So I'm a first year. The way the transcript at my school works is that it shows your grade, the class median, and the high and low for each module. I have two modules where I set the low score and the rest of them I'm like 5-6 points below the median. I still don't really know what specialty I want to go into, but I'm wondering how much I've hurt my chances of getting into anything competitive. Obviously, I need to start studying harder, but I want to know how much damage I've done already. I hear varying comments on how much the first two years grades matter. Any insight?
My grades suck
- Thread starter HGJOSH
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I keep hearing that unless you want to go into Ortho or Derm or Ophtho (see the trend here?) your grades aren't that important by themselves. I hear that doing well in Step 1 and having good clinical evaluations counts for a lot. It's the most common response I get from upperclassmen.
PS. At least your grades don't suck as much as mine.
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Study harder and study in groups. There is no secret to getting good marks in med school.
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Actually there is a secret to getting good grades in the first two years of medical school- it is called having seen the material before as many of our classmates have. For those of us who unfortunately never took anatomy, physio, cell bio etc, first year can be a total bear.
Good news though-- second year should be better and the clinical years better still.
Poor performance in Year 1 can create problems for AOA and some of the very competitive specialties. However, it does not rule you out completely.
If you are really concerned and want to keep the options open, make sure to kill Step 1. That is much more likely to hurt/help your chances than grades in the first two years (reason being- it is so variable in medical school and Step 1 is seen as the great equalizer).
The reason you may not have heard a consistent answer on how much it matters is that it depends on specialty and medical school. Some specialties are not as concerned about preclinical years and focus on clinical grades. Also, many medical schools weigh the third year as much as the first two combined so you can make up ground in the clinical years if you have the work ethic and diagnostic chops.
Good news though-- second year should be better and the clinical years better still.
Poor performance in Year 1 can create problems for AOA and some of the very competitive specialties. However, it does not rule you out completely.
If you are really concerned and want to keep the options open, make sure to kill Step 1. That is much more likely to hurt/help your chances than grades in the first two years (reason being- it is so variable in medical school and Step 1 is seen as the great equalizer).
The reason you may not have heard a consistent answer on how much it matters is that it depends on specialty and medical school. Some specialties are not as concerned about preclinical years and focus on clinical grades. Also, many medical schools weigh the third year as much as the first two combined so you can make up ground in the clinical years if you have the work ethic and diagnostic chops.
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Do you fee like you KNOW the material in spite of getting poor grades? Or do you think the grades are a reflection of the fact that you haven't mastered the topics covered? Sometimes you can do really well on a test and just not know it, or have a good handle of the stuff but just be a bad test-taker. Does your school have an academic resource center or someone you can talk to about your test-taking strategies? I also found that I did better when I had practiced doing questions instead of just studying. Get some good question books for each class and do practice questions while you study. And provided you don't fail anything, I don't know that you'll be boxed out of too many specialties based on your preclinical grades.
