No "Honors" during clinical years

[username456789]

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[Disclaimer: I realize this post is probably overly neurotic, so sorry]

I spent the first two years of medical school Honoring all my courses and I got a 255 on Step I. I'm a little over halfway through M3 and have had A's in all my rotations, but no Honors. I work hard, but I do feel like I'm probably not going all out enough to get Honors (and I've mostly done well but not amazing on the shelf exams).

My concern is how this will affect residency application. I know I'm probably just being paranoid, but I feel like I need to have several honors to be a good candidate.

For a while I was very interested in Urology and Orthopedics, although now I'm more interested in EM/Anesthesiology/Rads. I sort of understand that Rads is probably the most competitive of those three and may actually fall more within the competitiveness of Uro/Ortho. But overall, I'm used to performing well and want to make sure I'm in a good position to not have to worry about whether I'll match somewhere (I'd obviously love to feel like I have a good shot at matching wherever I end up deciding is one of my top choices).

How detrimental is it going to be if I never have an "Honors" on my M3 transcript?

 

[gro2001]

[Disclaimer: I realize this post is probably overly neurotic, so sorry]

I spent the first two years of medical school Honoring all my courses and I got a 255 on Step I. I'm a little over halfway through M3 and have had A's in all my rotations, but no Honors. I work hard, but I do feel like I'm probably not going all out enough to get Honors (and I've mostly done well but not amazing on the shelf exams).

My concern is how this will affect residency application. I know I'm probably just being paranoid, but I feel like I need to have several honors to be a good candidate.

For a while I was very interested in Urology and Orthopedics, although now I'm more interested in EM/Anesthesiology/Rads. I sort of understand that Rads is probably the most competitive of those three and may actually fall more within the competitiveness of Uro/Ortho. But overall, I'm used to performing well and want to make sure I'm in a good position to not have to worry about whether I'll match somewhere (I'd obviously love to feel like I have a good shot at matching wherever I end up deciding is one of my top choices).

How detrimental is it going to be if I never have an "Honors" on my M3 transcript?

I don't think you will have any sort of problem. It seems like you've done excellent in the first 2 years and are still doing very well in rotations. Try to honor the rotation of whatever you are going to go into. Plan aways well. Find a good faculty advisor and discuss your application with him, including how many programs you need to apply to.

Some of those fields are crazy competetive (ortho, uro and rads) and the rest are competetive (gas and EM). If you end up going for one of the crazy ones, you would benefit from having a publication or two in that field. For some specialties, its almost required.

You are a US senior with great grades and no obvious red flags. You should have no problem matching into even the competetive specialties.

 

[Depakote]

I agree with the above.

I can't comment about Rads, but I'm just finishing up applying to Anesthesiology and everything I've been told is that the competitiveness is comparable to EM so take the advice below in that context.

As always, any honors from here on out will be great... keep shooting for them. You'll find that the shelf exams get easier the more rotations you have under your belt.

The 255 on Step I will open a lot of doors. Just be sure to keep working hard, do well in your electives/aways and be sure to get good letters.

 

[dienekes88]

[Disclaimer: I realize this post is probably overly neurotic, so sorry]

I spent the first two years of medical school Honoring all my courses and I got a 255 on Step I. I'm a little over halfway through M3 and have had A's in all my rotations, but no Honors. I work hard, but I do feel like I'm probably not going all out enough to get Honors (and I've mostly done well but not amazing on the shelf exams).

My concern is how this will affect residency application. I know I'm probably just being paranoid, but I feel like I need to have several honors to be a good candidate.

For a while I was very interested in Urology and Orthopedics, although now I'm more interested in EM/Anesthesiology/Rads. I sort of understand that Rads is probably the most competitive of those three and may actually fall more within the competitiveness of Uro/Ortho. But overall, I'm used to performing well and want to make sure I'm in a good position to not have to worry about whether I'll match somewhere (I'd obviously love to feel like I have a good shot at matching wherever I end up deciding is one of my top choices).

How detrimental is it going to be if I never have an "Honors" on my M3 transcript?

My school doesn't have letter grades, so I'm a little confused about the difference between an "A" and "Honors."

Anyway, the only things to do are:
1) work harder/smarter
2) apply broadly

There's nothing you can do about what has already happened. It sounds like you're doing great, though.

 

[2012mdc]

[Disclaimer: I realize this post is probably overly neurotic, so sorry]

I spent the first two years of medical school Honoring all my courses and I got a 255 on Step I. I'm a little over halfway through M3 and have had A's in all my rotations, but no Honors. I work hard, but I do feel like I'm probably not going all out enough to get Honors (and I've mostly done well but not amazing on the shelf exams).

My concern is how this will affect residency application. I know I'm probably just being paranoid, but I feel like I need to have several honors to be a good candidate.

For a while I was very interested in Urology and Orthopedics, although now I'm more interested in EM/Anesthesiology/Rads. I sort of understand that Rads is probably the most competitive of those three and may actually fall more within the competitiveness of Uro/Ortho. But overall, I'm used to performing well and want to make sure I'm in a good position to not have to worry about whether I'll match somewhere (I'd obviously love to feel like I have a good shot at matching wherever I end up deciding is one of my top choices).

