Disappointed about class rank....

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Summer3867

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M4 here about to apply this fall. I'm pretty surprised/disappointed with my class rank.

I've been working my butt off throughout med school. I've gotten 2 high passes in pre-clinical courses and 1 pass in rotations. Besides that, all honors. I was hoping for a higher rank but am surprised that so many people were before me. Was everyone getting straight honors and I just wasn't aware?!

A part of me wants to make sure the school calculated it right, but I don't wanna be a jerk......

I apologize for the neuroticism.... I know it doesn't matter in the whole scheme of things. Just one of those moments when I feel like I've worked so hard but apparently not enough....

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M4 here about to apply this fall. I'm pretty surprised/disappointed with my class rank.

I've been working my butt off throughout med school. I've gotten 2 high passes in pre-clinical courses and 1 pass in rotations. Besides that, all honors. I was hoping to be in the top quartile but am surprised that so many people were ranked before me. Was everyone getting straight honors and I just wasn't aware?!

A part of me wants to make sure the school calculated it right, but I don't wanna be a jerk......

I apologize for the neuroticism.... I know it doesn't matter in the whole scheme of things. Just one of those moments when I feel like I've worked so hard but apparently not enough....
I am so sorry ... this sounds so frustrating . I probably would have been pissed and disappointed.
Rising M2 here : how exactly is your class ranking determined?
 
What I've learned in medical school is no matter what you do, a lot of people will be better than you.

You have 45 publications? Someone else has 50.

You have done extensive research you're proud of? Someone else did what you already did, and probably subjectively better too.

You just cured cancer in the break-room? That's cool, James just did that too, about 15 minutes ago in surgery. Crazy right?

If you are happy, awesome. Otherwise, you're going to judge yourself based on others. And class rank is literally that: judging how you stand, based on those around you who are ungodly at everything they do.

Even if you're the bottom of the barrel in medical school. By getting to this point, you're already the 1% of the 1% (not saying be a bum and become complacent).

My question back to you is, can you talk to and comfort the patient? Can you be the best doctor in the eyes of that person sitting in front of you? Can you walk out of the room and say, "yes, that was my best work" or even, "you know, I can improve on [X]; let me do that."
 
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What I've learned in medical school is no matter what you do, a lot of people will be better than you.

You have 45 publications? Someone else has 50.

You have done extensive research you're proud of? Someone else did what you already did, and probably subjectively better too.

You just cured cancer in the break-room? That's cool, James just did that too, about 15 minutes ago in surgery. Crazy right?

If you are happy, awesome. Otherwise, you're going to judge yourself based on others. And class rank is literally that: judging how you stand, based on those around you who are ungodly at everything they do.

Even if you're the bottom of the barrel in medical school. By getting to this point, you're already the 1% of the 1% (not saying be a bum and become complacent).

My question back to you is, can you talk to and comfort the patient? Can you be the best doctor in the eyes of that person sitting in front of you? Can you walk out of the room and say, "yes, that was my best work" or even, "you know, I can improve on [X]; let me do that."

This might be the single most accurate thing I've ever seen here. Honestly, the sooner one learns to stop comparing themselves to others in medical school, the much better your mental health becomes.
 
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M4 here about to apply this fall. I'm pretty surprised/disappointed with my class rank.

I've been working my butt off throughout med school. I've gotten 2 high passes in pre-clinical courses and 1 pass in rotations. Besides that, all honors. I was hoping to be in the top quartile but am surprised that so many people were ranked before me. Was everyone getting straight honors and I just wasn't aware?!

A part of me wants to make sure the school calculated it right, but I don't wanna be a jerk......

I apologize for the neuroticism.... I know it doesn't matter in the whole scheme of things. Just one of those moments when I feel like I've worked so hard but apparently not enough....

Your self worth should not be based on a class rank, which is subjective and based on your school criteria. Try to move yourself away from that mindset. Base your self worth on the type of work you do, the research you publish, the activities you perform, the impact you have on patients/society, not on an arbitrary measure like class rank, board scores, etc. These measures are just things that they include to stratify applicants - nobody will ask about this once you get into residency. Keep moving forward and do your best for patient care.
 
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Your self worth should not be based on a class rank, which is subjective and based on your school criteria. Try to move yourself away from that mindset. Base your self worth on the type of work you do, the research you publish, the activities you perform, the impact you have on patients/society, not on an arbitrary measure like class rank, board scores, etc. These measures are just things that they include to stratify applicants - nobody will ask about this once you get into residency. Keep moving forward and do your best for patient care.

Still, this is too external. Reject the idea of self worth and replace it with self satisfaction. Everyone has intrinsic worth and no one is worth more than another. Focus your appraisal of your self-satisfaction inward- did you try your best? Were you honest with yourself and your peers? Do you strive to be a kind and thoughtful person in your day to day life? If you focus on these internal qualities, your personal and professional life with benefit greatly as a result.

In short, reject the idea of basing your impression of yourself on external metrics. What matters is that you are happy with yourself.
 
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I've gotten 2 high passes in pre-clinical courses and 1 pass in rotations. Besides that, all honors.

I agree with what everyone says, that at the end of the day class rank isn't really that important.

