Med school prestige

[stressed_premed_2022]

I have been very privileged to receive an MD acceptance this cycle and a WL from another MD school. I have always been interested in pursuing a surgical specialty, however after going through lots of threads on the importance of program prestige for getting into one of these competitive specialties, I can’t help but feel discouraged. The school I got an acceptance at is a well known program, but is t100… the other school I got a WL is a newer program and is unranked. My LM score is 73 and had relatively good extracurricular and volunteer hours- I am not saying I am disappointed in the results of my cycle, especially because the WL I received was for my instate school (which would be very inexpensive and I would be able to live at home) but I just hate to think that my options are already being limited because of the schools I got into. It’s not that I am chasing prestige, I have just been really interested in surgery throughout my undergrad and I don’t want the results of this cycle to dictate my career opportunities. I have also heard that you do not turn down an acceptance to a USMD and this can look very bad as a reapplicant- I was not considering this, but if I truly wanted to have a chance to get a competitive specialty it seems like the ship has sailed already?? Just need some advice I guess…

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[Goro]

Matching is more on you than the school.

And saying T100 is the same thing as saying "an American medical school".

 

[KnightDoc]

No. The ship has certainly not sailed, but you also shouldn't start medical school with a "surgery or bust" mentality.

Almost every starts med school reaching for the stars, just like so many start UG thinking they are destined for med school. Things tend to shake out along the way, with many ending up in obgyn, peds, IM, or other less competitive specialties, either by choice or otherwise.

If you start out thinking it's a competitive specialty or you are a failure, you are putting a tremendous amount of pressure on yourself and are setting yourself up for disappointment. Just go in with the attitude that you are going to do your best and let whatever is going to happen happen. People from all tiers of school get into all types of specialties every year. Just look at the match lists from the schools you are considering.

Your experience this cycle shows that you are better than over 60% of everyone else applying. That said, the competition is going to be even more brutal in med school, since you will now only be competing with the winners from the prior round. Just do the best you can, and don't measure yourself by the rank USNWR assigns to your school, or what specialty you end up in. You are going to be a US MD. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

 

[pazzer2]

Chasing prestige is pointless. You can match into surgery from any medical school. Just focus on academics, and put the work in. For surgery your performance on clinical rotations will matter. Plus your ability to get along with the surgical attendings.