concerned about class rank and grades.

[JimBone905]

2nd year here. Just found out my class rank is around 60%'tile with all of my grades being low to mid B's. (go to a lowish tier DO school)

I know this isnt the worst thing, but I am worried about how this will translate to my COMLEX/step scores. Exactly how predictive are class rank and grades? Assuming I stay at this rank, will this ranking negatively impact my residency app for something like IM or PM&R? Assuming I want to score at least an average comlex, am I in decent shape?

Edit: all of my grades are from first year. Just got back my first block score and its ~50%'tile, so it looks like I'm not going anywhere.

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[TheBoneDoctah]

Personally, I have not seen data on this, but from personal experience of me and my classmates, the students who are in the top of the class usually do well on boards and the people at the bottom don't do AS good. Obviously, there is a HUGE range here as I do know people who were in the lower half of the class that did really well on boards, but the number of super high scores (250-260s) came from students in the top 1/3-1/4 of the class.

Does it impact you for residency for IM/PMR...most likely not. I am in ortho now and even in ortho they did not care about my class rank at any of the interviews I went to. This could be program dependent though. I think your actual board scores are more important than your class rank, especially if you are not bottom 25%.

 

[Internist_Sandman]

Boards and regular classes are kind of a crapshoot because you don't study for them the same way. For me, boards was my sole focus for multiple months, so I had time to iteratively go over topics I felt weak on and improve. With classes, I felt stretched thin by other obligations (personal, other classes, etc) so I may only have reviewed the material once or twice before the test.

Now, there is probably a good correlation between class rank and board scores because, well duh. Some people are smarter than others, have more time than others, and are better test takers than others. But there are always people who do better on boards than their class rank would imply because its apples and oranges when you study for them. Nothing should discourage you though because class rank is much less important than boards. Not completely unimportant, but programs don't screen based on class rank like they do boards.

I would recommend, if you are able to and really that concerned, to round out your app with research or other shiny objects that you can use as a distractor to a less-than-ideal class rank. That way you have more stuff to talk about in an interview and less time to focus on grades.

 

[JimBone905]

Do you guys think its likely to score at least around a 500 comlex or a 220 usmle assuming I perform similarly to how I have been in med school?

 

[DrStephenStrange]

Do you guys think its likely to score at least around a 500 comlex or a 220 usmle assuming I perform similarly to how I have been in med school?

700 and 260 is possible. It all depends on you and how you study for it.

 

[Internist_Sandman]

Do you guys think its likely to score at least around a 500 comlex or a 220 usmle assuming I perform similarly to how I have been in med school?

Definitely realistic.

 

[Goro]

2nd year here. Just found out my class rank is around 60%'tile with all of my grades being low to mid B's. (go to a lowish tier DO school)

I know this isnt the worst thing, but I am worried about how this will translate to my COMLEX/step scores. Exactly how predictive are class rank and grades? Assuming I stay at this rank, will this ranking negatively impact my residency app for something like IM or PM&R? Assuming I want to score at least an average comlex, am I in decent shape?

Edit: all of my grades are from first year. Just got back my first block score and its ~50%'tile, so it looks like I'm not going anywhere.

You're fine. You're in a good zone. If you were my student, I'd advise taking Step I as well.

 

[Billroth_III]

I’m pretty much in the same boat as you OP, I’m not great at memorizing the minute details that often separate me from an A so I too swim in a sea of B’s. I study for boards more than most classmates I know of though, so I’m cool with where I am at.

A victory for me is nailing boards and matching in my specialty of choice, they can keep the top quartile.

 

[SurgDoc95]

I’ll let you know how big of a role they play in about 8 months. They are definitely the weakest part of my app despite solid LORs, comlex (especially level 2) research, and auditions. Hoping to be able to give you some good news after Match day!

 

[southwestpremed06]

Same boat. I focus on board material too (while cramming lectures a few days before the test) and I tend to get low to high Bs. I'm fine with it personally, but class rank is a different story with so many smart people in my class who study off the lectures and have time to memorize minute details from those slides. I used to worry about this at first but at this point as long as I'm not bottom quartile I'm ok. I'd rather use my time on Anki, doing questions and taking care of myself than memorizing slides for a couple more in house exam points.

 

[BBQisgood4u]

I am also wondering this. With step being pass/fail, is it best to gun for that top quartile? Some of the people at the top have intense study habits (early morning to evening), but I've been enjoying myself and staying in the middle/slight top half.

If yes for top quartile, then I'm going to have to grind harder and spend more time sitting with the lectures and thus having less free time 🙁

 

[deleted859689]

At my school, i've been getting low As. Just slightly above average on score breakdown

 

[statlin98]

I was a super average student throughout preclinicals (around the 40-45th percentile class rank) and scored 250+/650+ on STEP1/COMLEX1.

Assuming you aren't really struggling in pre-clinicals (like borderline failing classes), it's entirely possible to improve your study habits and elevate your performance when it comes time for boards studying. Study hard, and study smart.

 

[ohmanwaddup]

N=1 but I I was in the bottom 20% of my class, constantly at least 10% or more below the average on exams. I got a 231 on step 1.

 

[Steve_Zissou]

Bottom quartile of my class, 249 step 1, 600+ level 1.