<p>what undergraduate insitutions do students that matriculate at harvard med go to?</p>
<p>the plurality come from harvard undergrad. They usually constitute about 20% of the class. Yale has the second most and the rest are spread around the country, ivy dominated. Princeton, oddly enough, was not well represented at least a few years ago, but things might change with the mercurial nature of med school admissions. Its a real crapshoot, and honestly, not worth the worry right now (assuming you are in high school). Its best for you to find the college that fits you best as you’ll have no shot of doing well and getting into a good med school if you aren’t happy and satisfied with your college experience. All ivy’s and faux ivy’s are feeders for the top medical schools, so you have alot of choices. Its more up to your own abilities, namely how well you do on the MCAT (which is now being offered on computer and more than twice a year) and your GPA.</p>
<p>so if you dont attend an ivy for undergraduate your chances of getting into a top med school are much less?</p>
<p>The top schools are the best feeders, in part because of the name, but mostly because of the caliber of students. I personally believe that medical school admissions are so incredibly fickle (i.e. getting into JHU and getting rejected from UMDNJ) that it eventually comes down to your innate ability. If you do well and are goal directed (DO RESEARCH) and know you want to go to medical school, you should be able to get into a top medical (1 in the top 15) no matter where you go. That said, you should still aim for the top in terms of college, just if you have a few choices, its more important to pick a school at which you will thrive and do well. The last parameter for choosing a college should be what percentage of HMS went to that college.</p>
<p>If you want to go to Harvard med, go the the best school with the least grade deflation. That means go to HYPS, Duke, Dartmouth, Penn, Brown, Williams, or Amherst. Get a top GPA and work directly with a professor and write a thesis in addition to research. Get a great MCAT score. Then you have a shot. Med school admissions is a game too.</p>
<p>Thanks slipper1234 but my grades dont permit me to attend any of those schools right now. Would you suggest I go to any school and then transfer into one of those?</p>
<p>No, go to a good college, get an education, do well in your courses. If you still want to go to medical school, then apply to a range of schools. If you have the qualifications for Harvard, great. Remember, just like undergrad admissions, the vast majority of people who are qualified for admission to HMS are rejected. Everyone who graduates medical school is a doctor. If you have been told not to let getting into Harvard dominate your high school career, PLEASE do not let getting into HMS dominate your college career. It is far too unpredictable, and far too unimportant. </p>
<p>There are lots of great medical schools, and no bad ones. Do not fixate on Harvard. I would say the same about any other med school.</p>
<p>By research, do you mean scientific research, or let’s say, you’re going to major in a humanities field and writing a health-related thesis?</p>
<p>I meant science/medical research - but public health/policy research is also fine. Your senior thesis doesn’t really count since that’s required of everyone. I was more talking about something outside of the requirement, like summer research. Now, if you publish your thesis in a medical journal, that’s another thing… Try to show initiative and inquisitiveness in medicine by going the extra step and doing science research even if you are an english major (you had to take pre-med so you won’t be that lost). The top medical schools are all research oriented and they are looking for students who will pursue academic medicine. It would only do you well to show them that you are in that bunch, that you are interested in doing research.</p>