Question: How important is the school where the prereq classes were taken? Someone I work with has almost a 4.0 from a subpar school, whereas I have a 3.3 or so from a pretty rigorous 4 year university and I had to work damn hard for my grades. I would hate to think that a committee wouldn't realize the differences between the schools and just look at the GPA which might hurt my chances.
Answer: In my opinion, this is the most difficult element when reviewing applications. It is virtually impossible for a committee to really have an idea of how rigorous a specific undergraduate programs really is. The "rank" of a school or program is one way for us to try and measure it obviously. I will admit that I have been a part of some pretty heated conflicts on this topic. I've seen committee members discount community colleges or lesser ranked institutions. I have seen lesser students from elite schools afforded some breaks as well. Those examples are rare, but they exist. Understand, committees are made up of human beings who have preferences and opinions and this is a very subjective matter. When I don't know how to compare schools, I look at the PCAT scores and LORs for a gauge of what kind of student the applicant is.
But the simplest (and least-PC) answer to your question is, that yes - in some cases it does matter where you completed your prereqs.
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