HOWEVER, if what you're saying is true (including straight-honors throughout all of MS3 clerkships)... unless your school calculates GPA/class rank really weird, I have to admit that seems awfully fishy. I actually do find it unbelievable that 25% of the class could have gotten literally straight-honors. Mistakes do happen sometimes, and it's worth sending a quick email in this instance. Someone might get slightly annoyed with you, but it honestly shouldn't take them that much effort to check this for you.
 
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I agree with what everyone says, that at the end of the day class rank isn't really that important.

HOWEVER, if what you're saying is true (including straight-honors throughout all of MS3 clerkships)... unless your school calculates GPA/class rank really weird, I have to admit that seems awfully fishy. I actually do find it unbelievable that 25% of the class could have gotten literally straight-honors. Mistakes do happen sometimes, and it's worth sending a quick email in this instance. Someone might get slightly annoyed with you, but it honestly shouldn't take them that much effort to check this for you.
It’s not unbelievable at all

Some schools, mine included, have a breakdown of >30% honors for each clerkship...I mean most of my preclinical peers ended up with all honors alongside me for all of 3rd year in this system. Shelves were never worth more than 20% of our grade for any rotation as well so you can imagine how dumb the distribution of grades must look
 
I apologize for the neuroticism.... I know it doesn't matter in the whole scheme of things. Just one of those moments when I feel like I've worked so hard but apparently not enough....

You worked hard. That is certain, because you had to in order to get an acceptance anyway. You had to in order to pass step exams, and honor rotations.

There is no way I would ever let class rank tell me I didnt work hard enough. Let your own personal successes and failures indicate how hard you worked.

The shortest Giant is still a Giant. The slowest Olympian is still an Olympian. You are about to enter the last year of school and have shown you excelled. Just because you arent first, or in X percentile doesnt mean you didnt work hard
 
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It’s not unbelievable at all

Some schools, mine included, have a breakdown of >30% honors for each clerkship...I mean most of my preclinical peers ended up with all honors alongside me for all of 3rd year in this system. Shelves were never worth more than 20% of our grade for any rotation as well so you can imagine how dumb the distribution of grades must look
Fair enough, and maybe that’s the case. I would still be surprised that the SAME PEOPLE comprising >25% of the class got honors every single rotation, but the OP may know more about the grading practices at their school. In any event, I still think it’s worth an email.
 
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I think its worth asking how the percentiles are calculated, Some schools incorporate step into the equation or may assign variable weights to different rotations.
Does you school break it down into honors by year ?

I think the best thing one can do about this is compare themselves to themself. Everyone's journey through this process is different. No use in comparing yourself to others. Only thing you can strive for is be the best version of yourself. That being said , OP you should be proud of the hard work you have put in.
 
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It’s not unbelievable at all

Some schools, mine included, have a breakdown of >30% honors for each clerkship...I mean most of my preclinical peers ended up with all honors alongside me for all of 3rd year in this system. Shelves were never worth more than 20% of our grade for any rotation as well so you can imagine how dumb the distribution of grades must look
jeeeez....what school do you go to? at my school only 15% honor clinicals (based on a bell curve) and for preclinicals only 4 people honored a class lol. out of 200+ people.
 
M4 here about to apply this fall. I'm pretty surprised/disappointed with my class rank.

I've been working my butt off throughout med school. I've gotten 2 high passes in pre-clinical courses and 1 pass in rotations. Besides that, all honors. I was hoping to be in the top quartile but am surprised that so many people were ranked before me. Was everyone getting straight honors and I just wasn't aware?!

A part of me wants to make sure the school calculated it right, but I don't wanna be a jerk......

I apologize for the neuroticism.... I know it doesn't matter in the whole scheme of things. Just one of those moments when I feel like I've worked so hard but apparently not enough....
my school includes step in its calculation and some other factors including extracurriculars/research. which is why it may not necessarily reflect how you were doing in classes relative to the entire class. also at my school clinical grades are worth 50% for the class rank - so one pass would definitely throw you out of the first quartile since preclinicals are worth a minimal portion of the grade). every school ranks differently. don't worry. things will work out. i understand the disappointment - med school has had various lows for me, and they are tough but you seem like a smart person who has done well and that will go through residency and beyond.
 
Fair enough, and maybe that’s the case. I would still be surprised that the SAME PEOPLE comprising >25% of the class got honors every single rotation, but the OP may know more about the grading practices at their school. In any event, I still think it’s worth an email.

really? I would be more surprised if that wasn’tthe case because I would more expect consistent performance across clinical evals, shelf exams rather than honors in one or two rotations, similar to high performers on preclinical blocks.
 
really? I would be more surprised if that wasn’tthe case because I would more expect consistent performance across clinical evals, shelf exams rather than honors in one or two rotations, similar to high performers on preclinical blocks.
Sure, of course there is some correlation between multiple rotations. But again, one would expect there to be some variability. For example, I was one of those exceptions where I got honors in just one or two clinical rotations, because I tried harder when I knew it was a specialty I was considering.
 
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really? I would be more surprised if that wasn’tthe case because I would more expect consistent performance across clinical evals, shelf exams rather than honors in one or two rotations, similar to high performers on preclinical blocks.
At my school everyone high passes at least one rotation. You always get one person who doesn't give the best eval lol.
I performed way better clinically than I did in preclinicals.
 
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