romanigypsyeyes, I am not making a recommendation based on the prestige of the University of Michigan vs. Central Michigan. My recommendations are always based on the quality of the educational experience available at the two universities (well, practically always). There is essentially zero faculty movement between the University of Michigan and Central Michigan University. The only counter-example to this would be that perhaps sometimes the Central Michigan University faculty take a sabbatical at the University of Michigan. The courses delivered at the University of Michigan in my field are just substantially better than the courses at Central Michigan.
trackmbe3’s post #58 is an example of what is wrong with the current medical school admissions process: A student whose actual performance is at the same level is much more likely to have a high GPA at Central than at the University of Michigan (I think this is true). That yields a higher probability of admission to medical school, presumptively. But this is not necessarily so. I know of one student with a 3.95 from a less competitive college who did not get into any medical school that offers an MD.
A student does not need to have family connections to participate in medically related research at the University of Michigan. Family connections and wealth are being over-valued by trackmbe3. While tutors can no doubt help, it is actually possible to do very well in classes at the University of Michigan without a tutor, by being reasonably intelligent and working hard. A student would need to be able to purchase the course books on time, and I know that can be a challenge for some students.