Grades

[Homo sapien]

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How are the grades in podiatry school.

I mean two things.

How is the variation? Is it like in undergrad where you can get anywhere from an F to all As depending on work ethic and ability. Or is it pretty stagnant, as in the whole class has a 2.0 or a 3.0 or 3.3, or what?

How are they graded. Are they graded by numbers (2.0/3.0/4.0) or is it by test scores ( for example, if you have a class where your average is 92, another is 88, another is 76, and another is 81, your total grade is 84) or anywhere else. Are clinical years graded differently than pre-clincal?

Thanks for any answers

 

[pacpod]

At DMU, all classes are on a 4.0 GPA scale on your transcript. Whatever grade you get in a course, say a 93 in Gross Anatomy, that would come out to a 4.0 for the course on your transcript. There are no scaling of grades, you get what you get.

The scale here is:

97-100 = A+ = 4.0
93-97 = A = 4.0
90-92 = A- = 3.7
87-89 = B+ = 3.3
83-86 = B = 3.0
80-82 = B- = 2.7
77-79 = C+ = 2.3
73-76 = C = 2.0
70-72 = C- = 2.0
<70 = F = 0.0
<75 = F = 0.0 (Lower Limb Anatomy)

 

[PeaJay]

At Scholl it is:

A 100-90
B 90-80
C 80-70
F <70

 

[Homo sapien]

Do you know what the average for a 1st and 2nd year student is? And also, do you know what the requirement is to stay in school?

 

[pacpod]

To be honest, I'm not sure what the average is for a first and second year student.

Edit: I'm pretty sure the requirement to stay in school here is to just pass all your classes. I think you can fail up to two classes your first year which would then need to be remediated over the summer between first and second year. I'm not sure what the second year policy is for failing a class.

 

[Shinobiz11]

Which schools use the pass/fail system?

 

[pacpod]

Which schools use the pass/fail system?

I haven't heard of a pod school that uses pass/fail.

 

[Shinobiz11]

I haven't heard of a pod school that uses pass/fail.

Hmm, I thought I read a post about this before. I'm probably wrong.

 

[dtrack22]

You may have a single class/elective/rotation that is pass fail, but that would be it. Since our boards are pass/fail, many residency programs have some GPA or class rank requirement. A school would be doing a disservice to its students if it went to a traditional allopathic, pass/fail/honors grading system...

 

[AMDG83]

At Western, there is no letter grade. You get a percentage grade (ie 85%) and an overall class ranking.

 

[Ferocity]

At Western, there is no letter grade. You get a percentage grade (ie 85%) and an overall class ranking.

So what happens when you're applying for residency? Don't they want letter grades? How is GPA calculated?

 

[g squared 23]

So what happens when you're applying for residency? Don't they want letter grades? How is GPA calculated?

As we are evaluating candidates for our program today and tomorrow, we're are looking at overall GPA and more importantly class rank which takes into account grade inflation among schools.

 

[ldsrmdude]

So what happens when you're applying for residency? Don't they want letter grades? How is GPA calculated?

It's not too tough to convert a letter grade into a percentage and vice versa. My program doesn't put much weight on interviews, but puts a lot of weight on your rotation. Which means that for us grades get you in the door for a clerkship, but beyond that it doesn't matter a whole lot to us. Each program is different.

 

[Toro5050]

What would be considered a solid GPA that would get you into most residencies?

 

[pacpod]

What would be considered a solid GPA that would get you into most residencies?

As a student, I'm not sure about what GPA actually gets you the residency but here is the list of residencies. The links will tell you if the program has a minimum GPA or not to apply. Some programs will wave the GPA/rank if you clerk (listed on their respective pages).

Here is a list of residency programs sorted by state with a minimum GPA and here is a list of programs sorted by state with a minimum class rank.

I guess the short answer is a lot of programs have a 3.0 cut off.

I hope this helps.

 

[air bud]

Those minimums mean NOTHING. I am honestly really surprised at how many places truly do look at your grades even after you have interviewed. Here is my experience: I went to a number of high powered programs. I had very good grades and performed very well at a few programs. I know of a few students who performed equally well, got along great with the residents, worked hard etc....and didnt even get interviews. Yes, they were still accepted, but were not granted interviews, or were weeded out when it came time for callbacks.
When you are talking about the "big name" programs with high standards (yes, I understand we have talked about how they are not always what they are cracked up to be), I think there are usually 5 or 6 equally smart students who perform well and get along great with the residents. They need some way to narrow. They are looking for the smallest things to help differentiate for those 2 spots, whether that is research, APMSA, grades, etc...
Another observation : I have externed/met some really smart, talented, cool Western students. But I truly think they are going to be at a huge disadvantage for a number of years when it comes to getting some residencies. Personal relationships are way bigger in this whole clerkship process than I originally thought. Knowing residents from your school and having that bond (even if you never really knew them) is a HUGE advantage. This also happens with attendings, they are going to go with what they know. It is going to take a few years for Western students to crack the ceilings that will exist in lots of these programs. This is not an indictment on the education that they receive, but an indictment on human nature and the way the real world works.