<p>Please note my comment was about one med school which I know well and is an accurate statement. I suspect it is not true of others. Your GPA is part of the picture but there is so much grade inflation at colleges and universities a high GPA without a MCAT score to back it up is little help to students seeking admission. While the GPA and MCAT scores predict performance in the first two years of med school the interview, letters, essay, and EC’s do a better job at predicting performance in the 3rd and 4th clinical years and beyond. Med schools understand this and they are placing more weight on these areas of the application. .<br>
My state has about 50 colleges and universities. 75% of the med school admissions, at the main med school in my state, come from only 5 (10%) of these schools. The other 90% of in-state undergraduate schools send only 10% of the admissions (15% come from other out of universities). 30% of ivy grad school students come from other ivy schools and 75% come from top 50 universities. 25% of their students come from the other 3,700 colleges and universities. Coincidence, or does the undergrad school matter? If you want a job on wall street you should limit your search for UG schools to about 10-15 to improve your odds. If you want to go to med school you should limit your search of schools to about 300 or so of the 3,700 colleges and universities. Yes, you can get in from anywhere but it’s about putting the odds in your favor.<br>
That being said, there certainly are data that support grade inflation as being an advantage to students applying to med school and I think Vanderbilt needs to make sure it’s average GPA is on par with peer universities. Your odds improve if you select a well known school with grade inflation and avoid low GPA majors. Your odds are better as a below average student at Yale or Brown with a 3.6 than an above average student at Hopkins with a 3.35 GPA. Your odds of surviving the weed out classes are lower at a university full of brilliant students. Your odds of being able to stand out with a high GPA from a unknown non-rigorous university are lower. If you live between Washington DC and Boston or in IL, TX, CA your odds are better attending a top 50 university. If you live in a small state that does not send a lot of students to top universities your odds are better attending the one of the best schools in your state.</p>