Getting into a specialty residency?

[DoctorB]

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I have been reading that one needs to be in the top 10-15% of his or her class in order to get into a specialty residency. Does "class" mean the medical schools graduating class or the overall applicants. I ask this because I assume it is much easier to be top ten percent at an average medical school than Harvard.

 

[ultimateend]

I have been reading that one needs to be in the top 10-15% of his or her class in order to get into a specialty residency. Does "class" mean the medical schools graduating class or the overall applicants. I ask this because I assume it is much easier to be top ten percent at an average medical school than Harvard.

depends. AOA is an important honor that is only given out to 10-15% of your medical school class and is taken into consideration when you apply. A lot of weight can be put on AOA, depending on the program.

on the other hand is your Step 1 score which is based off of ALL medical students in the country (like the MCAT). The better you do on this test, the better the chance you have at getting that top specialty.

I think more weight is put on Step 1 than AOA/Class rank.

I also want to say that no matter where you go to school, if you try hard enough you will get into what you want to do. You'll have grads from "lower ranked" med schools getting into difficult residencies with grads from Harvard. When people say "go where your gut tells you to," they aren't kidding. All the med schools are good.

 

[TheFreshPrince]

depends. AOA is an important honor that is only given out to 10-15% of your medical school class and is taken into consideration when you apply. A lot of weight can be put on AOA, depending on the program.

on the other hand is your Step 1 score which is based off of ALL medical students in the country (like the MCAT). The better you do on this test, the better the chance you have at getting that top specialty.

I think more weight is put on Step 1 than AOA/Class rank.

I also want to say that no matter where you go to school, if you try hard enough you will get into what you want to do. You'll have grads from "lower ranked" med schools getting into difficult residencies with grads from Harvard. When people say "go where your gut tells you to," they aren't kidding. All the med schools are good.

what he said. In addition, connections, lors, and research play a part. Step one is definitely at the top.

 

[DrMom]

duplicate thread in allo, so closing.