<p>Does where you got your undergraduate degree play any factor in admissions to graduate schools? I want to go to medical school afterwards and I’ve recently found great scholarships to LSU, and I know it isn’t the best school in the world. Will going to this school affect my chances of getting into a top medical school?</p>
<p>guaranteed the Harvard Med, Columbia Med, JHU, or Wash U do not take people from LSU. maybe once every 4-5 years.</p>
<p>I read somewhere that the average GPA of incoming students to Harvard Med was like 3.8 along with good scores on the MCAT. Even if I hit a 4.0 all the way through, and stellar MCAT scores, still pretty much no chance?</p>
<p>I would look onto some top med schools that you would be interested in admissions websites. some have a list of the universities that the students went to for undergrad. you’d be surprised.</p>
<p>I just don’t want to put myself into a one in a million position. LSU is a great merit opportunity though, free tuition and no non-resident fees for a 3.0 and a 30+ ACT. It’s hard to pass an opportunity like that down, but I might have to if it cuts me out of top medical program opportunities.</p>
<p>You absolutely do not have to go to a top “Pre-Med” undergrad school. Skilled is quite wrong- graduate schools could care less about where you came from. There’s no admissions difference between a pre-med undergrad from Harvard and one from LSU. All that really matters is getting a good GPA and a good MCAT score. It would be beneficial if you went to LSU- no debt leading into expensive medical schools, and you would be able to breeze through with an excellent GPA! Take that LSU offer or a similar free-ride offer from another school.</p>
<p>That is a wonderful scholarship opportunity at LSU…The main thing is what you do while you are there. A school like Harvard will find out that you went there on a full ride and will be far more interested in knowing you did well while you were there and also scored well on your MCAT. There are many great students from lower ranked undergraduate programs that get into the best med schools every year. Keep your GPA up and work your bottom off and you will do great things. Good luck!</p>
<p>You will have tons of opportunities if you go to LSU and succeed there. Very few students who want to be doctors in HS end up applying to med school so don’t base your decision upon that; at the same time, you can easily go to a great med school after LSU.</p>
<p>Harvard’s current med school has students from over 50 undergraduate colleges (not to mention there are tons of great med schools aside from Harvard). Their website reads:</p>
<p>What undergraduate institution should I attend? Do Ivy League students have an advantage over other students? </p>
<p>Harvard Medical School is looking for people with broad interests and talents, not for students from particular academic institutions. Attend an undergraduate college that will challenge you both academically and personally</p>
<p>I guess it depends only on yourself. Of course that there will be more accepted from the elite schools, but it is because they have elite students. If you ar ejust as good as them, it doesnt matter very much where did you get your undergrad degree.</p>
<p>My niece went on a full ride to a good state Uni. Upon graduation, she wanted to go to law school. She was accepted to that state uni with another full ride. Also to another state’s school with some scholarship money. And to Columbia but at full fare (she chose Columbia…BECAUSE she could now pay for it, having taken the full ride at undergrad).</p>
<p>HOWEVER…the story gets fuzzier there because, when she arrived at Columbia she was told REPEATEDLY that no one could believe she was admitted to Columbia from her state uni. So…? Were those students or professors? I’m guessing students. Did they REALLY know, or were they just all from elite undergrad schools? Hard to say.</p>
<p>My own D is in this same situation. Cheap to free at a good state Uni, so we’ll have SOME money for grad school. OR…go to a great school NOW, but then no money for grad school…where I hear there are very few scholarship.</p>
<p>One poster said that your having gone to LSU on a full ride, and doing well there would be a feather in your cap. I’m hoping that too. I assume that’s how my niece stood out. It’s a HUGE state Uni. One of THE biggest. Yet she attended on their most prestigious scholarship, and of course excelled at the top of a class of over 7000 students. THAT matters, surely. Whereas, at a “top” undergrad school…everyone is at another level and it’s harder to stand out, or be the cream of that crop. Keep that in mind.</p>
<p>if you’re really set on med school, take the full ride to LSU. grad schools care about gpa, not where you went to undergrad. therefore, if you could get a 4.0 at LSU but only a 3.6 at Columbia, you’re better off going to LSU.</p>
<p>^Excellent point choklitrain!</p>
<p>And, don’t forget the MCAT score is really, really important too.</p>
