May 29, 2025
Written By
Michael Minh Le
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Are you panicking that your state school diploma won’t stack up against someone from the Ivy League? While prestige can play a role, it’s probably not in the way you think.
This article breaks down the much-dreaded question, “Does undergrad matter for med school?” You’ll get insight into exactly what medical schools value, from MCAT and GPA to clinical experience and your overall narrative. You’ll also learn how you can use your background to your advantage, no matter where you started.
At Premed Catalyst, we’ve helped students from all different build competitive applications that get them noticed. With personalized application advising and mentorship from med students who’ve done it themselves, we guide you through every step of the premed journey. And it works. Our 2024–2025 on-time applicants had a 100% acceptance rate.
If you’re serious about standing out regardless of your undergrad, book a free strategy session today.
When you're aiming for medical school, it's natural to wonder if the name on your undergraduate diploma will make or break your chances. The reality? It's not at the top of the list. Here's what AdComs actually prioritize broken down into three tiers.
These are the core stats. They’re the first filter, the initial "yes/no" that either pushes your app forward or ends it all right there. If you nail these three, you're in the conversation, no matter your alma mater.
Once you've passed the initial screen, AdComs start looking at your narrative (who you are, what drives you, and how your experiences align with the path to becoming a physician). These are the parts of your application that communicate this narrative:
Now we get to the part that med schools care about the least: undergrad prestige and your major.
Undergrad Prestige: Yes, coming from Harvard or Stanford might make a subtle impression. But it’s not the difference between acceptance and rejection. Plenty of successful applicants come from public schools, community colleges, and international programs.
Your Major: Biology is popular. So is chemistry. But you can major in art history or mechanical engineering and still be a top applicant. What matters is how you pursued your major. Did you challenge yourself, do well, and stay consistent?
So, if we haven’t made it clear this far: medical schools don’t admit you because you went to an Ivy. They admit you because you crushed it wherever you went.
Yes, Ivy League schools offer world-class resources, brand-name recognition, and access to top-tier labs. You might even sit in lecture halls with future Nobel laureates. But those perks don’t guarantee medical school acceptance.
In fact, your decision to attend a prestigious undergrad could backfire if you rely on the name alone. Ivy League environments are often intensely competitive, with harsh grading curves and limited room for error. Many students get so caught up surviving the academics that they fall behind on the very things med schools care about most: clinical experience, research, leadership, and service.
Take Taylor, a Princeton grad with a 3.8 GPA and a 511 MCAT. Strong numbers on paper but with minimal extracurriculars, Taylor only landed two interviews out of 34 med school applications and got zero acceptances. Princeton opened the door, but it couldn’t carry the whole app.
Now compare that to Jennifer, who went to a state school on a full ride. Same 3.8 GPA. Same 511 MCAT. But she also secured multiple research publications and built a well-rounded, experience-driven application. She was accepted to both Georgetown and Tufts.
Med schools know that state school students often have fewer built-in advantages. When someone stands out from a less “prestigious” background, it can actually say more about their grit, independence, and drive.
Being from a state school isn't necessarily a weakness. If anything, it’s a story that proves you know how to work for what you want.
When an AdCom looks at your app, they're not thinking, “Wow, this kid went to Yale.” They're thinking, “What did this student do with the hand they were dealt?” Did you take tough courses and do well? Did you seek out meaningful research, clinical experiences, and leadership opportunities? Did you show up for your community?
That’s what matters. That’s what gets you in.
While you’re not getting an automatic acceptance for going to an Ivy League school, prestige can still move the needle. The real question is how much and when?
A name like Princeton, Stanford, or MIT might set a certain expectation. But what comes next matters far more.
Context is everything. Did you have to work 30 hours a week at a state school while still pulling a 3.8? That can weigh just as heavily as an Ivy League name on your transcript. AdComs look at your story in full. They consider the rigor of your school, but they also ask: What resources did you have? What obstacles did you face? What did you do with the opportunities in front of you?
Prestige might spark interest, but context earns respect.
Prestige isn’t useless, but it’s also not universal. Here’s where it can give you an edge and where it simply doesn’t matter.
When it helps:
When it doesn’t:
Top med students come from everywhere.
From Ivies and community colleges. From urban commuter schools and rural state universities. From nontraditional paths, gap years, and career changes. The top med students aren’t defined by where they started. They’re defined by how they showed up, how they grew, and what they brought to the table.
And the numbers prove it.
Harvard Medical School’s recent incoming class came from 74 different undergraduate institutions, and most were not from Ivy League schools. Yale School of Medicine’s class included graduates from 55 colleges. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) reports that state schools like the University of Southern California (348 applicants), Louisiana State University (342), and the University of Arizona (340) are major feeders into med schools across the country.
It’s one of the most common misconceptions in premed circles: “You can’t get into med school from a liberal arts college.” That’s just plain false.
Liberal arts schools like Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona, and Williams consistently send students to top medical schools. Why? Because they offer small class sizes, close faculty mentorship, and often more flexibility to pursue meaningful research, leadership, and service work.
At many of these schools, premeds aren't competing against hundreds of peers for shadowing spots or lab positions. They're known by name and supported personally. And AdComs know that. They understand the academic rigor and the writing-heavy curriculums that often define these institutions. In fact, liberal arts grads frequently stand out for their communication skills and thoughtful personal statements, two things that matter deeply in med school admissions.
Whether you’re at an Ivy, a massive state school, or a tiny liberal arts college, the key to med school success isn’t where you are. It’s how you use it. Here’s how to make the most of any undergrad setting:
Too many premeds disqualify themselves before they even apply, thinking their undergrad will hold them back. Or if they aren’t worried about that, they’re worried about finding clinical experience, writing a compelling personal statement, and not freezing during interviews.
At Premed Catalyst, we’ve helped hundreds of students, from Ivy League grads to community college transfers, build applications that stand out. Our mentors are medical students who know what it takes because they’ve done it themselves, and now they help others do the same.
Whether you’re just starting or looking to apply in the next cycle, we’re here to guide you every step of the way. Book a free strategy session today.
