I passed all my classes this 1st semester, BUT!!

[TOMFighter]

i didn't honor anything, and finished RIGHT AT average.

does this matter? I hear it's all about the board score and nobody really cares about class rank

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[amidoinitrite]

same here, ugh i feel so mediocre

 

[VoiceofReason]

i didn't honor anything, and finished RIGHT AT average.

does this matter? I hear it's all about the board score and nobody really cares about class rank

It is about the board score, and clinical grades more than it is about preclinical. But this is a kind of misleading way to look at things in my opinion. If your best effort is average then i think its more likely than not that your best effort will be average on the usmle also..

can you work harder than you did? do you want to in order to guage your true best effort? Then you know what to do. Your best effort for the rest of pre-clinicals will probably translate into a better board score than you would have otherwise anyway.

tempted to link the "inches" speech. life is a game of inches. fight for every inch cause when you add them all up, it makes the difference between winning and losing.

edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4XTxWNRg0Y it's about football and its pretty dramatic but its a pretty cool scene

 

[TMP-SMX]

That's better than I started. Though I was lower because of anatomy and biochem where I won't even tell you the percentiles. The rest of my classes I was in the top third. Second year, I'm doing even better. I've changed my study habits a bit. Started using BRS for each course (started this year), doing 2-3 page summary sheets for each class (started with phys/biochem last year).

 

[FrickenhugeMD]

i didn't honor anything, and finished RIGHT AT average.

does this matter? I hear it's all about the board score and nobody really cares about class rank

While it is true that board scores mean alot more, the mistake I think people make when they think about board scores is that even though they have been average for everything else, they are magically going to be able to pull off a good score and all the people who are HP or H classes simultaneously do worse on boards. These scores have averages, and half will be above and below them and I can't see there being an inverse relationship between board scores and preclinical grades. Classes for the most part teach you what will be on the boards, or at least some semblance of that. Those who are doing well in their classes will more than likely have a strong correlation to doing well on the boards.

With all that said, there is no way you cant do awesome on the boards, wards and get into a great residency if you are in the middle or bottom of the pack in the first two years. Pre-clinical grades are just a peice of the package, but can help or hurt depending on what your competition did during their preclinical years for a residency spot.

 

[TOMFighter]

While it is true that board scores mean alot more, the mistake I think people make when they think about board scores is that even though they have been average for everything else, they are magically going to be able to pull off a good score and all the people who are HP or H classes simultaneously do worse on boards. These scores have averages, and half will be above and below them and I can't see there being an inverse relationship between board scores and preclinical grades. Classes for the most part teach you what will be on the boards, or at least some semblance of that. Those who are doing well in their classes will more than likely have a strong correlation to doing well on the boards.

With all that said, there is no way you cant do awesome on the boards, wards and get into a great residency if you are in the middle or bottom of the pack in the first two years. Pre-clinical grades are just a peice of the package, but can help or hurt depending on what your competition did during their preclinical years for a residency spot.

I did average and worked very very hard for that - but studied very inefficiently. I used this old study method where I would write things down while I was reading them, and I wasn't able to review things as much as my classmates b/c writing things down takes a lot of time. Now I just read everything and my speed and comprehension have increased. I can now remember the smallest of details in half the time.

So yes, I think I will do WAY ABOVE AVERAGE next semester. I started destroying the last couple of tests. Neuro practical: 93/100. Mean 80


I cannot agree with you that the people with the highest grades will do the best on the USMLE. They probably are more likely to, but it won't necessarily happen. You know as well as I that there is a bull**** component to test taking. Some students have access to questions banks that you don't. They have old tests from their siblings that aren't available to others and they share them with only a select group of people. Moreover, they may tap into something that is very important and emphasized on the test that may be a sort of hidden resource. If you had reviewed it - you would have done as well if not better than them.

 

[TOMFighter]

It is about the board score, and clinical grades more than it is about preclinical. But this is a kind of misleading way to look at things in my opinion. If your best effort is average then i think its more likely than not that your best effort will be average on the usmle also..

can you work harder than you did? do you want to in order to guage your true best effort? Then you know what to do. Your best effort for the rest of pre-clinicals will probably translate into a better board score than you would have otherwise anyway.

tempted to link the "inches" speech. life is a game of inches. fight for every inch cause when you add them all up, it makes the difference between winning and losing.

edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4XTxWNRg0Y it's about football and its pretty dramatic but its a pretty cool scene

I got your point. I study quite a bit, but had to really scrutinize HOW I STUDY and found a gross inefficiency. I am very hopeful with next semester.

 

[Random Anesthesiologist]

My school has Honors, Pass, Fail. At this point I'm at about 80% and honors is 90%.

I keep getting told by the upperclassmen that your ward grades are more important, and to worry about just understanding the material in the classes to be able to do well on the boards.

I'm finding my studying to be more effective, and my exam scores are gradually increasing. Shaky start, strong finish to the semester

Anyway, I don't think I will honor any courses this year but next year, now that my study methods are down, I hope to do much better.