<p>I was wondering the same thing as the OP. I was recently accepted to a very prestigious LAC but the tuition is hefty, and we got no FA there. My parents will have to take out a huge loan just to make the EFC and since I plan to go to grad school, I will have to take out loans to pay for that too. </p>
<p>The brand name sounds good, but is the heavy cost of a prestigious undergrad worth it? From most of the responses here, I guess no…?</p>
<p>Although, the state school I was accepted to, is still pretty expensive, averaging about 25k each year.</p>
<p>Is your undergraduate experience merely a matter of compiling pre-med credentials or do you hope to grow as a person and be stimulated and inspired by peers who do remarkable things? Undergrad is really that important for people seeking four years of life-changing personal development and educational experiences; not so much for those seeking only credentialing or pre-professional training for an entry-level job.</p>
<p>i kind of have mixed feelings about this. it seems like getting a great GPA at a cheaper state school while still being able to get into an elite grad school is perfectly reasonable, but if this is true, then why would anyone bother going to an expensive/elite private school for undergrad at all?</p>
<p>msheard, I’m wondering exactly the same thing. There are no drastic pay-raises if one does undergrad from an expensive private university/college vs. a public uni. In the end, people do seem to get wherever they want to go, regardless of where they did undergrad…</p>
<p>I guess it’s a question of having the Dream School on a resume and having the personal satisfaction of being in a prestigious institution…or saving mucho $$.</p>
<p>…let me add this to my earlier story, to see if it helps you decide. My neice planned on being an attorney all her young life. Graduated Columbia. Got a job in a law firm immediately, passed the bar, worked 1 year…</p>
<p>…and never worked in law again.</p>
<p>Everyone is different. But most change their major at least once if not twice…and many do not work in the field of their major (though I’m sure that’s FAR less true of someone who went beyond undergrad…specifically into professional career training). But…NOW was even this grad school cost worth it?</p>
<p>I argue with those who say that the education is not just about their career, it’s about a wonderful experience, etc. Of COURSE it is, in an ideal world. But YOU decide what to make of your college life. There are limits. And they’re BIG. You might not be exposed to fabulous lecturers at a lesser known college, you will not make the great contacts (and that’s VERY important in the real world!). But it’s NOT just about what feels good. It’s about the education you get. And you WILL get more at a more elite college…most believe. So it all comes down to “value”. What you get, for what you pay. And THAT decimal point is in a different place for everyone. Depends on how much you start with. Depends on how much life / debt experience you have. Depends on how you want to spend the next 10 plus years (in crippling debt or free as a bird).</p>
<p>Chances of getting into a top medical school is not the same question as chances into any medical school. Why don’t you check to LSU career center web site and other elite schools’. You can compare their data where their graduates went.</p>
<p>You can make contacts at grad school, too, right? And yes, you’re probably going to get a slightly better education (how much better I can’t say considering TAs usually teach undergrad students).</p>
<p>The name of your undergrad has a negligible effect on medical school admission. Don’t try to use that as a factor in deciding where to go.
Not everybody’s thinking about how the name of the school will affect them years down the line, or how it will affect their pay. Have you heard of the Harvard study showing that it’s not the school, but the person that matters? (students who went to top schools and students who were admitted to top schools but turned them down were equally successful years later).If, say, Yale, is a great fit for you and you’d enjoy going there for 4 years, the price tag may be worth every penny. Similarly, if a local state school is a great fit for you and you’d enjoy going there for 4 years, that’s the way to go. I’m quoting gadad to reiterate the point: it’s about where you’ll have the best experience.
</p>
<p>Regarding this:
What makes you think you’ll get a “better education”? Organic chemistry is the same no matter where you take it. Big name undergrads do have advantages; in certain fields, the brand name can help get your foot in the door. They tend to have a lot of resources and support available for students. Students have a lot of opportunities. And these schools bring in a lot of research money and tend to have experts in the field. But when you go to class (especially science classes), you learn the same things regardless of the school you go to.</p>