Do med school look at your undergraduate school?

[Guest DW2]

Do medical schools prefer that you study the same school your applying from or is any university/college valid to apply to medical school

thanks!

[Guest brandonite]

I don't think schools in Canada really care about what school you're from. All Canadian schools have very similar qualities of education, at the undergraduate level at least.

 

A subpar applicant from McGill is much less likely to get in than a great applicant from a no-name university.

 

Don't choose an undergrad program based on it's reputation med-school wise.

[Guest tina]

A lot of ppl tell me that med schools do not look at the undergrad school you go to... but does anyone who works with the admissions committee have any comments about this?

I am trying to decide whether to go to a small-sized "less-known" school (w/o med school) or go to a famous larger school such as Western or Mac? I like the idea of a small university community. But should I worry about my chances of getting in when I go to school which is not as well recognized as the other big one?

 

Does the undergrad university matter if I am applying to the US or out-of-province?

[Guest From Ottawa]

They really don't care where you did your undergrad. I would actually recommend you go to a smaller school. I think you will have a better chance to meet and actually talk to your professor which would end really helping you when you need those dreaded recommendations... Just wish I had taken this advice myself

[Guest brandonite]

I think you might actually be better off at a small school. You get a chance to build up a nice set of extracirriculars. For example, I've always been involved in student gov't, so now I'm ranking student on the University Senate, and I'm the president of one departmental club and on the executive of another. Those things are hard to do at a big university.

 

As to applying to US schools... It's probably more significant. But I interviewed at Duke two weeks ago, and I went to little 'ol Brandon University. I did get rejected without interview from Harvard and Yale, though. If you apply to US schools, name does matter, and Toronto and McGill are by far the two best known Canadian schools. But I really don't think that they care too much about that, so I'd still choose the small school because you get so many great opportunities to get involved, and those opportunities matter so much more than the name of your school.

 

Just my opinion, though.

[Guest BCgirl]

Small schools are really good for class size (my advanced organic class has 4 people in it!) and for getting to know professors. But, you also might find a lack of a variety of courses (eg: only 1 credit in biochem) compared to a larger school. So, both have their pros and cons... you'll just have to figure out which environment would suit you better.

 

Good luck!

[Guest a]

I second the statement about wanting to go where you'll stand out - a fantastic student from, say, nipissing or lakehead is going to have a way better chance than an average student at toronto.

 

And going to a school that, on average, has worse students makes it easier to stand out. Easier to get the best grades, easier to win awards, easier to get summer research, etc.

[Guest tina]

Does the Adcom convert your GPA depending on the diffiuclty of your undergraduate program or the university that you attended?

 

Also, how come only a few pre-meds are actually attending smaller schools? if it is easier to stand out overall at a smaller school, why aren't more people going there?

[Guest Ian Wong]

As a general rule I don't think adcoms take into account the difficulty of your undergraduate degree and "convert" your GPA based on how difficult it was to obtain. It would simply be way too unwieldy and subjective to be practical, especially when you think of how many universities and colleges are out there, and how many different degrees they all offer.

 

As for your second questions, who knows? Who knows why the smaller universities are smaller to begin with? It's all about figuring out what you want from your university education (ie. smaller class sizes, affordable tuition, a good variety of interesting courses, quality research opportunities, a good city life and cultural diversity, access to good recreational facilities, a chance to move away from Mom and Dad, whatever) and then finding the institution that gives you the best compromise.

 

Ian

UBC, Med 3

[Guest Liana]

There are different scales for different schools, although there's not a *huge* amount of variability. You can check out the GPA conversion scale used by Ontario schools at http://www.ouac.on.ca/omsas; other provinces use different scales, but the relative scale used for each individual school is roughly the same.

 

Most students don't go to smaller schools for a variety of reasons. They think you need to go to an esteemed school, particularly one with its own medical school, they want the bragging rights of a good school, etc etc. However, there IS a difference between going to a smaller school with a good science program, like Guelph or Mount Allison, VS going to a small school for the sake of going to a small school (not to pick on Brock here, but..). There's something to be said for standing out amongst your classmates, in terms of getting research positions and references. However, you also need to consider the quality of the program, and more importantly, the quality of your peers. Smaller schools that are known for being easy to get into CAN offer great programs, but they can also offer pretty lousy ones. You need to talk to professors and students from that program, and get them to sell you on that school. Generally, if any school offers an unusual program that is only offered at a few schools (eg, Brock offers a major in Neuroscience) you might be able to assume that it is trying to specialize in this area; whereas, if a smaller school that's generally known as a liberal arts school has a program in general Biology, you need to check it out first to make sure it isn't just a program being offered for the sake of offering it.

[Guest UWOMED2005]

As far as I know Canadian medical schools DON'T consider the school attended for admissions decisions. . . but it is possible the name of your school could impress the interview committee at interview time. I don't think that would make a great difference in the end.

 

I attended a really small school - King's College in Halifax. It's a small school (about 800 people) so it's extremely easy to get involved, get on the student union, be active in varsity sports, etc. BUT - it's also affiliated with Dalhousie - a rather large University with a medical school, interesting programs, no shortage of courses to choose from, first rate medical research labs and all the other amenities of a big school. It seemed to be an excellent balance between large and small schools.