CC and CUMC

MyBlsflHrt · 08-09-2009, 02:47 PM

Will going to Columbia College for undergrad put me at a disadvantage for getting into their medical school? Is it better to go to Barnard for undergrad instead as I will still have all the same opportunities as a Columbia student? I want to do Columbia's md-phd program.
Columbia University MD/PhD Program

Obviously, I will be doing lots of research during my undergrad years.

Shraf · 08-09-2009, 03:21 PM

there is no disadvantage to going to columbia undergrad. there is also no advantage.

if you get into columbia then go! your rationale for going to barnard instead is ridiculous.

MyBlsflHrt · 08-09-2009, 03:26 PM

But I heard that going to Columbia College would put you at a disadvantage as they are looking for "diversity" in their students and so they tend to not accept their own undergrads into the grad schools.

Shraf · 08-09-2009, 07:14 PM

did a professor or adcom from the med school tell you that? if not then i'm the most reliable source you've heard from so far.

MyBlsflHrt · 08-09-2009, 07:49 PM

See this thread: Is it easier to get into Columbia grad school if you go to columbia for undergrad?

Shraf · 08-09-2009, 08:47 PM

did u seriously just link me to a thread i posted in.....

i'm gonna go ahead and just copy paste my response from that thread

Quote:

Well lets first divide grad schools into law/med school and all other degrees and then lets further divide up all other degrees into masters and PhD programs.

for masters programs in practically anything, if you have a good GPA (~3.5) you are practically guaranteed acceptance....not sure how well this holds if you are like a bio major and apply for a philosophy masters....but its the case if you are applying to the same department or a school/department that is somewhat similar to your own.

PhD programs are significantly more competitive but if you are one of the top students in your department and/or have a very close relationship with a professor in your department that would certainly push you over the top and you are much more likely to be accepted than someone applying from another school.

As for law/med school (disclaimer: i know more about med school thank law school because i was friends with more premeds than prelaws...and also people tend to apply to med school right out of college more often than law school): i think the "theory" that its harder to get in if you went to columbia is exaggerated. First of all because if you went to columbia undergrad you are MUCH more likely to have columbia law/med school on your list of schools to apply to so they inevitably get alot of applicants from columbia. I personally know of 4 people from my year alone who went to columbia med school right out of undergrad....clearly this isn't counting those i dont know of and those who took yrs off before applying. If you think of it, there r 3000 colleges in the US and only 100-200 spots in each med school class so 4-6 from one school is pretty significant and of course thats not counting the ones who got in and didn't matriculate (probably because they went to a better school)

Bottom line though....you shouldnt go to columbia in the hopes of getting some sort of free ride to grad school and conversely you should certainly not go elsewhere thinking it'll put u at an advantage when applying to a columbia grad school...that's just ridiculous.

if your one and only source is another thread why would you bother posting a thread on the same board asking the same question??

MyBlsflHrt · 08-09-2009, 08:49 PM

I also looked at the admission statistics for Columbia Medical School and there weren't as many people who attended Columbia. Most came from Harvard. However, many there seemed to be many people who went to both Columbia College and Columbia Law School.

Skraylor · 08-10-2009, 07:34 PM

Quote:

I also looked at the admission statistics for Columbia Medical School and there weren't as many people who attended Columbia. Most came from Harvard. However, many there seemed to be many people who went to both Columbia College and Columbia Law School.

Can I call you Bill O? While you're not quite to his level of number massacring, if he taught an introductory math course, you'd be at the top of the class.

I kid, i kid...sorta.

I would be more than willing to bet that the statistics you are looking at don't give a by school application decision breakdown. So what only 3 people in the class went to Bumbletown University and 150 came from Harvard? If 4 people and 600 people applied from the respective schools....you see where I'm going with this.

Edit: forgot to include - if these statistics you are looking at does include those numbers, I'd call BS because schools dont release those kinds of things.

MyBlsflHrt · 08-10-2009, 07:44 PM

I took Calculus 2 at Lehigh University and got the best grade in the class, so you're right about that one, haha. However, I have taken Statistics before, so don't think that I didn't look at the COMPLETE data.