is low passing still passing??

[crystalgreen]

---

Members don't see this ad.

hi guys, in a school with honor, high pass, pass, low pass and fail...is "low passing" passing the the class? if it's not, why do they have "fail"? it's so confusing. if one gets a low pass in a class, is it really bad for residency? what can one do to make it up? is this gonna greatly destroy his/her chances of getting a great residency?
thanks!

 

[Perrotfish]

hi guys, in a school with honor, high pass, pass, low pass and fail...is "low passing" passing the the class? if it's not, why do they have "fail"? it's so confusing. if one gets a low pass in a class, is it really bad for residency? what can one do to make it up? is this gonna greatly destroy his/her chances of getting a great residency?
thanks!

This is a school specific queston. Many schools have a 'conditional pass' grade which means that your grade is low enough that you need to do some kind of remediation but high enough that that remediation might be in the form of a makeup test or assgnment rather than repeating the entire course. Depending on the school low pass could mean that, or it could just be a low grade that allows you to pass for the course with no remediation at all.

If it's just a pass: residencies won't care (much) if it's a preclinical grade, they will care if it's a grade form one of your rotations. If it's a conditional pass they will probably care at least a little no matter what.

It might be that the school calls it low pass rather than conditional pass to remove some of the stigma attached to a coditional pass. Just a thought

 

[crystalgreen]

This is a school specific queston. Many schools have a 'conditional pass' grade which means that your grade is low enough that you need to do some kind of remediation but high enough that that remediation might be in the form of a makeup test or assgnment rather than repeating the entire course. Depending on the school low pass could mean that, or it could just be a low grade that allows you to pass for the course with no remediation at all.

If it's just a pass: residencies won't care (much) if it's a preclinical grade, they will care if it's a grade form one of your rotations. If it's a conditional pass they will probably care at least a little no matter what.

It might be that the school calls it low pass rather than conditional pass to remove some of the stigma attached to a coditional pass. Just a thought

I just PMed you and yes, its preclinical

 

[tremulousNeedle]

Again, a very school specific question.

At my old med school, which used the same grading system, a low pass was still a passing grade, but you were only allow one in each of your first two years (pre-clinical years). Anything more than one low pass and you had to repeat the year.

 

[cubssox2000]

Some schools might use Low Pass as a way to differentiate if a student has to repeat classes or not. For instance, having one low pass could mean nothing, however two low passes in one year will make you repeat the year. This would differentiate from a Fail because one fail would automatically force you to repeat the year.


Gah! TremulousNeedle! You beat me too it!

 

[hurdlepup]

A-B-C-D-F

call it what it is...

but hey, the "pass/fail" is trendy, right?

 

[airplanes]

A-B-C-D-F

call it what it is...

but hey, the "pass/fail" is trendy, right?

True pass/fail would be awesome.

Low passing at my school means you get put on academic probation, basically.

 

[mglavin]

In the age before time medical schools graded students with the primitive ABCDF system. This was deemed unfair too those receiving poor grades because all medical students are by default solid B+ students. Hence the great powers at the time moved to change the grading system to Pass and Fail and it was good. It was not long however before medical students who excel in complaining changed to system to include an honors grade for those among them who are truly outstanding. Thus the honors, pass, fail system was born. In time those who could not easily achieve honors began to complain that a middle ground must be included and the grade of high pass arrived. The administrative powers eventually moved to include a marginal grade so as to reduce the number of failing students and some such nonsense. Now we live in the enlightened modern age of honors, high pass, pass, marginal and fail. Twas truly a long and epic journey from the vastly inferior ABCDF system and we pray that those days of injustice and woe will never return.

 

[hurdlepup]

In the age before time medical schools graded students with the primitive ABCDF system. This was deemed unfair too those receiving poor grades because all medical students are by default solid B+ students. Hence the great powers at the time moved to change the grading system to Pass and Fail and it was good. It was not long however before medical students who excel in complaining changed to system to include an honors grade for those among them who are truly outstanding. Thus the honors, pass, fail system was born. In time those who could not easily achieve honors began to complain that a middle ground must be included and the grade of high pass arrived. The administrative powers eventually moved to include a marginal grade so as to reduce the number of failing students and some such nonsense. Now we live in the enlightened modern age of honors, high pass, pass, marginal and fail. Twas truly a long and epic journey from the vastly inferior ABCDF system and we pray that those days of injustice and woe will never return.

indeed fair sir or madam.

 

[amine2086]

In the age before time medical schools graded students with the primitive ABCDF system. This was deemed unfair too those receiving poor grades because all medical students are by default solid B+ students. Hence the great powers at the time moved to change the grading system to Pass and Fail and it was good. It was not long however before medical students who excel in complaining changed to system to include an honors grade for those among them who are truly outstanding. Thus the honors, pass, fail system was born. In time those who could not easily achieve honors began to complain that a middle ground must be included and the grade of high pass arrived. The administrative powers eventually moved to include a marginal grade so as to reduce the number of failing students and some such nonsense. Now we live in the enlightened modern age of honors, high pass, pass, marginal and fail. Twas truly a long and epic journey from the vastly inferior ABCDF system and we pray that those days of injustice and woe will never return.

lol. that's called progress.

