Never Thought I'd Feel So Average...

[Guevara M.D.]

I graduated near the top of my high school. I graduated near the top of my undergraduate college. I was a member of Tri-Beta, Phi Theta Kappa and AKD. I never had to try hard in school. I would understand things readily and study minimally for great results. All my friends think I'm the smartest of the group. My whole family thinks I'm brilliant.

Then I came to Medical School.

Now I feel incredibly ordinary and not special at all. I study ALL the time and still get nothing above the 79-80. I got an 86 on a Biochemistry test a couple of weeks ago and felt like I woke up with big boobs on my face.

Whenever I see that histogram I'm always at the average region. I hear classmates bitching about getting a 92 and I feel like a loser because right now I'd make sweet love to every faculty member to get a 92 on an exam.

Did anyone here go through that? Or is this reality hitting me in the nads at last?

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[45408]

Join the club, we've been waiting for you. Despite the vibe that SDN gives, many people here are still fairly average.

 

[ChiDO]

felt like I woke up with big boobs on my face.

Is this bad?

 

[ZagDoc]

Whenever I see that histogram I'm always at the average region. I hear classmates bitching about getting a 92 and I feel like a loser because right now I'd make sweet love to every faculty member to get a 92 on an exam.

Just remember, there's everyone BELOW you on that histogram in your class as well, and who that comprises may surprise you. And they've also been honors students their entire life. The people who brag (subtly disguised as 'bitching') about their scores or how much they study most often aren't the smart ones\, and often aren't scoring as high as they may make you think.

The sad reality of life is that there's always someone better than you. Smarter, stronger, faster, funnier, etc. You just have to look hard enough. It's a difficult transition because as a pre-med you're conditioned to always gauge yourself against the mean. But in medical school, you'll destroy yourself if you keep doing that since the intellectual caliber of your peers steps up significantly. You need to turn your focus inward and concentrate on maximizing YOUR OWN learning. If it's in the cards, the grades, awards, other junk will come. But if they don't, as long as you're focusing on personal excellence as opposed to excellence compared to your peers, you can still take solace in the fact you are preparing yourself to be the most competent clinician possible.

In the end, its not about the grades, its about the patients.

 

[MSSM2013]

I had a different experience. I had a paltry 3.5 GPA in highschool and my college GPA wasn't better (3.5), and I always have to work very hard.

Now, I still work as hard, but I am averaging 88-92 on exams and usually beat the mean by 1 standard deviation.

 

[scrambizle]

I had a different experience. I had a paltry 3.5 GPA in highschool and my college GPA wasn't better (3.5), and I always have to work very hard.

Now, I still work as hard, but I am averaging 88-92 on exams and usually beat the mean by 1 standard deviation.

toot toot...

 

[psipsina]

Join the club, we've been waiting for you. Despite the vibe that SDN gives, many people here are still fairly average.

Seriously. By the law of the bell curve most premeds, who have always been at the top of the pack, will be average (or gasp below average) in medical school. Focus on becoming a great physician and pay less attention to the numbers. Freaking out about being average just wastes precious sleep/study time.

 

[Jemmy]

I had the same experience ,, In high school I used to be the top in my class but now in medical school I hardly reach the top 30 .

But I think that the existence of someone better than you can be a motivator and encouraging concept, and the trick is how to use all your efforts to improve yourself regardless your peers.
the most important thing is to maximize your efforts ,,,,then you will be satisfied whatever the results .

 

[sunset823]

ha. I've been perfectly happy being around the mean ever since my gunner-triggered nervous breakdown freshman year of college. I was close to the top of my class in high school, but that broke down fast when I hit orgo at a very competitive pre-med school. After said breakdown and my freshman year grades, I decided measuring myself to other people was not worth it, and my grades climbed when I did my own thing junior and senior year.

I was an iffy candidate for med school based on my science GPA, but so far I'm well above MPL in all my classes (except biochem - bah humbug). Meanwhile, our high school valedictorian gave up on medicine altogether, and a high school classmate who graduated with a (slightly) lower GPA than me got into a top tier med school straight out of college and is an M4 applying for residencies in ortho while I'm still a lowly M1. Am I licking my wounds? No. I'm a different person, and I'm happy with my life experiences even though I may not have excelled in everything I touched.

