Getting C's in medical school...!!??

[GonnaBeAnMD]

Is it easy to get C's in medical school? My sister is a dental student and says it is nearly impossible to not pass - basically, you pay tuition and you will pass. It is up to you to pass the boards.

However I keep hearing how medical school is tough and "barely suriving" remarks. Is it that hard to get by with C's in year 1/2 and "pass" in year 3/4? It's obviously not going to be like my sister's situation - but if you put in some time, will you at least pass?

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[Blade28]

Well, if your school uses the letter-grading system, while you may barely pass all your classes it'll be hard to get into a residency of your choice.

 

[GonnaBeAnMD]

Well, if your school uses the letter-grading system, while you may barely pass all your classes it'll be hard to get into a residency of your choice.

Our grades are reported as percentages...

 

[Pinesinger]

Is it easy to get C's in medical school? My sister is a dental student and says it is nearly impossible to not pass - basically, you pay tuition and you will pass. It is up to you to pass the boards.

However I keep hearing how medical school is tough and "barely suriving" remarks. Is it that hard to get by with C's in year 1/2 and "pass" in year 3/4? It's obviously not going to be like my sister's situation - but if you put in some time, will you at least pass?

My school uses a 0-3 grading system, with 0=fail, 1=low pass, 2= pass, 3=honors. Arbitrary and nonsensical in my opinion but clearly my opinion doesn't much matter! Anywho, the cutoff for a 2/pass is usually 75% for any given exam. For me, putting in just "some time" would probably result in my not making it through first year. I have some classmates who are really brilliant with incredible memories who don't seem to study much and pretty much know everything about everything. A lot depends on your study habits, your innate abilities, and the quality of teaching. I think no matter where you go, however, you should expect to work harder than you have in college.

As far as "barely surviving" goes...I am square in the middle of my class and happy with that because I have had a life for the last two years. I think four years is a long time to be miserable, and miserable I would be if I worked hard enough to be at the top of my class. It depends on your personal goals, competitiveness of your classmates, etc. Also, some people really like to complain/brag about how hard they are working, like it's a badge of honor or something. Do what makes you happy, whether it's just passing or gunning like there's no tomorrow.

 

[SkylineMD]

What dental school does she go to that its "almost impossible NOT to pass". I know some kids in Dental school and they definitely aren't saying its that easy. It still requires some effort and your sister may just be one of the few that gets information real easily.

If everyone is telling you that medical school is hard and you have to put in a lot of work, just expect to do that. There are probably a lot of people here who are passing their classes and they put in a lot of effort and there are some who hardly put any effort and honor classes. In the end it all depends on you and how well you study. My suggestion would be to study hard from the beginning and see how it pays off. If you like the results, then continue studying that way. You don't want to slack off before the first few exams and dig yourself into a hole where you kill yourself trying to just BARELY pass.

 

[YouDontKnowJack]

what do they study in dental school? surely they don't spend years and years on the teeth right?

 

[fuzzyerin]

"I've never worked so hard in my life for a C minus."

Quote from my anatomy lab partner back when we were first years. At my school, 70% was passing and for many of us, that was a rude awakening that we weren't getting A's all the time and things weren't as easy as they had been before.

But you know what? You get through it. Just like you get through third year. And just like you survive your first year of residency...at least, that's what my senior resident keeps telling me. I feel like my head is barely above water most of the time....

 

[njbmd]

"I've never worked so hard in my life for a C minus."

Quote from my anatomy lab partner back when we were first years. At my school, 70% was passing and for many of us, that was a rude awakening that we weren't getting A's all the time and things weren't as easy as they had been before.

But you know what? You get through it. Just like you get through third year. And just like you survive your first year of residency...at least, that's what my senior resident keeps telling me. I feel like my head is barely above water most of the time....

Hi there,
The above poster is totally on track. You do your best and generally you get through what you need. Yes, you will work hard but ask for help and you generally will get it. Do not get hung up on the grades too much as long as you are getting the material mastered.

Medical school is a bit like Marine boot camp. You all have to go over the wall. Some clear the wall by several feet and some scrape their rear ends as they go over but all of you will go over the wall. Just remember the scene in "An Officer and a Gentleman" when Mayo takes Segar over the wall one step at a time. Just keep going and realize that you are going to ace some things and you are going to work for others but in the end, you have to "go over the wall."

njbmd

 

[Blade28]

Just remember the scene in "An Officer and a Gentleman" when Mayo takes Segar over the wall one step at a time. Just keep going and realize that you are going to ace some things and you are going to work for others but in the end, you have to "go over the wall."

Wow that is a GREAT scene. Mayo yelling (encouraging) Segar all the way.

 

[klp14]

I heard a great piece of advice this week:

P=MD

It's that simple.

 

[PiccoloPlaya]

How about C = MD

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

How about C = MD

Why settle for mediocrity when you've worked so hard to get in? If you're busting your butt and getting C's, thats one thing. If you're capable of doing better, why not try?

 

[GonnaBeAnMD]

What dental school does she go to that its "almost impossible NOT to pass". I know some kids in Dental school and they definitely aren't saying its that easy. It still requires some effort and your sister may just be one of the few that gets information real easily.
.

Well I hope that I don't pisss anybody off... she goes to USC. It's really not that she gets the information real easily, there are people in her class she refers to as "idiots" that do not know what the heck is going on. They do case presentations as it is a PBL program and says the lowest possible grade is a C. They also get a lot of test questions in advance to study. In any case, enough said about that.

I guess if you study enough in med school - it is also pretty hard to fail. It's just terribly difficult to get A's and even B's.

I just dont want to struggle and fight to find I got a D in Anatomy practical, etc.

 

[Chiuster82]

In my school i have a system with honors, pass and fail. I guess since only the top 30 kids will get honors, the rest of us will just have "pass" for every grade on our transcript. Under this kind of system there is really no way for residency directors to really know how you are doing relative to others in the class. Does anyone know if medschools still do secretly rank you even with a 3 category gradig system?

Texas Tech SOM

 

[Mike59]

High grades are very difficult to attain in many areas of medical study, especially during rotations (at least in my experience). So far in clerkship I'm yet to crack 70% on any of the shelf exams (despite a 4.0 in a hard undergrad major) due to the complex multi-step thinking and depth of knowledge required. Thank god I'm not interested in any competitive specialties and would be more than happy in primary care

 

[Giving My .02]

Is it easy to get C's in medical school? My sister is a dental student and says it is nearly impossible to not pass - basically, you pay tuition and you will pass. It is up to you to pass the boards.

However I keep hearing how medical school is tough and "barely suriving" remarks. Is it that hard to get by with C's in year 1/2 and "pass" in year 3/4? It's obviously not going to be like my sister's situation - but if you put in some time, will you at least pass?

Each school is different, each school has a different grading policy. You will need to ask about this when you interview. However, you aren't going to get any honest answers. People aren't going to say I study really hard just to get a C, especially to interviewers. Basically it depends on the school.

 

[Blade28]

Even though our school continually stressed that there was no "secret class ranking," we all believed there was. During the first two years, the only grades possible were "pass" and "fail" for all our basic science classes. Tough to just lump all the students together, no?

 

[Prophecies]

I thought your class rank was more important than the grades you are assigned? What if your school uses a crazy bell-curve system or something, so you make high Cs, low Bs because of the grade distribution...but you could still be in the first or second quarter. Likewise, someone at a school without such a system could make high Bs or low As and still end up in the second quarter because EVERYONE is making those grades. Like it shouldn't matter...that is what the percentiles (quarters and such) are for I thought...to even out the different systems the schools use?