How are you guys ranked/graded?

[Gotti]

I just learned some schools only give out Pass/Fail and nobody is ranked versus our school where we receive a letter grade for every rotation and our ranked ia based on a final GPA. If you guys have the former system, how do you distinguish yourself from other med students?

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[DrDre311]

I just learned some schools only give out Pass/Fail and nobody is ranked versus our school where we receive a letter grade for every rotation and our ranked ia based on a final GPA. If you guys have the former system, how do you distinguish yourself from other med students?

Very carefully.

 

[DoctorFunk]

My school uses an honors/high pass/pass/low pass/fail system with absolutely no ranking of students. Actually turns out to be a pain in the rear (assuming you'd rank somewhere in the top 50% anyways) because it still becomes a bit of a competition for the Honors that are given out, meanwhile no residency program can look at the grades you've racked up and figure out whether they are above average for your school or just the product of grade inflation. My best guess is that it makes the Step 1 score for students coming out of my school even more important.

Evidently the issue was voted on by students 5-10 yrs ago and this is what they decided on. Standing on the shoulders of giants...

 

[Ashers]

Evidently the issue was voted on by students 5-10 yrs ago and this is what they decided on. Standing on the shoulders of giants...

I don't think those students way back when had any idea that the clerkship directors would decide to limit the number of honors that could be given out; especially after we're told the first 2 years that you get the grade you get, and if everyone honors, then everyone honors.

 

[MrBurns10]

Many schools are P/F for the first two years, which is why those grades don't matter much to residencies. However, I know of only one school, Cleveland Clinic, that is P/F for clinical rotations (which do matter) as well. Are there others?

 

[Richie Truxillo]

Yeah, most programs are Pass/ High pass / Honors. My school had the docs grade us in 5 categories numerically. Example below. To stand out for residency purposes, it's imperative to rotate at the site you want to end up at. Rocking your USMLE or COMLEX Step I or II helps too. Grades are a distant third. Program Directors really don't place much weight on where you graduated in your class. They care more about whether or not you can get the job done and how you appear when compared on a standardized level (aka USMLE scores)

 

[sharon333]

I think that is a great way to evaluate students with more of a the practicle approach then the book smarts.