Medical School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One thing frequently parroted is wherever you can get the highest gpa and costs the least. Solid advice. However, everyone seems to ignore that fact that while gpa is very important, there is a huge disparity between average MCAT at an Ivy/elite and other schools. So, the 4.0 or 3.9 may also coincide with a 522 and a 502.

Students admitted to elite schools are more likely to have a demonstrated ability to score high on standardized tests than those at less elite schools, and the MCAT is a standardized test. If the student admitted to the elite school attended a less elite college, it probably would not alter their MCAT score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Highest med school placements
1. Harvard
2. Johns Hopkins
3. Duke
4. UPenn
5. Stanford
6. WashU
7. Rice
8. Northwestern
9. Brown
10. UNC Chapel Hill

Where is this data from? I doubt that UNC is that high if all schools are considered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It doesn’t matter for vast majority of kids. Just echoing in its what they do in undergrad that will get them into med school, not where they went. And also to add, where you go to med school doesn’t matter either. It’s only if you want to be in academia or research that this would make a difference. If your kid’s goal is to be a practicing physician, it truly doesn’t matter. I’m married to a physician and we cumulatively have many physician friends in various states, in various surgical specialities. All make a great living and went to second and third tier med schools. One of the highest paid went to med school in the Caribbean. You do not need to go to a top 20 school in order to get into a med school and you do not need to go to a top medial school in order to be an extremely successful and well compensated physician.

caribbean? yikes. i always check where mds go to med school and residency.

Are you the shrew from the other thread with the fat daughter? Quit worrying about medical school pedigree and get her on Ozempic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Highest med school placements
1. Harvard
2. Johns Hopkins
3. Duke
4. UPenn
5. Stanford
6. WashU
7. Rice
8. Northwestern
9. Brown
10. UNC Chapel Hill

So many of these schools weed out all but 10% of the "pre meds."

It'd not like you matriculate there and go to medical school 4 yrs later.

I assume all the state schools and all ivies weed out, but how does one know if a liberal arts school weeds out or not?

I think Ivies do comparatively little to weed out. They have among the highest average GPAs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Highest med school placements
1. Harvard
2. Johns Hopkins
3. Duke
4. UPenn
5. Stanford
6. WashU
7. Rice
8. Northwestern
9. Brown
10. UNC Chapel Hill

So many of these schools weed out all but 10% of the "pre meds."

It'd not like you matriculate there and go to medical school 4 yrs later.

I assume all the state schools and all ivies weed out, but how does one know if a liberal arts school weeds out or not?

I think Ivies do comparatively little to weed out. They have among the highest average GPAs.

Good luck attending Cornell with that mindset.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing frequently parroted is wherever you can get the highest gpa and costs the least. Solid advice. However, everyone seems to ignore that fact that while gpa is very important, there is a huge disparity between average MCAT at an Ivy/elite and other schools. So, the 4.0 or 3.9 may also coincide with a 522 and a 502.

Students admitted to elite schools are more likely to have a demonstrated ability to score high on standardized tests than those at less elite schools, and the MCAT is a standardized test. If the student admitted to the elite school attended a less elite college, it probably would not alter their MCAT score.

Yes, this. If a kid got into MIT and instead attended Alabama, their MCAT score will be high. It's not the school, it's the individual potential. I'm the second Ivy mom (not the obnoxious one ) and TBH, there's not a huge variation in the orgo or bio material between schools. At the top schools, the competition will be fierce because the kids are in general smarter. I also do not agree that it's easy to get an A at the Ivy, there's very little grade inflation in the core science classes and some do not grade on the curve at all. Some professors are so egotistical and enjoy destroying the kids' chances to go to med school. Mine did well in orgo because my mom has a PhD in chemistry and she helped them a lot; the teaching was not fabulous.
A ton of kids take a gap year, even those with great grades and high scores. They get the recommended hours, do research, and enjoy a little break before the hard years.

[Anonymous]

Harvard's decision to not dole out A's easily will hurt those doing premed there if they do not get A's. Harvard is putting a cap on A's.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2026/02/09/harvard-university-proposes-a-20-cap-on-as-to-fight-grade-inflation/

[Anonymous]

OP, There is no best route to med school. It is combination of various factors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It doesn’t matter for vast majority of kids. Just echoing in its what they do in undergrad that will get them into med school, not where they went. And also to add, where you go to med school doesn’t matter either. It’s only if you want to be in academia or research that this would make a difference. If your kid’s goal is to be a practicing physician, it truly doesn’t matter. I’m married to a physician and we cumulatively have many physician friends in various states, in various surgical specialities. All make a great living and went to second and third tier med schools. One of the highest paid went to med school in the Caribbean. You do not need to go to a top 20 school in order to get into a med school and you do not need to go to a top medial school in order to be an extremely successful and well compensated physician.

caribbean? yikes. i always check where mds go to med school and residency.

