medical school factor

[ssingh0]

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How much of a factor does the med school play in matching into the very competitive specialties (ophtho, rad, ENT, anesthesiology, etc.) ?

Not top ten versus bottom of the list, but maybe USC vs SLU, etc.

This is assuming your stats are otherwise competitive

 

[Gfunk6]

It makes a difference if there is a large gap in perceived "prestige" between two schools. Exactly how much depends heavily on the speciality in question as well as the institution. Take a look @ the 2006-7 resident directory in the RadOnc. 21 of 130 spots went to Harvard/Yale grads.

By no means is prestige the end all be all. But it does make a difference.

 

[Arctic Char]

yeah, some applications will always have fairy-dust sprinkled on them (i.e. what school they went to), but aside from those very top few, good boards are good boards (same goes for letters and grades to their particular extent). keep in mind the fact that students at those top schools are also top students, who work as hard to get into their field of choice as they did to get into their school of choice.

but, IMHO, any PD who inordinately judges an applicant by the school they went to is either an ignorant snob, or just plain ignorant. and i wouldn't want to work for either.

i hope i don't get blasted on this

 

[yaah]

It makes a difference if there is a large gap in perceived "prestige" between two schools. Exactly how much depends heavily on the speciality in question as well as the institution. Take a look @ the 2006-7 resident directory in the RadOnc. 21 of 130 spots went to Harvard/Yale grads.

By no means is prestige the end all be all. But it does make a difference.

This is a bit of specious reasoning though. It presumes that applicants from every med school apply to or have interest in rad onc programs with the same intensity as harvard and yale grads. My med school, for example, didn't have anyone who was even interested in it.

And the above poster was right, PDs don't judge based on school of origin. It is but one factor, and one that is less important than your abilities, grades, references, interests, interview skill, etc.

Do not decide on what med school you want to go to based on their match list or what US News says is its "prestige."

 

[Gfunk6]

This is a bit of specious reasoning though. It presumes that applicants from every med school apply to or have interest in rad onc programs with the same intensity as harvard and yale grads.

Well there were a total of 386 applicants this year for ~130 spots. There are a lot of DO and IMG (especially) applicants as well. Clearly there is not an equal interest in this relatively unknown field @ all med schools. However, the match rate for your average state school in RadOnc is not very good. I say this an applicant in the last cycle from a state school. I think many applicants would agree with this opinion.

Prestige is a factor -- I would consider it in my decision if you want to keep your options open for competitive residencies.

 

[cdql]

I dunno...

I feel prestige is a factor if you know you're already going to honor all your classes, get 280 on your Step 1, honor all your rotations, receive the best LORs, and accomplish world-class research in the field of your choice.

In this case, then yes, going to a higher ranked school would improve your options.

Otherwise, I'm fairly sure the criteria I listed earlier are much more important. And those are all things that are dependent on the applicant's abilities and not the reputation of the school.

 

[yaah]

Well there were a total of 386 applicants this year for ~130 spots. There are a lot of DO and IMG (especially) applicants as well. Clearly there is not an equal interest in this relatively unknown field @ all med schools. However, the match rate for your average state school in RadOnc is not very good. I say this an applicant in the last cycle from a state school. I think many applicants would agree with this opinion.

That's fair. But I am concerned that hearing stats like this gives the impression to people that the med school was the deciding factor on program rank lists and interviews. Whereas I stipulate that it is not. Competitive students go to competitive schools and end up with competitive residencies. If you eliminate the competitive school factor the equation doesn't change much.

 

[BKN]

That's fair. But I am concerned that hearing stats like this gives the impression to people that the med school was the deciding factor on program rank lists and interviews. Whereas I stipulate that it is not. Competitive students go to competitive schools and end up with competitive residencies. If you eliminate the competitive school factor the equation doesn't change much.

Right, as a PD, I don't care where they went to school. Show me the numbers and the LORs. Harvard's nice,but only because their students usually have pretty good numbers.

 

[Gfunk6]

BKN, I will of course defer to your experience in residency selection. I don't know if it's just sour grapes on my part or what but it does seem (for fields with significiantly fewer residents than EM) that prestige plays a big role.

Yaah, I see what you are saying. I do agree that in the vast majority of cases school prestige is not the "main" factor or even close. But I think it can play heavily in your favor if all other things are equal.