How important is class rank IF the school only reports who is in the 1st Q?

[subdermallight]

I go to a "true" pass/fail school but they do report your rank only if you are in the 1st Q. In this situation I'm unclear how to interpret the importance of rank in terms of the NRMP if you are not in the 1st Q.. Will PDs know that my school reports 1st Q and that I didn't make the cut (from seeing other apps from the same school maybe)? Let's say that's true and they know somehow my Q is less than or equal to 75.. how important is that info? I'm shooting for a competitive IM spot

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[CidHighwind]

What do you think? Honestly class rank only matters if you’re first or if you’re last

 

[subdermallight]

What do you think? Honestly class rank only matters if you’re first or if you’re last

Makes sense.. So when rank is one of the top things PDs say is important.. Isn’t a separate thing to say “High rank is important” vs “Not being low rank is important”? Would you say both are 50-50 important or is one statement weighted more than the other? It’s weird but the way my school reports rank I think makes this nuance become relevant.

So like if not being low ranked is more what they are looking for, so 70/30 low rank vs high rank, then the way my school reports rank really helps out everyone in the bottom and somewhat helps the whole bottom 3/4 of the class. If high rank is more important like 70/30 high rank vs low rank, then the whole P/F is pretty much a farce and only helps the bottom ranked students from getting penalized. Whoever doesn’t make the top Q gets a significant negative effect and aiming for it becomes a lot more important.

 

[CidHighwind]

Being AOA/first quartile is better than not. Being last quartile hurts, but if for whatever reason you still have good scores on Step and didn’t fail anything, most non-prestigious places won’t care too much.

 

[subdermallight]

Being AOA/first quartile is better than not. Being last quartile hurts, but if for whatever reason you still have good scores on Step and didn’t fail anything, most non-prestigious places won’t care too much.

Oh sorry I’m actually only talking about pre-clinical years. We are ranked normally for AOA etc during years 3&4

 

[CidHighwind]

Oh sorry I’m actually only talking about pre-clinical years. We are ranked normally for AOA etc during years 3&4

Same thing applies..

 

[slowthai]

I highly highly doubt they will be looking that intensely at whether you made it into the top quartile. Just avoid being in the bottom if you can.

I'm willing to bet loan money that a great step score will more than carry you even with a relatively low rank. In the most competitive fields (derm, IR, surgical subs), class rank is irrelevant. The only thing that'll help you is AOA (which may depend on rank depending on the school), but not having it shouldn't cause your cortisol levels to rise at all.

My school's in houses are heavy on the low yield, so I wouldn't bother with trying to juggle studying for the boards and trying to be top quartile. I'd rather use my remaining energy doing research or something else. Just my take.

 

[slowthai]

AOA does make a difference in competitive fields. My step is a little above average/at the average for my field and I was getting top 10 interviews versus friends with similar scores and no AOA. My LORs from aways even included "work ethic and intelligence placed Pepe in top 25% of class." In my experience, getting top quartile made up for not having the highest step score.

Not having AOA/not being top quartile won't prevent you from matching, but having them will increase your competitiveness and is something that is looked at

Absolutely, AOA is a huge plus. I'm just saying that it's not the end all be all that some people make it out to be. AOA is one of multiple factors (research, school name, connections) that can make you stand out if your board score's not astronomical.

On the subject of class rank, I can't dispute your experience, but it's really not something that's harped on as something that's critical to matching in the most competitive fields/programs, as you said. It will help, but similar to AOA, you shouldn't stress it you don't make it into the top 25. I think for most, you have greater control over your step score than you do over attaining AOA/high class rank.