Med school ranking

[slidingDoors]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I am looking for people's opinions on how much they think their medical school's ranking helped/hurt them in the matching process, depneding on whether it was a highly ranked school or not. Thanks

Would you go to a school you'd be happier at or one that's ranked much higher. The difference being a top 5 school or a 40 - 60 school.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I would go to a school I'd be happier at.

For the vast majority of students applying to the vast majority of residencies, the vast majority of variation in applications is based on your USMLE scores, LORs, clinical evaluations and not the school you attended.

It is NOT ignored but generally only makes a very small contribution to your overall application. If you would be happier elsewhere, do better, spend less money, etc. that's where you should go - a school in the Top 50 of US allopathic schools is still considered pretty decent.

 

[colbgw02]

Happier students get better grades and USMLE scores.

 

[orientedtoself]

you need to go where you would be happiest, and that is something only you can determine.

however, in favor of reputation: you will likely have more research opportunities at a "higher ranked" program. you will also be more likely to have big name attendings who can write you letters of rec. take a look at each school's residency match list and compare. you will most likely end up somewhere on that match list for your residency.

i put "higher ranked" in quotations because i'm assuming you are referring to the us news and world report rankings. i would like to remind all that usnwr is just a magazine.

 

[Blade28]

I am looking for people's opinions on how much they think their medical school's ranking helped/hurt them in the matching process, depneding on whether it was a highly ranked school or not. Thanks

Would you go to a school you'd be happier at or one that's ranked much higher. The difference being a top 5 school or a 40 - 60 school.

What other factors are you considering when picking a med school?

Surely more than just rank (US News?)?

Location? Urban vs. suburban vs. rural? Class size? Curriculum? Rotations? Electives? Research opportunities? Time off for Step 1 study?

Etc.

 

[Anka]

From the perspective of an MS4 -- Going to a top ten school helps if you want to go to a top ten residency... it won't make or break you, but all other things being equal it helps. Also, there are a lot of opportunities at the top tier med schools with regard to research, making contacts in your field and so on that don't come quite as easily at the lowest tier schools (although I wouldn't underestimate the regional powerhouses). There's also the "presumption of intelligence" at a top school which, at least talking to med students at nearby less known schools they don't get the benefit of (i.e., your attendings for the most part assume you're smart; if you make a mistake it's not because you're an idiot but because it was a hard thing).

That said, I wouldn't go to a place you're going to miserable at. There also may be a financial trade off, in which case you should probably consider your career goals -- pedegree is more important for certain tracks.

Anka

 

[westside]

I have a similar dilemma. In essence I am choosing between my state school and Georgetown. My state school is not "highly ranked" (in US News etc) but is located in one of the busiest medical industries in the country (as far as patient volume goes). There is not a deep hierarchy so 3rd and 4th year students get their hands on a lot of diverse cases quite often and in general simply get to do a lot in the hospital. On the other hand, Georgetown Univ. Hospital does not seem all that busy (opinions on this are also welcome) and this leads me to feel that clinical rotations are decent/good compared to outstanding at my state school. However, Georgetown med is a bigger and more prestigious name which may allow for more research opportunities and may open more doors for competitive residencies (such as surgical branches in which i am interested). As far locations go I know I will be happy in both locations for different reasons. D.C. is a better location as far as social activity and diversity go, but at my state school I will close to family. So both schools are even in that criteria. Assuming that money is NOT a factor which would you choose? A school with exceptional clinical exposure or one that is may not provide such outstanding clinical experiences but a more prestigious name and degree?

 

[Llenroc]

I think there's a definite heirarchy of:

Top 10 US News school > Top 50 US News school > US MD school > Caribbean MD/DO/IMG

But amongst those ranks, things are less clear cut. People know that Emory, Case Western, and Mt. Sinai are top 50 US News schools, but there's not great differences amongst them in terms of prestige and perceived quality of education as there would be against any one of them and say Johns Hopkins or an unranked, lesser known MD school.

