First year questions

[gonefishin22]

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Excuse my ignorance, but I'm looking for a few answers regarding Ophthalmology and matching/step in general.
First off, can anyone tell me who has recently been on the interview trail how important/how much is first and second year grades brought up? I've heard from fellow students that they are becoming to be more important than 3rd and 4th (hard to believe), that they mean very little, and unless your AOA they don't care.
Also, as far as step 1 goes, I have seen the average for this year, but would anyone happen to know the score required for a mid- tier/ state school system. Again, I because I've heard everything from 215-260.
As a first year would it be more important for me to try and honor everything or be sure to get involved with research in the optho department while making high passes and the occasional pass (what I'm currently doing)

Aside from those questions, I'm one block away from being finished with a year of med school and have not been able to honor anything. I've been at 90% in two classes only to have them set the make of honoring at 92%. I say this because I'm a little worried that I may not have the ability to get into a specialty like optho. I'm plenty capable putting in the work, and have formed great relationships thus far, but I also don't want to spin my wheels in a field that simply wont have me. I was chosen to participate in a research internship this summer for a department of my choosing, but don't want to waste it on optho, even though it is definitely what I want to do.

 

[rocketbooster]

From the vast amount of threads I've read here and several ophthalmologists I've asked at my home department, it's basically all Step 1, research, recs, and grades, if they matter, are mainly only important in 3rd year. If your school heavily uses preclinical grades for AOA, then they matter. However, you definitely do not need AOA to match. In fact, I'm sure the majority are not AOA, which is true for all fields. Grades only matter if you are AOA in the end. If you miss AOA, then grades are probably almost completely meaningless, which is the case for most I'm betting.

Now, if you only pass everything, that might raise a red flag. But if you have a bunch of high passes, then it shouldn't draw much attention. If you want to only match into a top 10 program, then you probably will need amazing grades and AOA. Unless you want to go into academics, I don't think the name matters much since most residencies should provide solid training.

 

[ophthope]

From the vast amount of threads I've read here and several ophthalmologists I've asked at my home department, it's basically all Step 1, research, recs, and grades, if they matter, are mainly only important in 3rd year. If your school heavily uses preclinical grades for AOA, then they matter. However, you definitely do not need AOA to match. In fact, I'm sure the majority are not AOA, which is true for all fields. Grades only matter if you are AOA in the end. If you miss AOA, then grades are probably almost completely meaningless, which is the case for most I'm betting.

Now, if you only pass everything, that might raise a red flag. But if you have a bunch of high passes, then it shouldn't draw much attention. If you want to only match into a top 10 program, then you probably will need amazing grades and AOA. Unless you want to go into academics, I don't think the name matters much since most residencies should provide solid training.

👍 Agreed on all points. 👍