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Why pass/fail?
 
It seems like almost every school has a pass/fail system, but also include some sort of honers, high honors, etc., so essentially you are dealing with the same sort of thing as an A-F scale. I doubt that a school's grading system is very indicative of a competitive spirit between students.
 
many (perhaps most) med schools use the Honors, High Pass, Pass, Condition, Fail system for the first two years--where about 65-70% of the class gets pass. in my experience this fosters an environment much less competitive than, say, undergradutate organic chemistry. plus, you must consider that when it comes to residency applications, your board scores and third-year evaluations will mean more than first- and second-year grades. so getting just a pass grade won't mean you have no choice but to do family practice in Guam for the rest of your life (although, that doesn't sound so bad, now that i think about it...)

that said, if you really need answers to your question, get your hands on the MSAR--grading systems are described there for each school.

good luck

dingiswayo
 
Pass fail is not the answer to an easy medical school experience! My school is pass fail with pass being 75%. Sometimes class averages are in the 80%'s, so people still fail with pass fail. Don't think that it will be an easy ride. We have 'honors' set at 92% and I have only honored one class so far and not many people do. Also as someone else said it's the board scores that count. They told us at orientation that research that they did showed that everyone who failed the boards the first time had an overall average of 85% or less. And also be aware that every school that has pass fail (but I don't believe Yale) has a ranking system that goes (or not) into your Deans Letter for residency apps. So my point was that pass fail isn't a free ride. Maybe less competitive but other than that no easier.
 
NYU is straight pass/fail the first 2 years with passing usually in the range of 65-70%, depending on the class. It definitely makes for a more relaxed atmosphere.
 
Originally posted by LR6SO4:
• And also be aware that every school that has pass fail (but I don't believe Yale) has a ranking system that goes (or not) into your Deans Letter for residency apps. So my point was that pass fail isn't a free ride. Maybe less competitive but other than that no easier.•••

This information is patently false. Many medical school do not use a ranking system of any kind. In fact there is a general trend towards that end since rankings are inherently flawed. Some of the lesser known medical schools still use class rank, but clearly the trend is away from this sort of thing. Dean's letters don't necessarily reflect rank, and I would venture to guess that majority of schools do not include this number in the dean's letter. Verbiage has a way of conveying information to program directors, but this is generally in favor of the stellar applicant, and wont cause unnecessary damage to the less than stellar applicant.

I hate to generalize, but many state schools use grading schemes that reflect the A,B,C system. Pass/Fail/Honors isn't anything like that at all as it permits 2-3 possible grades. A system that has both rank and undergraduate type grading schemes can breed unnecessary competition. The grades mean less than what they breed, so all things being equal I would rather be in a pass/fail environment.
Click to expand...
 
Klebsiella has it very right. While virtually all dean's letters include some form of "coded phrase" that stratifies students into different categories, a) rarely if ever is this numerically based and B) VERY LITTLE OF IT IS BASED ON YOUR BASIC SCIENCE YEARS. Most of it is based on your third year clerkships. The idea that basic science grades really matter is is one of those things that is (wrongly) perpetuated from year to year - most dean's offices and certainly most residency programs recognize how unimportant they are and factor them in accordingly. Pass your basic science exams and let your board scores do the talking as to how well you learned the material. That is all the programs will care about.
 
Our school is Honors/Pass/Fail. If you get a total score of greater than 70% on all your course work, you pass. The competition is only when you are gunning for honors, where the top 10% of students recieve that accalade.
 
Klebsiella,
I stand corrected. I really didn't know that most schools didn't rank anymore. I know some still hand out a ranked list after every exam. Our is confidential but they did tell us at orientation that your rank could be included in your Deans Letter. I think the tone of my response was more geared at trying to get the point across that pass/fail isn't easier. You still have to learn the material, but it is MUCH less competitive. At places like mine where the top 10% get honors nobody else really cares too much and the atmosphere is good. Sorry about the misinformation.
 
Case Western Reserve is pass/fail during the first two years. They use honors/commendable (high pass)/pass/fail system during the last two years. 🙄
 
When applying to medical school, it would probably be best to apply to schools that have pass/fail, variations of that, and the traditional grading scales. The "realest" since of competition that you can get during the application process in when you interview and you get a chance to talk to students at the school. This will probably be the best indication of the competition level at the school and how well you personally can function there.
 
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