Are you the shrew from the other thread with the fat daughter? Quit worrying about medical school pedigree and get her on Ozempic.

DP but the Caribbean schools are notorious lax and under-performing and usually a last resort for any US med prospective med student. I'm sure there's some random anecdotes of people who made it from there, but they are a huge $$$$ grab.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing frequently parroted is wherever you can get the highest gpa and costs the least. Solid advice. However, everyone seems to ignore that fact that while gpa is very important, there is a huge disparity between average MCAT at an Ivy/elite and other schools. So, the 4.0 or 3.9 may also coincide with a 522 and a 502.

Students admitted to elite schools are more likely to have a demonstrated ability to score high on standardized tests than those at less elite schools, and the MCAT is a standardized test. If the student admitted to the elite school attended a less elite college, it probably would not alter their MCAT score.

Yes, this. If a kid got into MIT and instead attended Alabama, their MCAT score will be high. It's not the school, it's the individual potential. I'm the second Ivy mom (not the obnoxious one ) and TBH, there's not a huge variation in the orgo or bio material between schools. At the top schools, the competition will be fierce because the kids are in general smarter. I also do not agree that it's easy to get an A at the Ivy, there's very little grade inflation in the core science classes and some do not grade on the curve at all. Some professors are so egotistical and enjoy destroying the kids' chances to go to med school. Mine did well in orgo because my mom has a PhD in chemistry and she helped them a lot; the teaching was not fabulous.
A ton of kids take a gap year, even those with great grades and high scores. They get the recommended hours, do research, and enjoy a little break before the hard years.

Well, hundreds of kids at Alabama are NMSs and good test takers. In McCullough (the pre-med society) the median MCAT is a 520. So far this year they have graduating seniors going to Stanford, two going to NYU, Baylor, Emory, UCSF, Pitt, UT, UVA and other top schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Highest med school placements
1. Harvard
2. Johns Hopkins
3. Duke
4. UPenn
5. Stanford
6. WashU
7. Rice
8. Northwestern
9. Brown
10. UNC Chapel Hill

Where is this data from? I doubt that UNC is that high if all schools are considered.

This site, which was posted previously, placed UNC 71st nationally:

From Pre-Med to MD: Understanding the Pathways to Medical School - College Transitions https://share.google/qCKemw4tQwUokA8i4

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Highest med school placements
1. Harvard
2. Johns Hopkins
3. Duke
4. UPenn
5. Stanford
6. WashU
7. Rice
8. Northwestern
9. Brown
10. UNC Chapel Hill

So many of these schools weed out all but 10% of the "pre meds."

It'd not like you matriculate there and go to medical school 4 yrs later.

I assume all the state schools and all ivies weed out, but how does one know if a liberal arts school weeds out or not?

I think Ivies do comparatively little to weed out. They have among the highest average GPAs.

Good luck attending Cornell with that mindset.

Some folks here don’t accept that Cornell is part of Ivy League.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Highest med school placements
1. Harvard
2. Johns Hopkins
3. Duke
4. UPenn
5. Stanford
6. WashU
7. Rice
8. Northwestern
9. Brown
10. UNC Chapel Hill

Where is this data from? I doubt that UNC is that high if all schools are considered.

https://www.medschoolcoach.com/best-premed-schools/

[Anonymous]

Per latest AAMC stats for US MD accepted students:

Breakdown of Gap Year Usage (Recent Data Trends):

Gap Years (One or More): ~74% of matriculants.
No Gap Year (Straight Through): ~26-29% of matriculants.
Common Lengths: Many students take 1–2 years (often for work or research), but others take 3–4 (13.4%) or 5+ years (7.9%).

https://www.emorywheel.com/article/2024/02/medical-school-gap-year-rates-continue-to-rise-at-emory-nationally

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Highest med school placements
1. Harvard
2. Johns Hopkins
3. Duke
4. UPenn
5. Stanford
6. WashU
7. Rice
8. Northwestern
9. Brown
10. UNC Chapel Hill

Where is this data from? I doubt that UNC is that high if all schools are considered.

https://www.medschoolcoach.com/best-premed-schools/

Sites with soft criteria will vary widely from each other. For example, Bates, Bowdoin, Brown, Duke, Hamilton, JHU, Princeton, Rice, Stanford and Union are this group's top picks:

A Guide to The Best Colleges for Pre-Med Students - InGenius Prep https://share.google/ZeGf5L170ZJC9U0Lj