how important is your med school's rank?

[jjy2103]

does it really matter what med school you go to in terms of where you will end up matching into?

or would it be purely based on board score and gpa?

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[Kiroro]

Yes, I think a school's ranking does matter.

Like, if you are from a top ranked school, you'll have better chance of matching residency program even if you are at the bottom half or even bottom of your class.

But at the same time, even if you are from average med school and you are top in the class, you'll have just as good of a chance of matching your top choice residency...

Plus it also depends on STEP scores and letters of rec too

 

[Rendar5]

GPA? what's that? Most schools I know of have some form of pass/fail system.

now what matters for getting into residencies:

1) LORs. and more specifically, who do you know? Wherever you go, there is probably someone known in the field or someone whose opinion is respected. Doesnt' matter til 3rd and 4th year. But figure out who you need to know. Don't kiss up or anything. Just see if you can do an elective or something w/ the guy so you can get a good letter from them.

2) Board scores

3) The reputation of ur school in the field for the specific region ur applying to for residencies. This has little to do w/ USMLE scores. SUNY Downstate and Einstein are both looked on really well for EM program at a hospital I worked at. Take a look at the US News scores. Pretty far apart. If you get good exposure at your school, then that's good.

4) Did u go to JHU or Harvard? automatic points sometimes, lol. Oh, what's that u say, u went to the 3rd highest ranked school, well, they don't care then =p.


So do u select based on the prestige of ur program (different programs weight things differently, BTW)? Let's see:
1) well, u won't know this as an applicant, and it prolly isn't something u'd figure out looking at ranks.
2) this is entirely in ur control and not dependent on ranks
3) ah, here we go ranks. But sorry, not US News dependant. It's more dependant on local rep of ur school in the specific field. Won't know w/o talking to residency directors at hospitals.
4). Ok, now this is US News & World ranks (but I'd think JHU is ahead of Harvard).

So should u factor in school's rankings to ur decision making process? only if u get into JHU or Harvard. My advice, though, go wherever you'd be happiest. And then u'll learn the best.

 

[Messerschmitts]

Although allowances should be made regarding whether a school's peculiarities and specifics suit you (viz. urban vs. rural, research vs. clinical), I think that yeah, rankings matter, quite a bit.

It's politically correct to bash rankings, but I think they exist for a reason. If you go to a top-ranked school, you are probably going to receive a slightly better education, and be taught by some of the most brilliant faculty in the country. Research and clinical opportunities, equpiment and facilities at your disposal, will also be likewise improved. On the other hand, all med schools in America are "good", so the difference is probably not too bad, but it's still there. Obviously the medical education you receive from UCSF is going to be just a few notches above what you'd get at say...NYMC. Not to bash NYMC of course...then again they did reject my a$$ last year (along with UCSF), so screw them both!!!

I'm going to probably go to the highest ranked school I get into, but with my dearth of impressive EC's, it's probably not going to be all that high (if I even get into one). But

 

[SuperTrooper]

does it really matter what med school you go to in terms of where you will end up matching into?

Yes, good luck getting into neurosurgery or plastics from a DO school.

 

[Rendar5]

haha, don't trust pre-meds who answer this question. They honestly don't know better than you do. As for the person who mentioned DO schools, the problem there is that it's a bit harder to get into surgical residencies off of osteopathic schools. That's not an issue of US News ranks.

 

[Darth Asclepius]

All other things being equal, I think the applicant from the high ranked school has a bit of an edge. However, if you think you will be happier (and probably more successful) at a lower ranked school, I think that's the way to go. Board scores and letters count for more than the name of the school. If you go to Harvard, you can get letters from Harvard physicians which could help you, but you can also do away rotations at the big names to get those letters if you go to a lower ranked school (which, by the way, might have big names in the field you are going into). I don't think they will screen out your residency application based on the name of your school, but they will screen it out based on Step 1 scores and maybe class rank.

Like, if you are from a top ranked school, you'll have better chance of matching residency program even if you are at the bottom half or even bottom of your class.

I think the school name can only get you so far. I really don't think someone in the bottom half of the class at Harvard has a good chance of matching into highly competitive fields unless they kill the boards and have amazing research. Bottom line- go to the best school where you think you will be happy.

 

[DrHuang]

GPA? what's that? Most schools I know of have some form of pass/fail system.

now what matters for getting into residencies:

1) LORs. and more specifically, who do you know? Wherever you go, there is probably someone known in the field or someone whose opinion is respected. Doesnt' matter til 3rd and 4th year. But figure out who you need to know. Don't kiss up or anything. Just see if you can do an elective or something w/ the guy so you can get a good letter from them.

2) Board scores

3) The reputation of ur school in the field for the specific region ur applying to for residencies. This has little to do w/ USMLE scores. SUNY Downstate and Einstein are both looked on really well for EM program at a hospital I worked at. Take a look at the US News scores. Pretty far apart. If you get good exposure at your school, then that's good.

4) Did u go to JHU or Harvard? automatic points sometimes, lol. Oh, what's that u say, u went to the 3rd highest ranked school, well, they don't care then =p.


So do u select based on the prestige of ur program (different programs weight things differently, BTW)? Let's see:
1) well, u won't know this as an applicant, and it prolly isn't something u'd figure out looking at ranks.
2) this is entirely in ur control and not dependent on ranks
3) ah, here we go ranks. But sorry, not US News dependant. It's more dependant on local rep of ur school in the specific field. Won't know w/o talking to residency directors at hospitals.
4). Ok, now this is US News & World ranks (but I'd think JHU is ahead of Harvard).

So should u factor in school's rankings to ur decision making process? only if u get into JHU or Harvard. My advice, though, go wherever you'd be happiest. And then u'll learn the best.

great reply...this guy knows what he's talking about

 

[kinky reggae]

I think it only matters if you are trying to do your residency at a top program.

 

[njbmd]

does it really matter what med school you go to in terms of where you will end up matching into?

or would it be purely based on board score and gpa?

Hi there,
It is not your medical school ranking as much as how well you perform in medical school. The top graduates of a lower ranked medical school are going to go much further than the bottom graduates of a higher ranked medical school.

My medical school was not highly ranked at all but I was AOA and scored very well on USMLE. I was invited to interview at top programs and matched at the program of my choice in the specialty of my choice. It was my performance that got me the interviews and definitely not my school.

Get into the medical school where you can perform the best (location, living conditions, price) and perform well consistantly.

njbmd

 

[Pontifex Maximus]

I think once you're past the upper echelon it doesn't matter too much. Just my opinion.