesleyan, Vassar, etc.

Right, but this doesn't hold true for med school, because that field is generally smarter and less insecure and knows that the data-namely MCAT--reveals what they need to know about prospective students, not the prestige of the undergrad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would guess it's more likely for med school because pre-reqs and MCATS are very objective data on which they can determine likely success in medical school. Law school is probably much more subjective and very much driven by prestige.

It is very driven by LSAT score.

I worked in law school ad missions for a while for a top fourteen. It’s driven by the LSAT, the GPA, but also the prestige level of the school. You absolutely need a higher gpa if you are coming from East boonf*$k State than you do if you are coming from, say, Amherst, Williams, Yale, Wesleyan, Vassar, etc.

Right, but this doesn't hold true for med school, because that field is generally smarter and less insecure and knows that the data-namely MCAT--reveals what they need to know about prospective students, not the prestige of the undergrad.

Agreed. Med school admissions are not driven by undergrad prestige. AT ALL. As they shouldn't be.
If you can rock the MCAT, you can get in to Harvard or Hopkins from Northwest Central Southwest Arkansas State.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, the moon will rise tonight.

This is not news. Even when I went to a T3 law school in the late '80s there were students who came from undergrad schools you've never heard of. But most of my classmates were from Ivies, Ivy peers, top SLACs, and public Ivies. And I agree with the PP who noted that the students coming from the no-name schools did just fine. My school has an open admissions policy for law review, but Order of the Coif was not heavily tilted to any one category of undergrad institutions.

of the T3 then, only Yale had Order of the Coif and a very relaxed view of law review. The reason for the change since the late 80s is that now all the law schools are beholden to reporting the GPAs and LSATs to USNWR

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP, you just pointed out inadvertently that to get into a T14 you had to be the very top of your class from a lower ranked school. There are maybe 5 kids at one of those schools who will even be considered by a T14 for admission. But all A- students from Princeton will be given a break and let in so long as they have a decent LSAT score. If you want to go to law school and not kill yourself during undergrad to get into a T14, go to a top undergrad.

No. It truly doesn’t matter. If you went to increase your chances of getting in to a top law school, hope you are really good at logic games, or hope there is a way to really increase your score do that. A 178 will get you in to Harvard Las whether you went to Yale or Bob’s College of Knowledge for undergrad.

This is not true. You need to be no 1 or 2 in your undergrad class and have a 179 to get into Harvard. I receive the admissions stats every year. For the class of 2025, the median GPA at Harvard Law will be a 3.9 and a 178 LSAT. Plus it helps if you have a masters degree, went to Oxford for it, or was an Eagle Scout.

[Anonymous]

^^ the 50th median spread is 173 to 180. Seventh fifth percentile has a 3.96

[Anonymous]

I don't know anything about law, but I know medicine. OP's statement is misleading. If you go to a 3rd tier school because this is all you could do with a 1200 SAT, easy high school classes, and mediocre grades, you will not get into med school. If you go to Univ of DE as a valedictorian with 1550 SAT because your parents didn't want to pay for Yale, although you got into Yale, then you have a high probability to be admitted. Also do not look at the older generation for admissions. My FIL and my H are cardiologists and our DS1 is in med school. DC1 had to work 3 times harder than his dad to get admitted. My FIL waltzed into med school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know anything about law, but I know medicine. OP's statement is misleading. If you go to a 3rd tier school because this is all you could do with a 1200 SAT, easy high school classes, and mediocre grades, you will not get into med school. If you go to Univ of DE as a valedictorian with 1550 SAT because your parents didn't want to pay for Yale, although you got into Yale, then you have a high probability to be admitted. Also do not look at the older generation for admissions. My FIL and my H are cardiologists and our DS1 is in med school. DC1 had to work 3 times harder than his dad to get admitted. My FIL waltzed into med school.

I do not believe this true. My child mentioned above who got into nine med schools from UDC didn't even graduate from high school. Got a GED.

[Anonymous]

^^Adding child is white, not a URM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know anything about law, but I know medicine. OP's statement is misleading. If you go to a 3rd tier school because this is all you could do with a 1200 SAT, easy high school classes, and mediocre grades, you will not get into med school. If you go to Univ of DE as a valedictorian with 1550 SAT because your parents didn't want to pay for Yale, although you got into Yale, then you have a high probability to be admitted. Also do not look at the older generation for admissions. My FIL and my H are cardiologists and our DS1 is in med school. DC1 had to work 3 times harder than his dad to get admitted. My FIL waltzed into med school.

This is an important point, though I would not go so far as to say OP's post is misleading. Admission chances will depend on the individual's academic stats and not on the identity of their undergrad institution.