How important is ranking?

[PatriciaNg]

Can anyone tell me how the ranking of the medical school you go to affect your future?

 

[dynx]

I think everyone knows that the worse the ranking the better your chances of getting a good residency. Apply to a bunch of high ranking schools like Harvard though incase you don't get into the low ranking school of your choice.🙄

 

[Naphtali]

Originally posted by dynx
I think everyone knows that the worse the ranking the better your chances of getting a good residency. Apply to a bunch of high ranking schools like Harvard though incase you don't get into the low ranking school of your choice.🙄

2 things:

1. I think you mean "the better the ranking..."

2. That aside, I'm not sure I totally agree. It's true only up to a point. Most people would tell you that you have a better chance of getting in to a presigious residency coming from Harvard than from U. North Dakota. (Not that ND isn't a good school in its own ways...)

But beyond certain limits, I don't think the theory holds. There are a lot of other factors that play into it: basic science (MSI and MSII) grades, USMLE step 1 score (big!), clinical rotation grades, LOR's from rotation attendings (big!), away rotations, and so on. Yes, the school matters, but it's certainly not enough. I'm not sure it's a good reason to pick a school; people match into competitive residencies from lesser known schools all the time.

-Naphtali

 

[Dr. Hugh Hefner]

lol....obviously naph doesn't recognize the sarcas face 😛 😛 😛

 

[dynx]

I thought the sarcasm was obvious but I see that I was wrong. In the future I will label it as such:
""Sarcastic remark" <--------*all readers please note that the indicated phrase and/or sentence and/or paragraph is sarcastic*
🙄