less bumpy route to medical school (Austin, El Paso: schools, colleges, cost)

[Bloomfielding]

Everyone says that what matters most is student's hard work, GPA, MCAT and resume, and colleges doesn't matter. On other hand people suggest that certain schools have highest med school acceptance rates. What advantage one would have by going to Austin College or Baylor vs going to UTD or UT Austin vs going to UNT or Collin College?

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by Bloomfielding

Everyone says that what matters most is student's hard work, GPA, MCAT and resume, and colleges doesn't matter. On other hand people suggest that certain schools have highest med school acceptance rates. What advantage one would have by going to Austin College or Baylor vs going to UTD or UT Austin vs going to UNT or Collin College?

Assuming the person in question wants to be a first year eligible MS-1 (to begin medical school the fall after college graduation)............
There is a high degree of interdependency among the attributes you mentioned. For a good shot at any of the Texas allopathic medical schools hard work, a 3.80 or better GPA an MCAT of 32 or better and lots of volunteer and leadership factoids on the resume' are more or less mandatory. Sure every year Texas Tech Medical El Paso will accept someone with a 3.10 GPA and a 28 MCAT but that person, on balance, is older with useful life experience like a tenured RN or a firefighter/EMS type. There are different average standards for different races of people as well - that really sucks but it's true.

Kids starting out at JUCOs or lower quality 4-years colleges are going to be at a disadvantage. No one can argue with a straight face that the first 4 bio. classes, first 3 chemistry classes, first 2 physics classes and the first 2 calculus + 1 statistics classes are not more rigorous at UT, TAMU, Baylor, TT or Rice etc. than at Collin College and East Texas Baptist U. etc.

[SmartPinkRose]

Originally Posted by EDS_

There are different average standards for different races of people as well - that really sucks but it's true..

There are different average standards for LEGACIES as well- that REALLY sucks but it's true.

There, I fixed it for ya'

PS- Children of Doctors/Scientists have it better than ANYONE in admissions process.

[SmartPinkRose]

OP, attend the cheapest college you can since med school can cost up to a half-milli.

[mSooner]

OP, attend the cheapest college you can since med school can cost up to a half-milli.

Amen, although the Jr. Co poster has a point. Still...

and if you are a Texas resident, apply like hell to every school within Texas...very cheap tuition on the whole

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by SmartPinkRose

There are different average standards for LEGACIES as well- that REALLY sucks but it's true.

There, I fixed it for ya'

PS- Children of Doctors/Scientists have it better than ANYONE in admissions process.

1. Don't ever "fix" anything for me, please.

2. Below is the AAMC gathered whites v. Asian v. black v. Latino v. American Indian etc. MCAT and GPA data. Can you post anything that backs up your claim? I'm betting you can't.



https://www.aamc.org/data/facts/appl...ethnicity.html

[Big G]

Originally Posted by Bloomfielding

Everyone says that what matters most is student's hard work, GPA, MCAT and resume, and colleges doesn't matter. On other hand people suggest that certain schools have highest med school acceptance rates. What advantage one would have by going to Austin College or Baylor vs going to UTD or UT Austin vs going to UNT or Collin College?

I went to an "Austin College"-like school (in another state) for undergrad, and saw plenty of my classmates have med school success.

The three biggest advantages to going somewhere like Austin College is that 1) you won't get "lost in the shuffle" of a big school (if you're struggling in a particular class, the prof is far more interested in making sure you get through than he/she would be at a place like UT or OU), 2) leadership and TA/RA-style possibilities are generally easier to come by at a small school (no grad students to compete with), and 3) since you usually end up with the same teachers for multiple classes (and even if you don't, the profs all know each other well), getting decent rec letters is easier.

[platon20]

Originally Posted by Bloomfielding

Everyone says that what matters most is student's hard work, GPA, MCAT and resume, and colleges doesn't matter. On other hand people suggest that certain schools have highest med school acceptance rates. What advantage one would have by going to Austin College or Baylor vs going to UTD or UT Austin vs going to UNT or Collin College?

First off, you should get good advice from people who have actually been through the process, not 2nd hand info. That includes your premed advisors in college, who are always PhD types who have never even applied, much less gotten accepted, into med school. Those premed advisors are a joke and should not be trusted.

I attended a top 5 medical school and was on the admissions committee during my tenure there.

For the most part, where you went to college doesn't matter.

The people who get accepted to our med school from Harvard undergrad would have gotten accepted here even if they went to a lesser tier college. It is the student who determines his/her destiny, not the college.

I recommend you go to college where you can get the best financial aid package.

[platon20]

Originally Posted by Big G

I went to an "Austin College"-like school (in another state) for undergrad, and saw plenty of my classmates have med school success.

The three biggest advantages to going somewhere like Austin College is that 1) you won't get "lost in the shuffle" of a big school (if you're struggling in a particular class, the prof is far more interested in making sure you get through than he/she would be at a place like UT or OU), 2) leadership and TA/RA-style possibilities are generally easier to come by at a small school (no grad students to compete with), and 3) since you usually end up with the same teachers for multiple classes (and even if you don't, the profs all know each other well), getting decent rec letters is easier.

Agree with this part 100%

Letters of rec are key to med school. Let's face it just about everybody who applies has good grades and decent MCATs. What really puts applicants apart is what the letters of rec say.

You are far more likely to get a valuable letter of rec with lots of personal info in it from a professor in a class of 20 students rather than a class of 500 students.

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

Originally Posted by SmartPinkRose

OP, attend the cheapest college you can since med school can cost up to a half-milli.

Not in Texas, and going to a school here should be the goal of most Texas residents who aspire to become doctors. It's relatively cheap to become a doctor in Texas.