Thank you for all of your excellent comments and insights.
In my opinion I have read and had personal experiences with the issue of whether to attend a more prestigious undergrad before applying to med school.
I feel that med schools want to see two important things grades and MCAT scores.
If you score above a total GPA of 3.7 and above a science course GPA of 3.4 and an MCAT above 550 you should get into any med school you apply. The med schools do not really care about what undergrad you went to. They want to see the raw grade numbers.
On the Bryn Marw web site it says that students who score above 3.4 GPA in their science classes and get a 10 or higher in all sections of the MCAT have a 94% chance of getting into med school.
Thus, I agree with Creekland’s opinion that a student should go to a school where they are considered in the Top 25% of their class. This should assure them of making those grades and also acquiring the much needed confidence and self disipline it takes to be pre-med and get into med school.
If students have the same grades and scores and are applying to a prestigious med school , will the med school look at what undergrad the students went to?
Perhaps but it will also depend on how those students do in their interviews and the reseach and voluntering they did.
Another very important factor is financial . All prestigiuos colleges are out of reach for my family and many others. My family does not qualify for any need based aide. We also are not wealthy enough to spend 76k per year for a school that gives no merit aide. I have four kids so we have a budget that I can spend on them 40k each year for college. Anything over that and they will need to take out loans.
Its a real shame the prestigious colleges are shutting out a great group of smart kids because they fall into a certain income bracket but that’s the way the college game works today.
Thanks again for all of your comments and opinions. CC is an excellent site with a wealth of information.