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- May 11, 2007
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Ok, so a lot of people have asked about the prestige factor of top-tier med schools and whether that is factored into residency placement. The general consensus, correct me if I'm wrong, seems to be that Step 1 scores, grades from clinical years, and AOA and class rank are important factors in the match, followed by grades from pre-clinical years, whereas extracurriculars, where you go to school, etc, are less important.
Does this mean that having a lower class rank will hurt you, even if it's at a better school? Obviously there is a difference between Harvard and Podunk Med that I am sure program directors take into account, but the distinction between, say, a top 20 and a top 70 school might not look like a huge difference to PD's but actually make a huge difference in where you'd stand in the class, AOA, etc. Would this make going to the lower ranked school preferable in terms of improving your luck in the match?
I may soon have to make a decision between a mid-tier public school (where I am OOS) and a top 15-20 private school. I'm wondering if what I assume will be a drop in my class rank if I go to the better (rankings-wise) school is going to hurt me in the match. Obviously, I'm disregarding factors such as cost, location, quality of life and happiness/fit at a given school, which I believe to be most important of course, but they are pretty much a wash in my case.
Does this mean that having a lower class rank will hurt you, even if it's at a better school? Obviously there is a difference between Harvard and Podunk Med that I am sure program directors take into account, but the distinction between, say, a top 20 and a top 70 school might not look like a huge difference to PD's but actually make a huge difference in where you'd stand in the class, AOA, etc. Would this make going to the lower ranked school preferable in terms of improving your luck in the match?
I may soon have to make a decision between a mid-tier public school (where I am OOS) and a top 15-20 private school. I'm wondering if what I assume will be a drop in my class rank if I go to the better (rankings-wise) school is going to hurt me in the match. Obviously, I'm disregarding factors such as cost, location, quality of life and happiness/fit at a given school, which I believe to be most important of course, but they are pretty much a wash in my case.