Reality hits you, fast. The people who don't face a challenge till med school (or, for some people, intern year/residency) may take it worse than us who got the sh** in our face earlier, but it happens to everyone, and it can only make you stronger.

 

[XRanger]

seriously...I'm used to having C+/B- average in undergrad, but now in med school it's more like B+/A- average. I got 88 on a test and i'm in the bottom half of the class. thank god for pass/fail grading or I would've been a lot more stressed out

 

[Perrotfish]

I graduated near the top of my high school. I graduated near the top of my undergraduate college. I was a member of Tri-Beta, Phi Theta Kappa and AKD. I never had to try hard in school. I would understand things readily and study minimally for great results. All my friends think I'm the smartest of the group. My whole family thinks I'm brilliant.

Then I came to Medical School.

Now I feel incredibly ordinary and not special at all. I study ALL the time and still get nothing above the 79-80. I got an 86 on a Biochemistry test a couple of weeks ago and felt like I woke up with big boobs on my face.

Whenever I see that histogram I'm always at the average region. I hear classmates bitching about getting a 92 and I feel like a loser because right now I'd make sweet love to every faculty member to get a 92 on an exam.

Did anyone here go through that? Or is this reality hitting me in the nads at last?

Apparently I went to a very different undergrad from y'all. I felt like I worked way harder in undergrad and I struggled just to graduate. I remember in Ugrad one class where I studied as hard as I've studied for most med school exams and then got a 12 (out of 100). In med school I'm working hard just to hit the average, but at least I get to sleep every night and at the end of the day I pass the friggin class.

 

[Prime2000]

At my med school, I scored an 88 on an exam. While it wasn't an 'A' I still felt good and started dancin' a jig Will Smith style (in the privacy of my own apt). Then I found out the class average was a 91 on the test and I was still below average.

 

[SirGecko]

Apparently I went to a very different undergrad from y'all. I felt like I worked way harder in undergrad and I struggled just to graduate. I remember in Ugrad one class where I studied as hard as I've studied for most med school exams and then got a 12 (out of 100). In med school I'm working hard just to hit the average, but at least I get to sleep every night and at the end of the day I pass the friggin class.

I agree with this. Maybe it was my major (BME) or just my school but I always felt more inferior to my fellow students in undergrad than I do now.

Of course that could just be long habituation of the idea (again through my undergrad experience) that I am not a unique and special snowflake and that there are other people out there just like me. (smarter even!)

Chin up OP. I know that when I went from high school (smartest person in the world) to undergrad (everyone knows more than me!) it was a shock but I got over it. You will as well and I think you will be a better person for it. Nothing is more annoying than someone who has never been felt humbled in comparison to their peers.

 

[unsung]

Do you know what "average" means? It means 1/2 of your class is scoring worse than you. That's one out of every two people you run into. And these people are trying just as hard as you. Someone's the last of the class. Think about how that person feels. That's a gigantic mountain to climb.

I'm in the same boat as you in that I'm hitting that mean right now. But I take solace in the fact that I'm not on that unpleasant side of the bell curve... and to do better than average, what I really need to do is just further maximize my own potential. I know I can score better than I have been scoring. So yeah, second what everyone else has said about focusing on yourself. You can't control the mean. But there's no one else stopping you from scoring 100 on any given test.

 

[dd128]

The thing with med school is that you have the people who study all the time all day ever day and just pass (me), a significant portion of people who retain material after one or two passes, and people who are amazing test takers for one reason or another...sometimes you get combinations of the latter two (people who I'm fairly sure have sold their soul to the devil 😉). Just accept you aren't the bees knees anymore, makes life easier not having to strive to be the BEST in every class in my opinion.

 

[ButImLETired]

How did a thread about being average turn into a thread in which people are bragging about how much better they're doing than they were in college?! Oh SDN...

