I have been thankful enough to be accepted to an MD school and waitlisted at another. The school I am accepted at has a fantastic atmosphere and I think I would be very happy and successful there but it is lower ranked (70-90ish) and the school I am waitlisted at is a mid tier in the 40s. How much would this influence my chances at getting into more competitive specialties like radiology, optho, etc..
How important is med school ranking
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Radiology, anesthesiology—probably not too much unless they increase in competitiveness
Optho, Ortho, Neurosurgery, Plastics, Derm, Urology—probably would affect your chances and you may need to take a research year
People match into every specialty from every school tier, but the competitive to non competitive match ratio decreases as one goes lower in the rankings. Also residency tier tends to be lower (ex. Matching ENT at Tennessee rather than Mass Eye and Ear)
Optho, Ortho, Neurosurgery, Plastics, Derm, Urology—probably would affect your chances and you may need to take a research year
People match into every specialty from every school tier, but the competitive to non competitive match ratio decreases as one goes lower in the rankings. Also residency tier tends to be lower (ex. Matching ENT at Tennessee rather than Mass Eye and Ear)
housestaffhustle
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There is something to be said about being a big in a small pond but being a "higher ranked" program may yield you marginally more interviews when the time comes. How well you do when applying for residency will depend largely on what you accomplished in med school (Step scores, how many honors on rotations, letters of recommendations, research, AOA membership). Which program you went to will definitely help, but I don't think it'll make or break your applications. Going to the best program but having an awful time and not being as successful won't do you much good. Think about where you want to be for residency as well. There tends to be some regional bias (ex. harder to get to NYC, Boston, or California without already being there).
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Matching is more on you than the school.
There are at least 50 schools int he "T40". Once you get to "T70-90", you might as well say "any US MD school (except the execrable CNU).
No one cares about USNWR ranking except status obsessed and naïve pre-meds and med school deans. The criteria that this rag uses to rank schools are a joke as well.
If you go to Drexel/Albany class schools, you can still match well.
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The problem with this logic is that one cannot assume they will be the 'big fish' at any given school. Being a superstar in college does not automatically lead to being a superstar at a lower ranked school. Because of that, I favor looking at how the average student and bottom 25%ile student does instead. Just my thoughts.
housestaffhustle
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Agreed, I didn't mean that one should expect to be a bigger fish. Mostly just wanted to emphasize that one shouldn't expect medical school ranking alone (or even in large part) to carry one's application for residency. Successful medical students are successful because of how much work they put in. Looking at match lists will give a good sense of where medical students from each school tend to match but it doesn't guarantee a similar match for you. Picking a "higher ranked" program you may not necessarily jive with over a "lower ranked" program you think you'd love may not be worth it even if the match list makes it seem like it will.
I personally had the experience of being a top performer in college and being more average in medical school. It was disappointing, but I found other ways to recognize my own value and self worth beyond rotation grades, which are often highly subjective. I've spoken with colleagues who went to medical schools that were not as highly ranked and noted their system for rotation grades and selection for AOA to be more transparent and holistic. To a certain degree getting interviews for residency comes down to check boxes (number of honors and yes/no AOA). Going somewhere that was higher ranked, but with a more opaque grading system was not so helpful. Will you get preferential treatment at your home program when it comes time for applications and maybe a few interviews you might not have otherwise, yes. Beyond that, I would consider the cost of attendance and overall quality of life during those years.
Bottomline, it should be one's own resilience and work ethic that one relies upon. It's hard not to fret about rankings, but I think most people look back on that stress and realize it was largely unnecessary.
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This has been discussed several times recently:
forums.studentdoctor.net
forums.studentdoctor.net
Bottom line, prestige matters but probably not as much as pre-meds think it does. I doubt there is a significant difference in prestige between schools in the 40s vs. the 70/80s.
Does medical school ranking really matter?
Prestige only matters if you want your career to be in the ivory towers. 90% of the rest of practices/hospitals/employers/partners/patients don't care. I know a handful of highly published, ivory tower pedigree surgeons that I wouldn't let operate on me or my family members.
forums.studentdoctor.net
How much does Med school rank matter for getting good residencies?
Based on match lists, I noticed students at higher ranked schools get more competitive/prestigious residency spots. Does this have more to do with the rank of the medical school, or is it because the students who attend those schools are of a higher caliber and tend to do have better residency...
forums.studentdoctor.net
Bottom line, prestige matters but probably not as much as pre-meds think it does. I doubt there is a significant difference in prestige between schools in the 40s vs. the 70/80s.
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You don't get paid any more as a radiologist from Drexel or Harvard. I echo the sentiment if you want competitive specialties, then you need a competitive application. That means good board scores, class rank, research, etc..all the boxes checked. Only you can make this happen. A star applicant from Toledo, not to pick on any school, will get noticed for residency interviews. Go where you get the best fit. It worked very well for my wife, where she told one top 10 school to stuff it because her interviewer talked about himself the whole time. She went to a lower tier school and all worked out. Good luck and best wishes on whatever you decide.
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deleted314957
This needs to be etched into a titanium plaque and then made the Masthead for SDN.
The same question comes up year after year. Yes it matters. No it's not the end all be all. Yes you can match into any competitive specialty from a low ranked school. Yes it's harder to match into a competitive specialty from a low ranked school compared to someone from a higher ranked school.
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deleted314957
As alluded to before, be very, very careful about hanging your hat on a specialty that is “hot” or “competitive “ today as your reasoning for a residency choice because these things change frequently over time, some quickly and some gradually. eg,-quickly; rad onc, er, derm path, psych, pm&r.
And today, if you are at all business savvy and personable,FP or IM ( DO or MD) probably offers some of the best fiscal opportunities around as well as much more autonomy which many other specialties are sacrificing.
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Exactly. I would be very concerned about entering derm right now even though it’s a “hot specialty” given the…
-Increased scope and supply of midlevel providers “specializing” in dermatology
-Rapid expansion of residency programs since 2005 (similar trajectory to radonc at this point). Apparently rad onc was up there with the most competitive specialties (Yale matched 6 to radonc in 2010..this year it was 2. Many T20 schools matched 0 or 1 to radonc this year)
-Entry of shady/private healthcare systems (see HCA) into derm graduate medical education. HCA created a bunch of EM residencies and look at the field now.
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Competitiveness of a specialty is time-varying. The general sentiment holds. Competitive specialties don't mean specialties that are the highest paying or ones that are most "prestigious." It's very simple. Competitive specialties have the lowest match rates. Competitive specialties can change over time.
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Go wherever you feel like you will be most supported as a student. If you're struggling, will they actually help you or will you feel like you're being punished for asking for help? (Heard from one friend at a "top" school that it was actually like this). I've heard stories from other friends about petty back stabby classmates that are truly the worst. Pick the one that's going to treat you more like a human, and where you think you'll be happier. If you can talk to some current students at both schools (that aren't hand picked by the administration) that would help you get more of the "floofy/feels" type of info on each school too. As someone just finishing up their second year, this is hard enough on a good day. If your gut says one of those schools feels like a better fit go with your gut.
