•••quote:•••Originally posted by ramkijai:
•This may seem like an insane question but how do you guys interpret a match list? I am considering two schools: Dartmouth and MCP Hahnemann. This may seem like a no brainer but I recently saw MCP's match list and it seemed way better than Dartmouth's at least in terms of speciality. They had 6 match into Derm, 4 into opthamology, 9 ortho, 12 radiology. dartmouth had 0,0,1,1 respectively. But dartmouth placed 8 into Harvard and 6 in california (about 15% of the class, mostly at UCSF and stanford) while MCP sent only 2 to Cali (1% of the class). So if I want to be dermatologist in California which school would you choose? Thanks for any help.•••••Each class that graduates from a medical school will vary not only in the quality of the students (i.e. board scores), but also in their respective career aspirations. Take a look at also the percentage of students that enter "competitive residencies", not simply the raw numbers. Class sizes can be quite different, i think dartmouths class is smaller.
You can take a look at different year class lists for the schools you are considering also. This might give you a better perspective. If you know you want to dermatology, take a look at the ranking of dermatology under the u.s. news hospitals rankings. Although, this is more relevant for residents, and not medical students,...the people writing your letters of recommendation, research opportunities, etc..., may have more weight if you are coming from a program that excels in dermatology.
Ultimately, it does not really matter. It doesnt matter how the class does, it matters how well YOU do. If you want to do a dermatology residency, you will have to be at the top end of the bell curve in your class, and also on the usmle step 1. So whereever you go, just work your butt off. Especially if you want to go to california.
The best of luck!