 

[mTOR]

In the age before time medical schools graded students with the primitive ABCDF system. This was deemed unfair too those receiving poor grades because all medical students are by default solid B+ students. Hence the great powers at the time moved to change the grading system to Pass and Fail and it was good. It was not long however before medical students who excel in complaining changed to system to include an honors grade for those among them who are truly outstanding. Thus the honors, pass, fail system was born. In time those who could not easily achieve honors began to complain that a middle ground must be included and the grade of high pass arrived. The administrative powers eventually moved to include a marginal grade so as to reduce the number of failing students and some such nonsense. Now we live in the enlightened modern age of honors, high pass, pass, marginal and fail. Twas truly a long and epic journey from the vastly inferior ABCDF system and we pray that those days of injustice and woe will never return.

 

[Random Anesthesiologist]

In the age before time medical schools graded students with the primitive ABCDF system. This was deemed unfair too those receiving poor grades because all medical students are by default solid B+ students. Hence the great powers at the time moved to change the grading system to Pass and Fail and it was good. It was not long however before medical students who excel in complaining changed to system to include an honors grade for those among them who are truly outstanding. Thus the honors, pass, fail system was born. In time those who could not easily achieve honors began to complain that a middle ground must be included and the grade of high pass arrived. The administrative powers eventually moved to include a marginal grade so as to reduce the number of failing students and some such nonsense. Now we live in the enlightened modern age of honors, high pass, pass, marginal and fail. Twas truly a long and epic journey from the vastly inferior ABCDF system and we pray that those days of injustice and woe will never return.

We have H/P/F at our institution. No students complained about it, and many had that "one test" where they squeaked by on the P level.

Gunnerism is basically nonexistent at my school (not that there aren't overachievers - big difference). Weekly emails of study guides people shared, note sharing, etc.

I'd like to think our grading system is partly responsible for the air of camaraderie in my class, and I'm certainly not going to knock it. I can't help but feel those that do knock it may have a twinge of jealousy, perhaps.

 

[theRighteousDoc]

Does the total grade (out of 5) plays a rule in choosing a residency program, or the USMLE is the major factor that determines whether u can get your favorite program??

 

[Instatewaiter]

Your pre-clinical grades play very little into the residency process. Some speculate that surgery programs really care about your anatomy grade but outside of that, most programs don't care much about pre-clinical grades. For the most part, you want to make sure there are as few red flags as possible during the first 2 years. Unfortunately for the OP, "marginal pass"ing or "low pass"ing does not look good. Perhaps this may not play a role at all in how he does from here on out especially if his other grades have been stellar. If he was barely passing his other pre-clinical courses and low passed this one, he is in a much worse condition than if he was honoring his other courses and just happened to low pass this one.

In the end though, your board scores and third year grades are unquestionably the most important parts of your application. Your preclinical grades aren't very important except from the standpoint that they predict your board scores and that you don't want redflags.

 

[theRighteousDoc]

Your pre-clinical grades play very little into the residency process. Some speculate that surgery programs really care about your anatomy grade but outside of that, most programs don't care much about pre-clinical grades. For the most part, you want to make sure there are as few red flags as possible during the first 2 years. Unfortunately for the OP, "marginal pass"ing or "low pass"ing does not look good. Perhaps this may not play a role at all in how he does from here on out especially if his other grades have been stellar. If he was barely passing his other pre-clinical courses and low passed this one, he is in a much worse condition than if he was honoring his other courses and just happened to low pass this one.

In the end though, your board scores and third year grades are unquestionably the most important parts of your application. Your preclinical grades aren't very important except from the standpoint that they predict your board scores and that you don't want redflags.

👍 cool, that means if i screwed my first 2 years I sill got a chance in my 3rd and 4th ..... sweet 😉

 

[sunset823]

In the age before time medical schools graded students with the primitive ABCDF system. This was deemed unfair too those receiving poor grades because all medical students are by default solid B+ students. Hence the great powers at the time moved to change the grading system to Pass and Fail and it was good. It was not long however before medical students who excel in complaining changed to system to include an honors grade for those among them who are truly outstanding. Thus the honors, pass, fail system was born. In time those who could not easily achieve honors began to complain that a middle ground must be included and the grade of high pass arrived. The administrative powers eventually moved to include a marginal grade so as to reduce the number of failing students and some such nonsense. Now we live in the enlightened modern age of honors, high pass, pass, marginal and fail. Twas truly a long and epic journey from the vastly inferior ABCDF system and we pray that those days of injustice and woe will never return.

😆👍

btw, a recent NYTimes article said that, along with silly grade inflation techniques, some (top) law schools are moving to pass/fail grading - and imagine, this is in a field where your grades determine WHETHER you get a job or not, not where/what field you get a job in, as in medicine. And they don't have an equivalent for the USMLE either (bar exam is taken after the whole recruitment stage). This will be interesting. (sorry for those of you who hate lawyers, the vast majority of my friends are in the legal arena).

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/business/22law.html?pagewanted=2&ref=general&src=me

 

[WellWornLad]

...and imagine, this is in a field where your grades determine WHETHER you get a job or not, not where/what field you get a job in, as in medicine.

I'd argue that it's a field in which where you go to school determines whether you get a job or not.