Dear OP, I worked my butt off in college and did meh, I'm working my butt off now and I'm doing meh. Passing comfortably (we're pass/fail) but usually slightly below average. On the other hand, thanks to out pass/fail system, I could care less.

I think the key here is not to care too much, honestly. Do the best you can and hope it's good enough to get through each test. Pre-clinical grades don't matter, so focus on getting the big stuff down and passing your exams so you'll be ready for Step I when the time comes. That's the way I'm looking at it...

 

[Knicks]

I graduated near the top of my high school. I graduated near the top of my undergraduate college. I was a member of Tri-Beta, Phi Theta Kappa and AKD. I never had to try hard in school. I would understand things readily and study minimally for great results. All my friends think I'm the smartest of the group. My whole family thinks I'm brilliant.

Then I came to Medical School.

Now I feel incredibly ordinary and not special at all. I study ALL the time and still get nothing above the 79-80. I got an 86 on a Biochemistry test a couple of weeks ago and felt like I woke up with big boobs on my face.

Whenever I see that histogram I'm always at the average region. I hear classmates bitching about getting a 92 and I feel like a loser because right now I'd make sweet love to every faculty member to get a 92 on an exam.

Did anyone here go through that? Or is this reality hitting me in the nads at last?

Good!

Also, sometimes over-achievers need this rude awakening! (I'm not saying that the OP is an over-achiever; just saying that it's a good thing that med-school can humble everybody, including obnoxiously pretentious over-achievers). Good.

 

[45408]

Just remember - except for the super competitive specialties - you'll probably be able to match into what you're interested in, as long as you do well in that rotation, get to know the faculty and get LORs, and maybe even do some research if you're really motivated. Half of all residents were below-average med students.

 

[RySerr21]

I graduated near the top of my high school. I graduated near the top of my undergraduate college. I was a member of Tri-Beta, Phi Theta Kappa and AKD. I never had to try hard in school. I would understand things readily and study minimally for great results. All my friends think I'm the smartest of the group. My whole family thinks I'm brilliant.

Then I came to Medical School.

Now I feel incredibly ordinary and not special at all. I study ALL the time and still get nothing above the 79-80. I got an 86 on a Biochemistry test a couple of weeks ago and felt like I woke up with big boobs on my face.

Whenever I see that histogram I'm always at the average region. I hear classmates bitching about getting a 92 and I feel like a loser because right now I'd make sweet love to every faculty member to get a 92 on an exam.

Did anyone here go through that? Or is this reality hitting me in the nads at last?

I wouldnt stress it yo. My first test in med school was a biochem test. I had never seen any of the material before and it was the first test and seemed like a **** load of info but i worked hard and did what i could. I got my score back and got an 82......i was so happy and proud of myself. I heard people talking later about the averages and high and low and yadda yadda and someone said" yea the high was a 98 and the low was an 82." HAHAHA. I burst out laughing and thought to myself "man these people are smart!" Its whatever man. I was well above passing so i was still happy. I think the main thing to do is just get a grip on the reality that you likely arent the smartest and brightest anymore. You are still special by the very fact that you are in this situation to begin with. You are just surrounded by a bunch of people who are also really special. Its very humbling. I dunno how much this will help you - but maybe instead of shrugging about being average, smile and tip your hat to your classmates who are just as hardworking and intelligent. Their accomplishments don't take anything away from yours. You can even work with them to boost your own knowledge base and test scores if you want to. Thats the cool thing about being around all these awesome people - you have endless resources to help yourslef with 🙂. Keep your head up and keep chugging along! You are still just as brilliant as you were before and your family still loves you.

 

[halekulani]

How did a thread about being average turn into a thread in which people are bragging about how much better they're doing than they were in college?! Oh SDN...

Dear OP, I worked my butt off in college and did meh, I'm working my butt off now and I'm doing meh. Passing comfortably (we're pass/fail) but usually slightly below average. On the other hand, thanks to out pass/fail system, I could care less.

I think the key here is not to care too much, honestly. Do the best you can and hope it's good enough to get through each test. Pre-clinical grades don't matter, so focus on getting the big stuff down and passing your exams so you'll be ready for Step I when the time comes. That's the way I'm looking at it...

same here
passing but below avg on the tests
it does have me worried that if i'm not doing that well now, how am i going to do well on the usmle?

