checkamundo said:
I know both Columbia and UConn have a pass/fail system, but is there high pass or pass with honors as well? Are all 4 years the same grading scheme? Also, is there a class rank at either of the schools?
Thanks
Here's the scoop: uconn is only P/F, no honors, no class rank. Recommendation letters from individual faculty probably don't know what scores a student has on exams (except for the department that you are getting the letter from, example, if you are getting a pediatric letter they will probably know what your performance was in the peds dept., and they may or may not care what your scores were), but for the Dean's Letter, it's a different story. This can be a very subjective thing. So basically this means that the Dean's Letter is probably a combination of how well you really did coupled with the general impression you've made (how you were perceived by faculty/administration). The first 2 years are medical and dental science course work, and if you pass the exams then you move on. Years 3 and 4 have dental courses which you must pass, as well as clinical performance, which is largely subjective. At the end of 3rd year, a group of faculty/admin. meet and discuss each student, and that is what the grid portion of the Dean's Letter is comprised of (top 5%-outstanding, next 10%-above average, etc, in many different areas, such as tact, clinical judgment, demeanor/appearance etc.) The text portion will mention how well the student did in the medical sciences (year 1,2) and also mention the part 1 board score. For example, it may say that "John Doe's performance in the medical sciences was average for his class. This catagorization of average performance should be viewed in the context of his having achieved an average score of 94 on Part 1 of NDBE, a score which is two standard deviations above the national mean." The text portion may also state if you were above average in clinical skills or in the top half etc. So yes the program is P/F, but if you suck and still pass, your letter probably won't be stellar, but if you're well liked it will probably be spiced up, but there's no getting around the medical science catagorization (average, below average, above average, outstanding) or a board score. That being said the average student will get around a 90 on Part 1. So it's very possible to be at the bottom of the class and still be able to specialize if that's what you want to do. So, yeah, if you do well on exams you'll get a better letter, as Dr. T says. Also, if you apply to postdoctoral programs that are not part of PASS (some Endo, Perio and Prostho programs), the letter that is sent is only the text portion (not the ranking grid). If you apply to OMFS, Peds, GPR, AEGD, Ortho (most which participate in PASS/Match) then the text and ranking grid is sent.
