1st Year Grades

[ArchmageNH]

I got through first year, but my grades are not so good... they are all Passes in a school with a fail, low pass, pass, high pass, and honors system... How bad is this? It just hit me that the passes are equal to like a C, only sounding a little better... Thanks!

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[Shredder]

Rumor has it basic sci grades don't matter much. Depends on what you want to do. If primary care then you're fine. Also depends on what location you want. If rural or ghetto you're probably still fine. C average means--average. There was a time when this was the norm in colleges before grade inflation kicked in. Do well on the Step 1 and rotations and you'll probably be ok. And I think this is justified as those are what's really important anyway if you think about it. Dunno for sure though, let's hear others

 

[pers785]

See, I dont get why basic science course grades dont matter much. I mean, Ive heard the same thing, but everyone says that Step 1 scores are one of the major factors in residency. But wouldnt your basic science courses you take in your first 2 years correspond to Step 1? So if Step 1 is a big deal, why arent the grades for the first two years also a big deal? OP, sorry for hijacking your thread haha, but I have heard that grades for first 2 yrs also dont matter much if that helps.

 

[Shredder]

correlation does not imply causation tho! Meaning a percentage of ppl can screw around in yrs1 and 2 and still do all right on the step 1. Presumably through studying efficiently for it and being good test takers. I was banking on that anyway haha. Seriously though the correlation can only explain some given percentage of the variation in step 1 scores with respect to grades. Just like the MCAT correlates with this and that measure of med student proficiency

Case in point, I botched much of orgo in undergrad but aced it on the MCAT after diligent and focused test prep

 

[smq123]

See, I dont get why basic science course grades dont matter much. I mean, Ive heard the same thing, but everyone says that Step 1 scores are one of the major factors in residency. But wouldnt your basic science courses you take in your first 2 years correspond to Step 1? So if Step 1 is a big deal, why arent the grades for the first two years also a big deal? OP, sorry for hijacking your thread haha, but I have heard that grades for first 2 yrs also dont matter much if that helps.

1) Your first two years don't exactly correlate to Step 1. Yes, they should teach you the basics for being able to pass Step 1. However, they also need to teach you how to function during 3rd and 4th year clerkships. There's a lot of stuff on QBank Step 1 practice questions that don't get covered during your first 2 years, and there is a lot of stuff in your first 2 years that will probably never show up on Step 1.

2) I'm guessing on this one, but - theoretically, by the time you hit Step 1, you should have resolved any personal issues that might have affected your performance during your first two years. "Adjusting to a new school environment," or "homesickness / adjusting to a long-distance relationship," or "dealing with a bad breakup," for example, are NOT good excuses for doing poorly on Step 1. (Also, if anything like these things happened while someone was studying for Step 1, that person would almost certainly postpone the test for at least another 2 weeks. That's often not an option during your first two years.) However, they're reasonable excuses for not getting honors in your pre-clinical classes.

There are probably other reasons that I'm not thinking of right now.

I got through first year, but my grades are not so good... they are all Passes in a school with a fail, low pass, pass, high pass, and honors system... How bad is this? It just hit me that the passes are equal to like a C, only sounding a little better... Thanks!

It just means that you haven't raised any red flags yet. That's fine. It's too early to say what impact it will have on your chances in matching in derm, but so far - you haven't done anything bad, so relax a little. Enjoy the summer.

 

[pers785]

But the same arguments could be made for MCAT/GPA in undergrad. Theres a number of stuff that was tested on the MCAT that some majors never had to take (physiology for example). At the same time, there were things that were learned throughout undergrad courses that were never tested on the MCAT. But when you take MCAT/GPA into consideration for getting into medical school, theyre weighted closer to each other than grades in your med school courses and Step 1. Ok now im just rambling and its late at night so Im signing off haha

 

[Trindelinberg]

You'll be a doctor of some sort as long as you pass. With that said, if you want a choice as to the kind of doctor you'll be you want to get the best grades possible. Grades determine your class rank, which matters, and also helps with AOA membership which also helps in the match process. Look at the stats:

http://www.nrmp.org/matchoutcomes.pdf

 

[Law2Doc]

See, I dont get why basic science course grades dont matter much. I mean, Ive heard the same thing, but everyone says that Step 1 scores are one of the major factors in residency. But wouldnt your basic science courses you take in your first 2 years correspond to Step 1? So if Step 1 is a big deal, why arent the grades for the first two years also a big deal? OP, sorry for hijacking your thread haha, but I have heard that grades for first 2 yrs also dont matter much if that helps.

Since there are many variations on grading in the first two years of med school, ranging from no grades to P/F to letters to variations on the P/F theme it is virtually impossible to compare candidates across schools. So most schools don't even bother. Step 1 is used most heavilly as an indicator of how you did your first two years since it is the only cross school measure. So OP is correct, first year grades really don't matter much, second year grades only slightly more, but this isn't widely advertised-- as a mentor explained "it's the dirty little secret of med school". Things like AOA, Honors, ranking etc do get mentioned in your dean's letter so it pays to do the best you can.

But from what I've observed and been told, someone who passes everything the first two years but does very well on Step 1 tends to be in better shape, residency-wise than someone who Honors the first two years but has a lackluster performance on Step 1. There will be examples of each in every med school class.

 

[stargirl50]

You still have plenty of time to turn things around. It's much better to come to this realization now instead of, say, the end of 3rd year. I was in basically the same situation as you at the end of first year-- I passed everything but no high pass or honors in a H/HP/P/F system. So... it kind of made me mad cause I knew I could do better.

So I changed my study habits (I really didn't even study that much more-- I used review books and a few textbooks, wrote my own notes, and went to lecture consistently) and this year I ended up with 3 honors and 2 high pass. I just took step 1 and, as someone on the step 1 board said, there are more behavioral science questions on that test than there are questions from first year material. It's just not important. So-- even though people are debating whether or not basic science grades are important-- youre only halfway done with your basic science years, and 2nd year is 10000x more important and useful (for the boards at least). Dont throw in the towel yet!