Reply to Top School vs. Best Fit. Is Prestige Worth Being in the Bottom Half?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP — it depends on the kid’s professional aspirations.

For medicine, go where you will do well. A 3.3 from Caltech will make it hard to get into medical school, which is absurd, but that’s the reality.

Tech, finance, consulting: prestige of school can carry a kid far, even if UG academic record is mediocre.[/quote]

100% agree. I’m on a med school faculty and have done some interviewing. Med schools want kids with mostly A’s. They prefer U Delaware 3.8 sociology major over Ivy 3.5 molecular biology/classics double major, which is ridiculous.[/quote]

I too have served on admissions, T5 med admissions, and now do consulting with a few other physicians who have served on T5-T40 med school committees. 
It is not that simple and you know it, if you really have been in the committee deliberation room and seen recent transcripts in this age of inflation.

While it is true a 3.8 UDel is generally better than a 3.5 ivy that is only because 3.5 is so far below the median at ivy, and the MCAT could be 510 for both students which is borderline, making the higher GPA a tipper. However, if the 3.8 UDel did not challenge themselves and take the the difficult upper level bios and other "recommended" courses, and had a bcpm(stem) gpa of 3.6, while 3.5 ivy kid had a great upward trend GPA, Bcpm GPA also 3.5, but upper level stem 3.9, and they of course took many difficult upper level stem with that major, the ivy kid would get in! Every single time. Taking the easy way around premed courses is a big NO.

The more common comparison that happens regularly:
3.8 Ivy or similar "Tier 1" undergrad will do much better in T25 med school admissions than a 3.9 UDel. The fact of the matter is the MCATs will not be close between these students: the 3.8 ivy will likely be between 515 and 520 and the 3.9 UDel is rarely going to be over 512. Just a fact. 
 [/quote]

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