Does school attended matter to the committee?

Question: I have a quick question about one of the blog postings you made recently. In response to someone's question regarding how you filter through applicants, you said you "look at the PCAT score first, followed by the overall GPA, prereq GPA (particularly Orgo, Bio, and Calculus), and then the school the applicant attended."What do you necessarily mean by the school the applicant attended? Is a student that attended an Ivy League or other type ofprestigious school shown preference over one that went to a publicor community college?


Answer: Thanks for your question. I wouldn't say the committee universally gives extra credit for attending an "Ivy League" school, but it is undeniable that there is a diference between the level of education at Harvard and the local CC. The subjectivity and determining the "whole" application is one of the more difficult aspects of the process. While it is a factor, as I noted, there are several things that I personally look at before I get to the school attended.

We are frequently challenged by this question. Is a 3.0 at Harvard better/equal/worse than a 4.0 at a local CC? There is no right or wrong answer, which is why the rest of the application is so important. Have excellent LORs, better than average PCAT scores, some pharmacy experience and I think you'll do fine.

Best of luck.