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

Just remember, there's everyone BELOW you on that histogram in your class as well, and who that comprises may surprise you. And they've also been honors students their entire life. The people who brag (subtly disguised as 'bitching') about their scores or how much they study most often aren't the smart ones\, and often aren't scoring as high as they may make you think.

The sad reality of life is that there's always someone better than you. Smarter, stronger, faster, funnier, etc. You just have to look hard enough. It's a difficult transition because as a pre-med you're conditioned to always gauge yourself against the mean. But in medical school, you'll destroy yourself if you keep doing that since the intellectual caliber of your peers steps up significantly. You need to turn your focus inward and concentrate on maximizing YOUR OWN learning. If it's in the cards, the grades, awards, other junk will come. But if they don't, as long as you're focusing on personal excellence as opposed to excellence compared to your peers, you can still take solace in the fact you are preparing yourself to be the most competent clinician possible.

In the end, its not about the grades, its about the patients.

Medical school is not about intellect at all. It's about memorization. I thought medical school exams were easier than college exams because I could just cram the details for them several days before and get honors or near honors. Even if you don't know something entirely, you just need to recognize it from the multiple choice. In college, I did not do as well because the questions were essay/short answer format and require a bit of thinking, and for things to fall into place thinking-wise, they require contemplation/practice problems/understanding, etc. - things that are much harder to cram.

Medical school MS1/2 rewards memorizers, not "deep thinkers." Most "deep thinkers" aren't in medicine - they're in some other field.

 

[Perrotfish]

How did a thread about being average turn into a thread in which people are bragging about how much better they're doing than they were in college?! Oh SDN...

Saying that you sucked even harder at college than at med school is bragging?

 

[SirGecko]

How did a thread about being average turn into a thread in which people are bragging about how much better they're doing than they were in college?! Oh SDN...

Where are you getting that? I think they only person who did anything close to that was MSSM2013 and he wasn't that bad.

 

[unsung]

Medical school is not about intellect at all. It's about memorization. I thought medical school exams were easier than college exams because I could just cram the details for them several days before and get honors or near honors. Even if you don't know something entirely, you just need to recognize it from the multiple choice. In college, I did not do as well because the questions were essay/short answer format and require a bit of thinking, and for things to fall into place thinking-wise, they require contemplation/practice problems/understanding, etc. - things that are much harder to cram.

Medical school MS1/2 rewards memorizers, not "deep thinkers." Most "deep thinkers" aren't in medicine - they're in some other field.

Ahh... the ring of truth has a bittersweet tang.

And ime, it's not even so much as people don't "think deeply"... it's that people are fond of thinking in black & white. I guess medicine does require a lot of black & white thinking. Take EM... you pretty much have to make a quick and clear-cut decision based on some paltry, unclear info. And then act on it. Really no time to sit there, run a bunch of tests, diagnose, contemplate, consult with colleagues, etc.

But such is my nature. And not just in regards to medicine, but problems (medical, social, whatever) in general. That mindset really makes me feel... I don't know, different from my peers, some of the time. When we're in those "discussion" courses, people seem so quick to judge. And no matter how big the moral/ethical dilemma is, many people are like "well, I would do X. X is right."

This has been such a stark contrast for me, as in undergrad, I was surrounded by much more discussion & shades of gray. Has this been anyone else's experience? I suppose it could just have something to do with my personal undergrad exp at an institution that was big on "theory".

But medicine does seem sort of over-run with "trigger happy" type people... look at all the leaping to conclusions and the over-prescription of drugs.

 

[xanthomondo]

I tend not to pay attention to the averages for a few reasons.

First, think about all of the kids who came from post-bacc programs in which they got to essentially take the first year (and even some have taken the first two years) of medical school. If these kids came from post-bacc programs at the medical school they attend, there's a good chance that they not only saw the material, but they might have even taken the identical tests (as is the case with my school). That's just an unfair advantage to the people who haven't, but think, you didn't spend 2 years learning MS1.

