Hide Med School Rank?

[NeuroHopeful]

Hi All,

Im considering applying to a competitive residency, and Im at a crossroads. My USMLE step I score was strictly average. By average, I mean exactly that.

Thing is, my first two years were quite below average, maybe it's because I came in as an English major, maybe it's because my med school sucks at teaching. I think it's probably a combination of both. I'm highly motivated, just started third year, and I am kind of scared. My GPA from college was 3.96 applying, but Im almost positive I'll be in the bottom 1/5 of my class, although Im trying to get out of this rut.

I passed everything, but my med school counts every year as 1/3, it doesn't count pre-clinicals less. So what do i do? Get screened out for hiding my class rank or get screened out for being bottom part of my class?

BTW the med school i attend is a state school, not a bad one but not one that has any great notiriety either. Constructive comments appreciated

Thanks
Neurohopeful

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[Law2Doc]

Hi All,

Im considering applying to a competitive residency, and Im at a crossroads. My USMLE step I score was strictly average. By average, I mean exactly that.

Thing is, my first two years were quite below average, maybe it's because I came in as an English major, maybe it's because my med school sucks at teaching. I think it's probably a combination of both. I'm highly motivated, just started third year, and I am kind of scared. My GPA from college was 3.96 applying, but Im almost positive I'll be in the bottom 1/5 of my class, although Im trying to get out of this rut.

I passed everything, but my med school counts every year as 1/3, it doesn't count pre-clinicals less. So what do i do? Get screened out for hiding my class rank or get screened out for being bottom part of my class?

BTW the med school i attend is a state school, not a bad one but not one that has any great notiriety either. Constructive comments appreciated

Thanks
Neurohopeful

You won't be able to hide class rank -- almost every Dean's Letter will clearly put you within a third or quartile, whether directly, or through the "insider" wording they use (good vs great vs excellent).

 

[dragonfly99]

The post above is pretty much right...places will know/figure out your class rank due to being familiar with your school and its grading and ranking practices, whether or not you tell them.

One thing you can change/control at this point is to gun for an honors in whatever area(s) you are thinking of matching in. This is very important, particularly in highly competitive fields and in all the surgical fields (i.e. the surgeons really, really care if you got honors in surgery vs. not). Don't obsess about your 1st and 2nd year grades or Step 1 score right now, since you can do nothing to change them. Don't think that the die is cast...even if the school technically counts 1st and 2nd year = to 3rd year (which is pretty unusual I thought...) I believe that most residency program directors would care much more about your 3rd year grades and evaluations and letters of recommendation vs. your 1st and 2nd year grades. One thing that I should have done, and didn't, as a 3rd year student, is to blatantly say/state to my senior resident, fellow(s) and attendings on these types of rotations, that "I am very interested in 'x' field [i.e. neurosurgery or whatever] and I want 'honors' this month". I thought it might be seen as grade-grubbing, which in a sense it is, but I had friends who did this and many of them ended up with more 'honors' grades. Of course, you have to follow that up with hard work, but lots of students work hard, and grading is subjective in clinical rotations, so their perception that you "want" honors can affect your grades.

If you are applying to a competitive field, you need to have a backup, but you can think about that later (like the end of 3rd year). Don't worry about it now.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Sorry, I don't know how you can hide it.

It will be mentioned somewhere...either in the Dean's letter or some sort of documentation that several schools provide which is a graphic depiction of class rank, with you noted somewhere on the graph.

 

[Samoa]

Good advice above. You won't be able to hide your class rank. BUT it doesn't show up anywhere but your Dean's Letter, and Dean's Letters come out fairly late in the game. So everyone's going to be looking mostly at your third year grades, anyway. If you honor or high pass most of your third year rotations, and then end up with a mediocre class rank, very likely the program is going to take a look at the graphs to see if your school just gives out honors like candy.

And if they don't, and it's obvious that getting clinical honors meant you really had to stand out, then very likely your class rank will be ignored.