[quote=Essbee]You can get into medical school from either UC or Ivy schools. It can happen from CSU, but it is statistically much less likely. Is this because the students are on average weaker, or because there is prejudice against them, or a bit of each? I don’t know the answer to that.
I can only tell you my observation that I have not met a physician colleague who went to SDSU for undergrad. I’m sure they are out there, somewhere, but they are much fewer than Ivy/Stanford/UC/other private/etc.
Californians overall are at a disadvantage compared to other states because there are just too many college age people. Probably better to attend a midwestern state school and apply to med school there in that same state. Much higher chance of success, I’d wager.
If a California high school student asks me for advice about getting into med school, I will definitely advise Ivy/Stanford/UC OR a few other certain small, private schools with name recognition. This path will give them the greatest chance of getting into a US-based, allopathic (MD-granting) medical school, if this is their goal.[/quote]
Good post, Essbee. My daughter, and some of the other kids in our family who became MD’s pretty much found what you mentioned to be true.
Everyone can decide for themselves how they want to try to enter this super competitive field, as I’m sure there are other paths that work out well also.
As far as choosing MD’s and hospitals for personal healthcare, we definitely look at credentials as well as track record before seeking care, even if it means going out of town. There are definitely some places in San Diego that we would never seek care.
And, even though we seem to be in good health, with parents who lived long lives–we still go in for check-ups. Can’t tell you how many people we’ve known who felt well, so they really never saw an MD, then, when they suddenly didn’t feel so well, for whatever reason, they found things had been going on that didn’t present symptoms until it was too late. (consider this my PSA for regular check-ups)