Another thing I noticed is that when I abandon "learning" and go straight for "fact memorization mode" I do really well on exams. The exams tend not to really emphasize understanding, but rather can you memorize huge lists. While this will get you great grades in the first two years (which is great) I think you're going to set yourself up for a miserable time when you actually need to understand things. I notice this when I'm studying with students who ace everything and kill me on exam scores, but they fail to see some easily obvious connection such as the different effects of NE vs Epi affecting pulse pressure vs DBP vs SBP, etc. Tell them what effects it has and they'll definitely have it memorized, but if you ask them to derive what the effects are and they'll struggle with it.

Just keep your head up and try to learn as much as possible.

 

[DrMom]

In med school, a bunch of high-achieving students are pulled mostly from the top end of undergrad. Now you've got a group of people who are used to being at the top...being compared only to others used to being at the top. It's a skewed sample and somebody has to be top, middle, and bottom.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

P=MD. But don't embrace that too much, otherwise you toe the line too much and one day you wake up as an MS3 on academic probation, wondering where you went wrong in bombing two shelves in a row and then getting pulled out of your current rotation...

 

[dienekes88]

In med school, a bunch of high-achieving students are pulled mostly from the top end of undergrad. Now you've got a group of people who are used to being at the top...being compared only to others used to being at the top. It's a skewed sample and somebody has to be top, middle, and bottom.

I tried explaining that to a bunch of pre-meds interviewing at my school. None of them got it.

"uh... but I'm going to be on the top. Obvi!"

😱

50% of the class is going to be in the bottom 50%. It's just hard for people to understand that they might be part of that bottom 50%.

 

[cheasus]

Interesting statistic about our last three tests:

22/148 people failed the test 3 weeks ago

the average for the test 2 weeks ago was 91%! highest ever for that class

~50/148 failed the test last week with an average in the low seventies...

I feel like its not unusual for people to fail a class at our school... really discouraging. I think I'll be fine but there are several people who are repeating classes with us this semester.

 

[riceman04]

Apparently I went to a very different undergrad from y'all. I felt like I worked way harder in undergrad and I struggled just to graduate. I remember in Ugrad one class where I studied as hard as I've studied for most med school exams and then got a 12 (out of 100). In med school I'm working hard just to hit the average, but at least I get to sleep every night and at the end of the day I pass the friggin class.

...or maybe just a different major...

 

[c4e]

For whatever my input is worth, one quote I found to be enlightening (to an extent) was "Chase the Dream; not the competition." The dream, in this case, is becoming a qualified MD.

This approach may sound incredibly Zen-like, but I think performance is better gauged on an the grade you get in the class, as opposed to compared to the rest of the class. Gauge your mastery of the material based on the exam score itself and then improve the score incrementally. Take solace that you're trying your best and if you do badly, don't get bent out of shape. Then see what you can do to master the material better and improve your score on the next test (and be flexible to adjust your study habits). There may be a chance that things don't improve next time or the next, but I think the key is to be content that you tried your best.

Comparing performance to your classmates can make things a lot more stressful, since you'll be competing with what seems to be a moving target, since everyone will be trying to outdo each other. I find that the overall grade and focusing on that is much easier to stomach and could help prevent burnout from negative thoughts.

I'll admit it: it's hard to change attitudes and accept the fact that there are many, many people better than you when you've come from the top of the class (or at least close to the top). It happened to me back in undergrad. But finding peace with yourself in that "hey, I'm not at the top of the class but it's OK" goes a long way (especially after trying your best), and you can find yourself enjoying your classes and company that much more; and also be able to strive to do better. (The two aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.)

 

[NTF]

Interesting statistic about our last three tests:

22/148 people failed the test 3 weeks ago

the average for the test 2 weeks ago was 91%! highest ever for that class

~50/148 failed the test last week with an average in the low seventies...

I feel like its not unusual for people to fail a class at our school... really discouraging. I think I'll be fine but there are several people who are repeating classes with us this semester.

