How much to worry about my school's "prestige"

[shocker]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I am going to a state school "East Carolina" and I am aware that it is not the most selective of institutions. I am happy with my decision, I chose it over George Washington (not like that is Haaarvard), but I liked the atmosphere at ECU. If I decide to go for a competitive residency: Rad, Derm, Ortho; am I limited? Thanks.

 

[8744]

I am going to a state school "East Carolina" and I am aware that it is not the most selective of institutions. I am happy with my decision, I chose it over George Washington (not like that is Haaarvard), but I liked the atmosphere at ECU. If I decide to go for a competitive residency: Rad, Derm, Ortho; am I limited. Thanks.

Don't worry about it a bit. I go to LSU-Shreveport, another "undistinguished" medical school. Our graduates match into dermatology, radiology, surgery, and the like. In fact, everybody seems to have matched into their chosen specialty. Go figure. If you have good grades and good letters from any accredited medical school you can match into even the most competative specialties If you are a Harvard graduate and your grades suck and your letters tell of your psychotic personality you will not match anywhere.

On the other hand, the "big names" carry some weight, whether or not the extra weight is justified. Consequently all other things being equal the "John Hopkins" seal of approval might be the deciding factor for some programs. Don't sweat it. If you are competative for, say, radiology, you will match somewhere. If you're not competative you won't.

Hey, I hope to match next year into Emergency Medicine. ECU is up there on my short list of places I want to match. In my case, I like the area, it's close to family, the cost of livingis low, and the program is decent.

 

[shocker]

Thanks for the reassurance. ECU has a relatively small class (72) and it appears that the student/faculty relationships are great, these were deciding factors for my med school choice, I would assume the atmosphere is the same for residency. Good Luck Panda.

By the way, the South is extremely under-represented in these forums.

 

[praying4MD]

don't worry about name one bit. if you are happy and focused and determined you will do great and it will reflect in your grades and on clinics. and that last sentence has way too many "ands" but i am too lazy to correct it right now.

anyway, my chief resident and i just had this discussion and we both agreed that "Wherever you are from, the cream rises to the top... every time." ... and then he proceeded to tell me a bunch of stories about how some of his students from ivy league undergrads really screwed up.

take care and work hard. you'll be rewarded.

 

[greets fr. nyc]

agreed.

check out the backgrounds of the chiefs of services at many of the nation premiere hospitals, and you'll see an amazing variety of backgrounds: truly a real variety.

if you go to a "prestigious school" and you train yourself well, you'll be a tremendous asset to your patients and your profession.
if you go to a "not-so-prestigious school" and you've got the right stuff, you'll be able to hold your own anyday, and people WILL recognize that and will tap into your talent.

the point being, build up your skills: really learn to think and reason things out, be a skilled communicator, learn to listen, work well with your team, have grace under pressure, get real world experience and you'll do very well, whatever your goals are, wherever you're from.

best,

 

[lattimer13]

yep. it shouldn't limit you.

University of Arizona here.

lots of people match EM this year.

others in ENT, Rads, plastics, ortho, optho, uro.

 

[don4med]

I have this same issue, I chose ECU over UNC. My rationale is that ECU is cheaper, less competitive and overs similar opportunities

 

[Gleevec]

I am going to a state school "East Carolina" and I am aware that it is not the most selective of institutions. I am happy with my decision, I chose it over George Washington (not like that is Haaarvard), but I liked the atmosphere at ECU. If I decide to go for a competitive residency: Rad, Derm, Ortho; am I limited? Thanks.

ECU is a very good school. You're not limited, but you wont have the "advantages" of the research schools either, at least for derm. Then again, if you kick arse on the boards and get good recs, you'll do awesome. ECU is vastly underrated IMHO, and its tuition is great.

 

[mlw03]

By the way, the South is extremely under-represented in these forums.

That's cuz the literacy rate is rather lacking in da South... to say nothing of access to electricity or the internet.

Just kidding, people... I've lived in Fl my whole life.

To comment on the original question, going to StateU rather than a top 10 doesn't mean you'll be a GP in Podunkville while they're be an NYC neurosurgeon, but I do think that they have an advantage in applying for residencies, same as undergrads from prestigious schools had an advantage over me and my UofFl degree. That said, the advantage of StateU is that you won't be so debt-ridden that you feel like you HAVE to try for a super-high-paying specialty just to deal with all the debt.

 

[Garuda]

The South is underrepresented here, but it's overrepresented on the Jerry Springer show. So everything balances out. 👍

 

[Jaded Soul]

Overall, it won't hurt you. However, keep in mind that there are some residency programs in some specialties that are more apt to take students from one medical school than another. Things like that just tend to happen. As much as the program directors like to tell us it doesn't happen, they are bound to rank people from certain schools higher if that school has a history of producing graduates who turn out to be good residents.

 

[Howard Roark]

just do well
we all take the same step 1 - a 240 = 240 no matter what school you go to
good luck

 

[AtomKr]

Yeah NC!!!!


ECU is a good school and prestige can be overrated anyway (Do you ever feel like some schools are just riding the wave of reputation rather than actually improving?). However, from what I understand it IS geared heavily towards primary care (don't something like 90% of grads go into it?). I"m guessing you're going to hear pro-primary care messages for the next four years and if your passion is to specialize, you may find that difficult.

However, difficult NEVER means impossible and I imagine spectacular scores, etc. carry the same weight no matter where you go. And when you have that spot in a killer residency, PLUS a lot less debt, you'll be happy you chose the school you did. Good luck to you!

 

[Fermata]

Thanks for the reassurance. ECU has a relatively small class (72) and it appears that the student/faculty relationships are great, these were deciding factors for my med school choice, I would assume the atmosphere is the same for residency. Good Luck Panda.

By the way, the South is extremely under-represented in these forums.

A girl from ECU matched into derm last year.

However, it was at the newly-opened ECU program.

 

[Fermata]

Btw, I'd also like to go to ECU.

The atmosphere there is great.

 

[awdc]

just do well
we all take the same step 1 - a 240 = 240 no matter what school you go to
good luck

*sigh* If only that we're true for us Caribbean IMG's.

 

[tubbs]

students from prestigious schools have less to worry cause they already have a huge backing. top 10s carry a lot of weight, but it's not everything. you can still match into the most competitive specialties no matter what US school you come from. of course though, you really have to shine. we're talking very strong letters of recommendation (almost always a must), high board scores, grades, etc for the most competitive programs. Other less competitive programs shouldn't be too much of a problem.

 

[aucgrad110]

*sigh* If only that we're true for us Caribbean IMG's.

you beat me to it