One bad grade...will they ask about it?

[closertofine]

Edit: 2 questions...bad grades, and gunner friends...

I know this question has probably been asked a thousand times before, but I have a slight variation on the question of whether preclinical grades matter. Will anyone later on (admissions people for residency, etc) ever take out my preclinical transcript and ask me specifically about a class that I did somewhat badly in compared to my other grades?

Not sure if that makes sense...basically, I just made the mistake of trying to tough it out and take a final exam with a raging migraine (which has persisted for most of my studying time too, but I hadn't taken an exam with one before). Bad idea. Knew the material OK, at least I thought...long story short, don't think I did well at all.

Fortunately I've been getting good grades so far...and I know clinical grades, board scores, etc matter much more anyway...I guess I'm just looking for a little reassurance. I'd rather not have to explain this grade later on...

At least I'm pretty sure I passed (unless the vertigo caused me to mis-bubble an entire row or something, which is possible!), so that's helpful...but now I have to go study for another exam for which I'm underprepared and undermedicated (sorry, was doing OK til now, just having a little pity party).

 

[closertofine]

oh, and as a semi-relevant side question, does anyone have a gunner friend who always talks about school and grades even when you'd rather not? I realized that personally, I think I'm OK with not getting perfect grades (although of course there is a little bit of a perfectionist still hidden in me, not too deeply under the surface!), but I really dread having to discuss this class with that friend...I've told him many times I don't want to talk about school, but somehow it keeps coming up...and he's an old friend, so I'd feel bad just breaking it off...

OK, so that was *very* off-topic...oh well...

 

[Psycho Doctor]

Edit: 2 questions...bad grades, and gunner friends...

I know this question has probably been asked a thousand times before, but I have a slight variation on the question of whether preclinical grades matter. Will anyone later on (admissions people for residency, etc) ever take out my preclinical transcript and ask me specifically about a class that I did somewhat badly in compared to my other grades?

Not sure if that makes sense...basically, I just made the mistake of trying to tough it out and take a final exam with a raging migraine (which has persisted for most of my studying time too, but I hadn't taken an exam with one before). Bad idea. Knew the material OK, at least I thought...long story short, don't think I did well at all.

Fortunately I've been getting good grades so far...and I know clinical grades, board scores, etc matter much more anyway...I guess I'm just looking for a little reassurance. I'd rather not have to explain this grade later on...

At least I'm pretty sure I passed (unless the vertigo caused me to mis-bubble an entire row or something, which is possible!), so that's helpful...but now I have to go study for another exam for which I'm underprepared and undermedicated (sorry, was doing OK til now, just having a little pity party).

is this a med school grade? I think you'll be fine and you probably did better than you think you did. I doubt it will cause more than a passing glance but what do I know? all the best

 

[Psycho Doctor]

oh, and as a semi-relevant side question, does anyone have a gunner friend who always talks about school and grades even when you'd rather not? I realized that personally, I think I'm OK with not getting perfect grades (although of course there is a little bit of a perfectionist still hidden in me, not too deeply under the surface!), but I really dread having to discuss this class with that friend...I've told him many times I don't want to talk about school, but somehow it keeps coming up...and he's an old friend, so I'd feel bad just breaking it off...

OK, so that was *very* off-topic...oh well...

just keep saying "I don't want to talk about it" and don't respond to his question/comments about school...eventually he'll get the message.

 

[Hurricane]

oh, and as a semi-relevant side question, does anyone have a gunner friend who always talks about school and grades even when you'd rather not? I realized that personally, I think I'm OK with not getting perfect grades (although of course there is a little bit of a perfectionist still hidden in me, not too deeply under the surface!), but I really dread having to discuss this class with that friend...I've told him many times I don't want to talk about school, but somehow it keeps coming up...and he's an old friend, so I'd feel bad just breaking it off...

There's one of these in every class. My advice is to say something along the lines of "dude, I just want to relax and not talk about school right now. Here, have a beer." If after a few tries that doesn't work, then have a serious conversation and tell him that while you're fine with your grades, talking about grades and class all of the time gets you needlessly stressed out, and can we please talk about something else when we're not at school. Then offer another beer.

RE the bad grade thing, nobody has asked me about my big fat C in gross anatomy so far. My interviewers seem mostly interested in my clincial grades/comments, letters, and personal statement. But I'm going into psych. Maybe a more competitive specialty would ask. Regardless, you can't do anything about it now, so it's really kind of a moot point anyway.

 

[closertofine]

just keep saying "I don't want to talk about it" and don't respond to his question/comments about school...eventually he'll get the message.

thanks for both your answers...this was a 2nd year med school class, to answer your question.

Now that I'm past the initial panic of everybody discussing test questions that I don't want to hear about, all of which I apparently got wrong (now I remember why I used to head straight back home after exams!), I think you're probably right, that I did better than I think. It really wasn't a horribly hard exam...I just made some stupid mistakes and was worried that I probably made a lot of them!

Whew...ok, that was a wake-up call to put my perfectionist side back in the closet at least, if I can't get rid of it...

 

[closertofine]

There's one of these in every class. My advice is to say something along the lines of "dude, I just want to relax and not talk about school right now. Here, have a beer." If after a few tries that doesn't work, then have a serious conversation and tell him that while you're fine with your grades, talking about grades and class all of the time gets you needlessly stressed out, and can we please talk about something else when we're not at school. Then offer another beer.

RE the bad grade thing, nobody has asked me about my big fat C in gross anatomy so far. My interviewers seem mostly interested in my clincial grades/comments, letters, and personal statement. But I'm going into psych. Maybe a more competitive specialty would ask. Regardless, you can't do anything about it now, so it's really kind of a moot point anyway.

thanks...about the friend, I have actually had that talk with him...and since then, whenever he brings up school stuff, I've even been a little rude (I think) and said "I don't want to talk about that now...call me when you want to talk about something else!". A little bit jokingly, but not really. I sometimes don't even answer the phone the day before finals if I know it's him...he will inevitably call several times to say "I know nothing...I'm going to fail" when he always does perfectly

Good to know about the grade stuff too...I don't know what I'm going to go into yet, not surgery though...but you're right, water under the bridge...and it probably wasn't all that bad. OK, better get back to the studying...

 

[closertofine]

wow, a lot of people have read this thread and know about my bad grade!

One more question occurred to me if any of you want to humor me. I am still completely undecided as to what specialty I want to go into, but the ironic thing is, I actually liked this particular class and wouldn't rule out maybe pursuing the field later on.

But I've heard of people trying to do especially well, say in ENT if they want to go into ENT. Would it be a major issue if the one lower grade I had ends up being in the field I want to pursue? I can imagine some admissions person asking, "why do you want to go into this field you apparently didn't excel in?" (Then again, not excelling could mean in the range of a B-C kind of grade, so not awful...but still...)

 

[robotsonic]

I'm about halfway through residency interviews, and I haven't been asked about any of my grades.

About going into the field eventually: I don't know what field you are referring to, but I know they are going to care more about your clinical grade in that area than your preclinical grade. And who is doing ENT in their second year?

 

[tigershark]

I was asked at one interview why I only got a Pass in Ob/Gyn.

I replied "I dont really have an excuse, I just hated every minute of it."

To which the interviewer replied "Great, I think you'll really fit in here."