That is crazy. Something's wrong with the instruction if 1/3 of the students fail. If you fail more than two classes at my school they recommend dismissal. Of course they intervene well before that to make sure it happens only rarely (<2%).

 

[dazed1980]

[ You need to turn your focus inward and concentrate on maximizing YOUR OWN learning. If it's in the cards, the grades, awards, other junk will come. But if they don't, as long as you're focusing on personal excellence as opposed to excellence compared to your peers, you can still take solace in the fact you are preparing yourself to be the most competent clinician possible.

In the end, its not about the grades, its about the patients.[/QUOTE]

I just love what you said above!! I said this the pther day but could not put it so eloquently.

 

[njbmd]

I liked to use my Marine Boot Camp analogy for medical school. In Marine Boot Camp, you have to go over the wall. Some people go over the wall by 6 feet and some scrape going over but everyone has to go over the wall to get out of Boot Camp.

In medical school, other than for rankings (which are low yield for most residency programs), the percentages don't matter. In short, if you are going over the wall (passing), you are going to be fine in terms of your pre-clinical coursework.

When you get to board study, you have another shot at your pre-clinical material in terms of reviewing for boards. Again, if you have passed, you should be OK with a good review provided you learned something in the first place. (You won't ace boards if you are a last minute crammer). You simply can't re-learn everything from first and second year in a few months and thus, you have to have some kind of long-term knowledge base to review.

Resist the "pre-med" syndrome of comparing yourself to others in your class by grades on an exam. You are NOT them and THEY are not you. If you are passing and not driving yourself insane, you are doing fine. Medical school is NOT undergrad and you are not competing against anyone except yourself.

There can be only one person at the top of the class and it won't be most people on SDN regardless of how much you think of yourself. You can settle back, master what you need to master and do your best with out driving yourself nuts. Also, congratulate those folks whose egos seem to a boost by bragging how great they are and keep doing your own thing as long as it works for you.

In the end, everyone has something in medicine that they don't do as well as other things. You will find your strengths and you will find your weaknesses. Just keep in mind that you are no better or worse than anyone else. If you are at the top of your class, then great for you and congratulations. If not, don't worry as long as you do your best, learn as much as you can and keep moving forward. In the end, you clear the wall and head off into residency.

By just getting into medical school in this country, you have beaten the term "average".

 

[chief illiniwek]

By just getting into medical school in this country, you have beaten the term "average".

exactly - in fact, this is something of an understatement. just remember how many people applied to your school alone (typically over 10000), and remember that you got chosen out of that group. so, the faculty and administration has faith that you are fully capable of being successful with every exam and class that you take.

then, remember that all of your classmates were also chosen out of that same, mammoth applicant pool - they are also very smart and fully capable of being successful in med school.

that being said, the professors challenge us to the point that only a select few can be the absolute best. they don't expect all the students to get As all the time - if they did, they would be failing us and the medical community in general.

personally, i think we should all take solace in the fact that the world has so many intelligent, hard-working physicians in-training. 😀

 

[bawer234]

I graduated near the top of my high school. I graduated near the top of my undergraduate college. I was a member of Tri-Beta, Phi Theta Kappa and AKD. I never had to try hard in school. I would understand things readily and study minimally for great results. All my friends think I'm the smartest of the group. My whole family thinks I'm brilliant.

Then I came to Medical School.

Now I feel incredibly ordinary and not special at all. I study ALL the time and still get nothing above the 79-80. I got an 86 on a Biochemistry test a couple of weeks ago and felt like I woke up with big boobs on my face.

Whenever I see that histogram I'm always at the average region. I hear classmates bitching about getting a 92 and I feel like a loser because right now I'd make sweet love to every faculty member to get a 92 on an exam.

Did anyone here go through that? Or is this reality hitting me in the nads at last?

Welcome to club. It's probably like this at every school. I felt the same way when i started M1. Last year's VCU/MCV anatomy class avg had a median of 88%, a neuro science avg of 89-90%. Those are probably the two most challenging classes your first year and everyone F***ing aced it. Its very humbling and can sometimes be a little depressing. Just focus on learning the material well for the board. Worry less about the details for specific courses and more about big picture stuff. Don't be so hard on yourself. Medicine is a journey, not a destination, enjoy it. Hope this helps.

