Evaluation Q

[goooooober]

For those of you who have gone through or are currently going through the application process for residency, is it the GPA or the Rank in the class that is more important? If you have a very good GPA and in the top 1/2 of class but not necessarily top 10 or 15 or 25%, how is that evaluated? Would surgery programs vomit on you for even applying? Peace out and thanx for the info G moneys.

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[Smurfette]

GPAs mean different things at different med schools...not to mention that many schools don't use a GPA-type system and use pass/fail or honors/pass/fail. So RANK is more important since it gives them a gauge for how you compare to your peers.

You don't have to be AOA (top 16%) to get a surgery residency. Being in the top or middle third of your class is fine for all but the most competitive places (i.e. Duke, Hopkins) . Being in the bottom third might make it a little more difficult at certain programs, but many programs will still offer you interviews. No vomiting. I think board scores are more important than class rank to surgery programs, so a barely passing board score will likely hurt you more than being at the bottom of your class...just my opinion though.

 

[GeneGoddess]

My school doesn't have a GPA or a ranking system. And I never had any problems (or people bringing it up),

 

[b&ierstiefel]

My school doesn't have a GPA or a ranking system. And I never had any problems (or people bringing it up),

We don't have GPAs here. However, we have a ranking system which is roughly divided up into four categories (outstanding, excellent, very good, satisfactory). Each student is assigned to one of the four categories in the last paragraph of the Dean's Letter.

Neither topic was ever mentioned verbally in any of my interviews. I think Step 1 (and Step 2, if you have 'em) scores are mentioned a bit more frequently during interviews, especially if you did well.