<p>I’m not entirely sure where you came up with the idea that going to a state school means you will be more likely to get higher grades and going to an elite school means you will be more likely to get lower grades. You should keep in mind that while the “average Joe” student at a state school may not represent much academic competition for someone as dedicated to school as I’m sure you plan to be, the “average Joe” student is not your competition. You will be competing with the best and brightest students regardless of where you choose to go because they are the ones who will choose the same classes you do. So I disagree with you that the dichotomy you suggest is even true. In fact, I challenge you to provide meaningful evidence that your claim of “it’s obviously harder at more rigorous schools” to get a 4.0, and I also challenge you to support the claim that those schools you listed are indeed more rigorous.</p>
<p>Of course it is important to get good grades and earn high test scores as those numbers are important to med school admissions. However, like previous posters have mentioned, those remain a small piece of the overall portfolio that you will build to convince med schools to accept you. It is dangerous to assume that a lackluster GPA can be made up for by attending a prestigious school or selecting a notoriously challenging major or multiple majors. Your best bet, as stated multiple times in the threads you claim to be out of date, is to select a school and a course of study that are a nice fit for you. It’s nearly impossible for a bunch of internet strangers to provide meaningful advice about which school you should attend because none of us knows you personally. The general themes of selecting a school for undergrad apply to everyone though. The most important factor, in my opinion, is cost, because med school debt is crippling.</p>
<p>Check out this post, full of sound advice, about selecting a school: <a href=“Bluedevilmike's Ten Step Guide to Picking a PreMed School - Pre-Med Topics - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1122176-bluedevilmikes-ten-step-guide-to-picking-a-premed-school.html</a></p>