 

[bawer234]

I tend not to pay attention to the averages for a few reasons.

First, think about all of the kids who came from post-bacc programs in which they got to essentially take the first year (and even some have taken the first two years) of medical school. If these kids came from post-bacc programs at the medical school they attend, there's a good chance that they not only saw the material, but they might have even taken the identical tests (as is the case with my school). That's just an unfair advantage to the people who haven't, but think, you didn't spend 2 years learning MS1.

Another thing I noticed is that when I abandon "learning" and go straight for "fact memorization mode" I do really well on exams. The exams tend not to really emphasize understanding, but rather can you memorize huge lists. While this will get you great grades in the first two years (which is great) I think you're going to set yourself up for a miserable time when you actually need to understand things. I notice this when I'm studying with students who ace everything and kill me on exam scores, but they fail to see some easily obvious connection such as the different effects of NE vs Epi affecting pulse pressure vs DBP vs SBP, etc. Tell them what effects it has and they'll definitely have it memorized, but if you ask them to derive what the effects are and they'll struggle with it.

Just keep your head up and try to learn as much as possible.

WOW! This is GOLDEN advice! I couldn't have said this any better myself. This is exactly like it is. I spend WAY more time memorizing factoids that I forget the day after the exam than going over the big concepts. Its just the nature of the beast i guess.
That's a really good point about the post-bac kids too, or kids who majored in specific subject areas. I came to medical school with a BS in Construction Management. Doesn't quite come in handy as often as a bio, microbio, or physio major's background. Some people are just gonna have a head start on you no matter where you come from.

 

[Narmerguy]

Do you know what "average" means? It means 1/2 of your class is scoring worse than you. That's one out of every two people you run into. And these people are trying just as hard as you.
.

Sorry but that just isn't true. Firstly, tons of your class may have scored the same grade as the average. This also does not mean there is an equal amount above and below you. That's the median. [/anality]

 

[SirGecko]

^
A better way to phrase it could be:

Statistically you can go ahead and assume that everyone you talk to is doing the same as you if you score near the average. Still makes the same point. Everyone is studying. Everyone has good days and bad. Being average in a group of excellence isn't really that bad.

 

[physics junkie]

Sorry but that just isn't true. Firstly, tons of your class may have scored the same grade as the average. This also does not mean there is an equal amount above and below you. That's the median. [/anality]

🙄

Its a very reasonable assumption to assume that grades are normally distributed.

Furthermore, in the case that you described of many people scoring the same as him that would make the mean equal to the median. This is one of the hallmark properties of a normal distribution.

Back on topic,

OP, in my opinion your performance is low for someone who was at the 'top of their class' in high school and/or college. What was your SAT score and MCAT? If you can't remember the exact numbers a range would suffice. The reason I ask is that you consider your past performance relevant(it is if you want constructive advice) and I can't formulate advice until I have a better understanding where you are in terms of raw intelligence and how competitive of a student you were on a standardized level.

From my own experience...of the "top students" in my old high school one friend is a Rhodes scholar, one is top 5 at berkeley law, etc...so it doesn't quite strike me as right that you would be scoring the average. Unlike the rest of this thread, I don't buy the myth that the average medical student was "top of their class" in college or high school and that we are all geniuses competing with geniuses.

I'm not surprised, but I am disappointed, that most of the replies suggest that you "accept your place" in medical school. Maybe it was the tone of your intial post that elicited that response but your relative performance is an indicator that you have plenty of room to improve.

 

[Knicks]

....Furthermore, in the case that you described of many people scoring the same as him that would make the mean equal to the median. This is one of the hallmark properties of a normal distribution. ....

LoL 👍

 

[kevster2001]

The higher you go, the more average you get

 

[Hoju]

I got an 86 on a Biochemistry test a couple of weeks ago and felt like I woke up with big boobs on my face.

What's the problem?

Edit: Beaten to the punch.

