Does It Matter Which University You Get Your Msc From?

[Premed_Girl]

I'm finishing up my UG degree and have a choice to do a research based MSc at UofT, McGill or York prior to applying to medical school.

I know that UofT and McGill are more prestigious schools, and I really like all of the master programs that I have applied to. I know that for UG degree, medical schools generally don't care where you got your degree from. Is that the same case for a grad degree as well? Would it matter if I get my grad degree from York instead of say McGill?

 

Thanks! 

[ExercMed]

It doesn't matter where you get your grad degree from. However, some school, such as UofT, consider how productive you were during your MSc. For example, a graduate applicant with first author publications, conferences, and visible contributions to their field of study is going to be looked upon more favorably than a graduate applicant with nothing to show at the end of it. 
That being said, it is important to look at the lab/supervisor you will be doing your MSc with. Some labs are very collaborative and publish numerous papers a year while others may leave it up to you to do your own research individually. There is something also to be said about quality over quantity as well.
Either way, just make sure you have fun with it and enjoy the experience! You get out as much as you put into a graduate degree   

[Meridian]

The principle investigator, lab-mates, (and how well you can get along with them),  lab productivity, &  lab funding are more important than the school (in Canada).  The PI will be critical and make or break in your success over the +2 years you will invest in a Masters.   The reference letter the PI writes is key.

 

Do serious investigation before signing on with a PI. Talk to current students. Talk to students in nearby labs.  Ask how Masters students are treated.

 

If you are intending to apply to USA MD schools -- U of T / McGill are better approach for name recognition.

[Premed_Girl]

It doesn't matter where you get your grad degree from. However, some school, such as UofT, consider how productive you were during your MSc. For example, a graduate applicant with first author publications, conferences, and visible contributions to their field of study is going to be looked upon more favorably than a graduate applicant with nothing to show at the end of it. 

That being said, it is important to look at the lab/supervisor you will be doing your MSc with. Some labs are very collaborative and publish numerous papers a year while others may leave it up to you to do your own research individually. There is something also to be said about quality over quantity as well.

Either way, just make sure you have fun with it and enjoy the experience! You get out as much as you put into a graduate degree   

 

Thank you very much for your reply. The PI at York publishes a lot of papers, and she almost guaranteed me 2 publications during my masters, which is definitely a pro of this program. Would you say this is a better opportunity than say a MSc at UofT which will possibly lead to one publication (if any)? To clarify, the masters at York will be in epidemiology, whereas the one at UofT is in IMS, which is more of a long-term research. 

[Premed_Girl]

The principle investigator, lab-mates, (and how well you can get along with them),  lab productivity, &  lab funding are more important than the school (in Canada).  The PI will be critical and make or break in your success over the +2 years you will invest in a Masters.   The reference letter the PI writes is key.

 

Do serious investigation before signing on with a PI. Talk to current students. Talk to students in nearby labs.  Ask how Masters students are treated.

 

If you are intending to apply to USA MD schools -- U of T / McGill are better approach for name recognition.

 

I am trying really hard to increase my qualifications for Canadian med schools, however, due to my not so great first year GPA and an average MCAT score (which I will retake), I am not sure if I can limit myself to just Canadian schools and will most likely apply to US schools as well. I have heard that UofT and McGill are better known, however, I have a much greater chance in getting first author publications at York, and as well have a chance to TA which looks good on a resume as well. Would you think that despite all of these factors, if I do want to apply to US med schools, I should still pick the more prestigious schools?  

[ExercMed]

I think that Meridian makes a great point. How you function as a lab is extraordinarily important. Working in an environment that you enjoy is going to lead to far better experiences that you can talk about during an interview at both US and Canadian med schools. 
Additionally, I would check out the PI's h-index. I would argue that PI recognition could be equally or even more important than the name of the institution. 
This may also be over thinking things slightly. Admissions committees want to see that you are doing this because you are genuinely interested in the area of research, not just because you are trying to do whatever "looks best" to get into med school. 

[unkn0wnfutur3]

I think you'll achieve the best outcome if you consider both the publication capacity of the lab + your interest. Alot of labs at UofT are likely to have high publication capacity. Some of the worlds' top researcher reside there! However, that is more dependent on the lab/PI.  I'm sure some of the researchers at york are also very established and automate like a publication machine with all the collaborations.

Now, that sets the foundation for the *POTENTIAL* publications. Actual publications depends on your input, which then ultimately depends on your interest and effort you put in. Yes, york "guaranteed" you publications, but are you interested in epidemiology studies? Why waste 2 years of life like that (you're gonna hate yourself for like 2 years). I personally think that you'll have better outcome if you also goto a lab that you are truly interested in. 

 Also, at a really competitive level, they might even look at the published journal/institution you got your degree.

[adhominem]

I think we need to remember that the profs who will be looking at your CV when applying to medical schools that ask for one (i.e. Toronto) will know what to look for. For an MSc., the committee looking at graduate work are going to be assessing your productivity in your program, as well as your success in securing funding and presenting research. Your PI will matter, but mostly in terms of their supporting you to attend conferences and successfully procure funding and scholarships. In my opinion, the school will not factor into the decision much, if at all. 

When assessing productivity, these profs are going to be looking at how much you have published- both in terms of quantity and quality. Since your committee may not be experts in your given field, they will likely look at impact factor of the journals you publish in to give them an idea of how great your papers are. Yes, I realize impact factor isn't everything, but it is the tool many grad assessment committees use- for better or worse. Publications in poorer journals (Impact <2) are probably not going to carry nearly as much weight. The committee will likely also understand basic differences in fields, namely that bench work and epidemiology are vastly different. Epidemiology students SHOULD publish at least twice during their MSc., because data is pre-collected and your entire degree is more or less centered on paper writing. In contrast, bench work requires time consuming experiments and one solid publication in a 2 year span is indicative of an efficient student. These differences become evident when you look at faculty recruiting for an epidemiologist vs. basic scientist- you see a marked difference in the number of publications between the candidates. This is simply the nature of the work. Don't fool yourself into thinking epidemiology is a better option because you can publish more than you could with bench work, because profs know that is the case and will take that into account. 

You need to pick your graduate work based on your passion, not what will look better on a med school app. What do you want to spend 2-3 years of your life immersing yourself in? And as many of the people above have mentioned, you need to make sure the environment is going to ensure you are happy for those years.