 

[Danbo1957]

Rankings matter to those who care about rankings; therefore, the choice of med school does matter if one wants a specific residency at a hospital where the residency director cares about rankings. So...

But, the place of residency does matter because most doctors will attend/practice in the same hospital/teaching facility or city/state.

 

[Anka]

Sounds like the state school would be a better experience. I'm not sure the Georgetown name is really worth the trade off.

Anka

I have a similar dilemma. In essence I am choosing between my state school and Georgetown. My state school is not "highly ranked" (in US News etc) but is located in one of the busiest medical industries in the country (as far as patient volume goes). There is not a deep hierarchy so 3rd and 4th year students get their hands on a lot of diverse cases quite often and in general simply get to do a lot in the hospital. On the other hand, Georgetown Univ. Hospital does not seem all that busy (opinions on this are also welcome) and this leads me to feel that clinical rotations are decent/good compared to outstanding at my state school. However, Georgetown med is a bigger and more prestigious name which may allow for more research opportunities and may open more doors for competitive residencies (such as surgical branches in which i am interested). As far locations go I know I will be happy in both locations for different reasons. D.C. is a better location as far as social activity and diversity go, but at my state school I will close to family. So both schools are even in that criteria. Assuming that money is NOT a factor which would you choose? A school with exceptional clinical exposure or one that is may not provide such outstanding clinical experiences but a more prestigious name and degree?

 

[CouchPotato]

The other thing that can matter a lot is the PD's experience with other graduates of your medical school (which frequently is n=1 or n=2), if they were good the PD assumes your school is good, if they are lazy, got fired, or were underwhelming then it may be hard to even land an interview, and I've seen this happen with "Top 10" medical schools where the PD just isn't interested in students from those schools anymore. It also seems that one bad graduate outweighs a number of good graduates.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

I have a similar dilemma. In essence I am choosing between my state school and Georgetown. My state school is not "highly ranked" (in US News etc) but is located in one of the busiest medical industries in the country (as far as patient volume goes). There is not a deep hierarchy so 3rd and 4th year students get their hands on a lot of diverse cases quite often and in general simply get to do a lot in the hospital. On the other hand, Georgetown Univ. Hospital does not seem all that busy (opinions on this are also welcome) and this leads me to feel that clinical rotations are decent/good compared to outstanding at my state school. However, Georgetown med is a bigger and more prestigious name which may allow for more research opportunities and may open more doors for competitive residencies (such as surgical branches in which i am interested). As far locations go I know I will be happy in both locations for different reasons. D.C. is a better location as far as social activity and diversity go, but at my state school I will close to family. So both schools are even in that criteria. Assuming that money is NOT a factor which would you choose? A school with exceptional clinical exposure or one that is may not provide such outstanding clinical experiences but a more prestigious name and degree?

Why don't you ask both schools for their match lists for the last 3 years? That should answer your question definitively.

 

[orientedtoself]

westside- what state school vs. georgetown? also, i agree with aprogdirector. look at their residency match lists. in four years, you in all likelihood will match at a program they have sent people to before.

 

[westside]

Hey all,

thanks for your responses. By the way the state school is Univ. of TN (Memphis). If I come up with more questions I will continue to post there or PM one of you all, otherwise thanks for the responses and more advice is always welcome!

 

[orientedtoself]

i would go to tennessee, but you need to make your own decisions

 

[yaah]

Why don't you ask both schools for their match lists for the last 3 years? That should answer your question definitively.

Although, bear in mind that many state schools have lots of students who are not as ROAD specialty obsessed as private med schools. More people just want to do primary care at many state schools.

 

[Pir8DeacDoc]

it probably depends on what your career goals are.

As a state school grad I think things have gone fine for me. I have two friends frmo Georgetown who have done very well for themselves in terms of residency. As long as you do well no matter where you go it will work itself out.