 

[KeyzerSoze]

🙄

Its a very reasonable assumption to assume that grades are normally distributed.

None of the exams I've taken so far have had a normal grade distribution.

 

[hoqhuuep]

None of the exams I've taken so far have had a normal grade distribution.

Same here. On a good majority of our exams, up to half the class hits average score on the dot. As in, the range may be 56 to 100, but a disproportionate amount of the class would get an 85%. That median suddenly becomes the golden standard to compare yourself to, not the 90% honors cutoff.

 

[NTF]

None of the exams I've taken so far have had a normal grade distribution.

Nor at my school. The distributions have been bimodal (sometimes even trimodal). There's a large portion that score very well (high 80s-low 90s) and another sizable group usually in the mid 70s - low eighties. Sometimes you get a tiny bump in the 50s and 60s.

 

[MSSM2013]

From my own experience...of the "top students" in my old high school one friend is a Rhodes scholar, one is top 5 at berkeley law, etc...so it doesn't quite strike me as right that you would be scoring the average. Unlike the rest of this thread, I don't buy the myth that the average medical student was "top of their class" in college or high school and that we are all geniuses competing with geniuses.

I'm not surprised, but I am disappointed, that most of the replies suggest that you "accept your place" in medical school. Maybe it was the tone of your intial post that elicited that response but your relative performance is an indicator that you have plenty of room to improve.

just so let you know, our rhode scholar (or was it fulbright) dropped out after 3 anatomy session.

Also, boalt hall (or any law school) is probably easier to get in than med school.

 

[sunset823]

🙄
From my own experience...of the "top students" in my old high school one friend is a Rhodes scholar, one is top 5 at berkeley law, etc...so it doesn't quite strike me as right that you would be scoring the average. Unlike the rest of this thread, I don't buy the myth that the average medical student was "top of their class" in college or high school and that we are all geniuses competing with geniuses.

I'm not surprised, but I am disappointed, that most of the replies suggest that you "accept your place" in medical school. Maybe it was the tone of your intial post that elicited that response but your relative performance is an indicator that you have plenty of room to improve.

eh, I take issue with this statement - I scored in the 85th percentile on the SAT as a sophomore in hs (cuz I graduated a year early), and I did pretty well on the MCAT too (85-90th percentile overall), but my grades in undergrad were all over the place and now I'm probably below average in med school (which, as long as I'm passing and doing fine by my own standards, I'm not that concerned about). I'm good at taking standardized tests, that doesn't make me a top student by any means.

I would say for the people from my high school who did really well (we had a Rhodes Scholar as well, and a couple of others who've shined), I wouldn't attribute them to having higher innate intelligence than me. When people pursue something they're really good at, they tend to do really well. I however, like to challenge myself in areas I'm not so good at (I'm an excellent writer, but I'm not using much of that in med school, now am I? not so good at memorizing pathways, or memorizing anything, bombed orgo, but guess what, I'm in med school).

I also disagree with your point that things don't change as you get a different group of students you're 'competing with'. The college I went to was far far more competitive than my high school, I had to work much harder for poorer results. In med school, I also work hard just to be at a point where I'm content with my performance, as a non-science major for whom certain aspects of science are not my forte. I've also found that your 'pedigree' matters nil once you're in med school. Many of the people I perceive as doing very well in my class are from 'no name' public undergrads. I knew a plastic surgeon and faculty member at umich who went to a 'no-name' undergrad in alabama and graduated valedictorian from UAB med. It's a whole different ballgame - as the previous poster said, someone with a prestigious scholarship may just not find this to be the right 'fit' for them, academically or otherwise.

Could I have done better in law, or journalism, using skills I'm more well honed in? Probably. But I decided to become a doctor for a reason, and no matter how hard my courses are, I enjoy them (well, except biochem, although even there some of the clinical stuff can be interesting - who knew 90% of South Asians are lactose intolerant? I live on dairy products).

 

[umean2tellme]

Would you rather be number one in a class full of idiots or avg in a class full of geniuses?

 

[xanthomondo]

would you rather be number one in a class full of idiots or avg in a class full of geniuses?

#1