How important is grading system when picking schools?

[md-2020]

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publication doesn't equal research experience..

True but it is the only way we have of roughly approximating research accomplishments. Schools won't exactly release their acceptees' apps 😀

 

[Glazedonutlove]

True but it is the only way we have of roughly approximating research accomplishments. Schools won't exactly release their acceptees' apps 😀

yeah but another way is to look at msar. Pretty much always 90%+ matriculants (or accepted students idk which) have research experience at the top schools

 

[Affiche]

True but it is the only way we have of roughly approximating research accomplishments. Schools won't exactly release their acceptees' apps 😀

Um...what? They published via MSAR that 98% of their class has research experience.

 

[md-2020]

Um...what? They published via MSAR that 98% of their class has research experience.

yeah but another way is to look at msar. Pretty much always 90%+ matriculants (or accepted students idk which) have research experience at the top schools

Probably should have looked at that more closely! I kinda just breezed thru the stats only.

I stand corrected 😀

 

[efle]

Also wedgie I think you're overdoing it. The med students from tough undergrads I've spoken to said their MS1 was way more chill than their last couple years in college, and that it wasn't until steps and MS3 that they found it tougher

 

[Glazedonutlove]

Yeah I didn't notice that section till later either lol

 

[Glazedonutlove]

Also wedgie I think you're overdoing it. The med students from tough undergrads I've spoken to said their MS1 was way more chill than their last couple years in college, and that it wasn't until steps and MS3 that they found it tougher

maybe they also thought first year was difficult until they got to 2nd and 3rd

 

[Nietzschelover]

I dunno man I wasn't freaking out about lack of research until coming on here and seeing it mentioned as an unofficial requirement for Top 20s
I think SDN creates neuroticism via informing overachievers of their app flaws

Absolutely. The WAMC syndrome really adds to it. I think part of what happens is that no one wants to be the person who advises someone that he or she is safe and then they get shut out or they get shut out from the level of schools they have their heart set on attending, so the natural instinct is to zero in all the potentially slightly yellow flags.

But I wonder if there does end up being a real distortion effect. Based on the criteria used, I think I would be more suspicious and concerned about candidates who seemed to have ZERO app flaws. Just not healthy to be that superhuman by age 21/22. And if the absolutely brilliant applicants have hit every single app angle out of the park what exactly does that mean? I sure as heck don't necessarily think that projects to them being better physicians, and I actually wonder if there is a threshold beyond which such profiles are negative indicators. There has to be something to developing into a human being as opposed to stellar bullet points on a piece of paper. Of course, Foucault wrote long ago that the concept of 'human being' would become virtually meaningless, as well as the idea of people having real identities the way we prefer to think of having an identity.

 

[WedgeDawg]

...well duh, if you know that students were neurotic to begin with, then there can be no conclusions as to which system is "better," since "better" here would mean decreasing neuroticism, so obviously the P/F warriors win. That tells us nothing about how the systems compare to each other. Since performance is largely the same, we can only responsibly conclude that they're pretty much the same damn thing. Stop this nonsense with surmising that graded schools will suddenly make everyone a gunner. It doesn't. Neurotic, close-minded people think that and will thus believe that. Stupid premeds will obsess over grading systems and rank and ignore more important school characteristics when making a decision. Sad ****

I didn't say that grading is going to make everyone a gunner. I just said that it had a higher chance of the "gunning" coming out. I also don't think I'm close-minded, and I'm sorry that you think I am. I also don't think that you should make the grading system the primary factor (or anywhere close to) in your decision, I just don't think it should be ignored.

Also wedgie I think you're overdoing it. The med students from tough undergrads I've spoken to said their MS1 was way more chill than their last couple years in college, and that it wasn't until steps and MS3 that they found it tougher

Perhaps. I'm just relaying my experiences and my preferences. I didn't mean to antagonize anyone. I just knew that a P/F system was what I wanted and that being in that type of environment is good for me. Again, if that doesn't suit you (or whomever), that's totally fine! To each their own - med school isn't one size fits all.

 

[Nietzschelover]

Wedgedawg, you are the real deal. Congrats on being in your first days of med school at a great place.

 

[efle]

But dude if 10 hours a day is at the low end of daily MS1 studying you're going to burn out HARD

 

[WedgeDawg]

But dude if 10 hours a day is at the low end of daily MS1 studying you're going to burn out HARD

Wish me luck!

 

[efle]

Brb switching career aspirations

 

[BamaNicole]

This is like, literally, a perfect example of what I described one post above yours.

Kinda of but I gave an example of why I thinking being p/f is useful.

I'm sure you enjoy life now... you're in the "slide" phase. Will you be happy during clinical year when your entire GPA / class rank / AOA depends on a largely subjective grading system? I would also call that "memorizing every detail" striving for a higher level of competence. Would you prefer if a doctor taking care of your loved one gave less than 100% to increasing their fund of knowledge in medical school? There is definitely a place for volunteering, early clinical experience, and work-life balance - but preclinical students will never have another opportunity to absorb so much book knowledge in their careers, and many students at graded schools still do ECs.

Edit: to clarify since i think that may have come off as overly harsh and one-sided, my stance on P/F is that it's not an important issue either way when choosing a school - i merely want to provide reassurance to prospective students that going to a graded preclinical school is not as terrible as SDN usually makes it out to be, and even has its own advantages.

Who says people aren't giving 100%?

I'm at a graded school we have been collaborative and I've done things like volunteering and clinic. Not sure what you're trying to brag about here

No one is actually bragging. I know that if I was in a graded system I would definitely feel the need to always keep up grades perhaps on a level where I wouldn't feel like I could do anything outside of school. Good for you that you did. I'm speaking simply for myself.