<p>First off, the goal of choosing an undergrad institution should be which one is going to get you accepted…when more than 50% of applicants get rejected from every single medical school they apply to, whether or not you’re prepared for med school is beside the point. Besides, it’s really rare to fail out of medical school - most places require you fail the same year twice or fail USMLE Step 1 three times before they’ll kick you out.</p>
<p>How would I decide which school to go to?</p>
<p>I’d simply ask myself which one am I most excited about, which one feels “right”? It’s not just about academics, it’s not just about social scene, it’s not just about finances or location. It’s about the entire picture of where I’m going to be in the best frame of mind to do well.</p>
<p>Yes, getting accepted to medical school is a challenge. but if you’re counting on the school to do the leg work for you, or to give you some sort of innate advantage, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. All a school can do for you is present opportunities. It’s going to be up to you to actually make the most of these and then perform well. Nothing is going to be handed to you. It’s still going to be up to you to apply or make the phone calls or do the studying or lead the group or impress your PI.</p>
<p>The stuff that’s beyond the classroom is vitally important to getting accepted to medical school, a poor GPA or horrible MCAT score do the most damage to your application. If your in a situation where your GPA is bad, that might cause you to cut back on your EC’s, then your application becomes even weaker. It’s a downward spiral. Alternatively if your GPA is great but it requires you to study a ridiculous number of hours to get those grades, you’re still hurting your overall application and thus are beyond the 8-ball. Or what if you’re just not that competitive of person and so you can’t ever get into the organizations or garner leadership positions to build your resume against your classmates who have started clinics in the 3rd World, or won the Miss America Pageant or published a novel or some other amazing accomplishment? Again, it’s a holistic process and your application is weaker than it could be because you can’t compete.</p>
<p>The bottom line, getting into medical school is the biggest hurdle of becoming a doctor. The admission decision is not based purely on who is the smartest, has the best GPA or highest MCAT score. Nor is it about just having an amazing list of EC’s or making your interviewer think you’re the most fascinating person they’ve ever met…it’s about having the total package. You can be slightly below average in one of these things, but you’ve got to make up for it elsewhere. If one thing is missing completely…youre SOL. Because of all the demands that are made on pre-meds, you have to find a school that is going to fit you and allow you to meet those demands. Focusing too narrowly on one part of the puzzle, either in your own performance or (as you are doing right now) in what a school can help you with, is a surefire way to have an unbalanced application. Knowing yourself and how you perform best is the key to picking a great school.</p>