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Networking is important not only in the medicine-related career, but also in many other career paths. For somebody who does not believe in this, he will likely find out that the greatest achievement for his whole life is obtained when he is still at a school but keep going downhill from the day he leaves the schooling system. This is the reason why the “soft/people skills” that you get from ECs (sport activities also) are so important. And whether we like it or not, the connections through family or friends are important in landing your next job or opportunity too. For those who do not have these, they need to be thanksful that there are still such hard-number based merits like standardized tests, GPAs, and yes, the prestigious value of your school’s name (assuming that you can get in and your family can afford it – the latter is another source of the potential unfairness because the financial resources of every family are not equal.)</p>
<p>For most of the BS/ MD combined programs, it is not easy to get in. DS tried it while he was a high schooler (not very seriously endeaver at that time.) He even did not know where to start in order to build up his “medicine-related credential” (it is much much more than the stats) in order to have a decent chance!</p>