How detrimental is it going to be if I never have an "Honors" on my M3 transcript?

What is the difference between A's and Honors? At my school A= Honors

Anyways according to what I've seen in the Rads forum and on AM you would be fine for Rads (I'm assuming A's = HP in your system). With your Step if you apply broadly enough you should definitely match. Rads is competitive but it's not quite on the same level as Ortho or Uro. You're definitely fine for EM or GAS

 

[username456789]

What is the difference between A's and Honors? At my school A= Honors

Anyways according to what I've seen in the Rads forum and on AM you would be fine for Rads (I'm assuming A's = HP in your system). With your Step if you apply broadly enough you should definitely match. Rads is competitive but it's not quite on the same level as Ortho or Uro. You're definitely fine for EM or GAS

We have an A/B/C/D/F system, but you can also get "Honors" if you're really outstanding. In the preclinical years, to get honors in a course you need to have at least an "A" grade in the course, and then also be in the top 10% of the class for that course (basically, the top 10% of each course get honors). In the clinical years, each rotation has its own criteria, but it's basically A = High Pass, and then you can achieve Honors if you're a real baller.

 

[ATruPhenom]

I don't think it's going to raise any eyebrows, especially with that strong score on step 1. You have to understand that not much emphasis is placed on clinical grades simply due to the fact that there is no way to standardize them. We all know that some docs are tougher than others, and some simply don't give honors b/c they it's not in their modus operandi. This is the same for other grades as well, although bigger name schools carry more weight. Just kill step 2 and you'll have no problems.

 

[2012mdc]

We have an A/B/C/D/F system, but you can also get "Honors" if you're really outstanding. In the preclinical years, to get honors in a course you need to have at least an "A" grade in the course, and then also be in the top 10% of the class for that course (basically, the top 10% of each course get honors). In the clinical years, each rotation has its own criteria, but it's basically A = High Pass, and then you can achieve Honors if you're a real baller.

So how does that affect your GPA and class rank? Is there a difference between A and Honors there? On your transcript will it say A or HP?

I'm just curious, I don't think it makes a big difference unless you are gunning for the super elite rads places like MGH or UCSF

 

[buckeye12]

You'll get interviews based on your Step 1 score. The next big step is getting great letters of recommendation and impressing the people who interview you, which should be, essentially, most of your application list.

255 Step 1 + great letters + great interview + nearly perfect GPA = great chance at your choice of residency

 

[JustUseYourHead]

Dude...you're fine...just go look at the average step 1 scores for the specialty you want...You'll be completely fine unless you're a jackass on the interviews.

 

[Pharmacol90]

Hi All,

I am in MS1. Could one of you explain to me how much free time one gets in MS3? And how many away rotations can you get? Thanks!

 

[DrBowtie]

Hi All,

I am in MS1. Could one of you explain to me how much free time one gets in MS3? And how many away rotations can you get? Thanks!

Depends highly on your school. Ask upperclassmen.

 

[meister]

Rads isn't as crazy as derm/ophtho/uro/ENT/plastics, you don't need third year honors or research to match somewhere. With a step 1 of 255 you will definitely match somewhere as long as you apply broadly enough. If you have that score and get a couple honors and have some research, you would be highly competitive for some excellent residency programs in rads.

Don't sweat it too much.

 

[jdh71]

We have an A/B/C/D/F system, but you can also get "Honors" if you're really outstanding. In the preclinical years, to get honors in a course you need to have at least an "A" grade in the course, and then also be in the top 10% of the class for that course (basically, the top 10% of each course get honors). In the clinical years, each rotation has its own criteria, but it's basically A = High Pass, and then you can achieve Honors if you're a real baller.

Dude, where I went to school 3rd year honors were handed out at the end of third year as the only way to figure who was in the top 10% was once everyone had been through all of the rotations. Are you sure this is not the case where you go?

 

[2012mdc]

Rads isn't as crazy as derm/ophtho/uro/ENT/plastics, you don't need third year honors or research to match somewhere. With a step 1 of 255 you will definitely match somewhere as long as you apply broadly enough. If you have that score and get a couple honors and have some research, you would be highly competitive for some excellent residency programs in rads.

Don't sweat it too much.

The number of spots makes Rads a little bit easier to match. It has a lot more spots than derm/uro/optho/ent/ortho etc. Matching at the big name places like MGH or UCSF is probably as difficult as any match but there are a lot of excellent rads programs that are attainable.

 

[JustUseYourHead]

Hi All,

I am in MS1. Could one of you explain to me how much free time one gets in MS3? And how many away rotations can you get? Thanks!

I would recommend against doing away rotations as a MS3...

When you go on an away rotation you're doing an audition rotation essentially, and it is not the best idea to audition before you are at the top of your game (i.e. a 4th year). It doesn't matter how awesome you are, you are going to get better with time.

I may be misunderstanding what you are writing and these may be two separate questions meaning how many 4th year aways you can get. That is entirely school dependent.