pass/fail schools?

[71263]

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Perhaps this is just me taking out my frustration for going to a med school that actually still gives letter grades, but it certainly makes things alot harder. That being said, I got curious and wanted to know:

What other med schools give letter grades? From what I heard, the vast majority is pass/fail (or honors pass/pass/fail), with Yale being the exception with their no-grade system.

 

[BaylorGuy]

as far as i know...Yale is the only one with a no-grade system. Aside from that...the majority of schools are some sort of Pass/fail system, while there are still a number of letter grade schools...

the one that comes to mind is UTSW

 

[Nittany Lion]

as far as i know...Yale is the only one with a no-grade system. Aside from that...the majority of schools are some sort of Pass/fail system, while there are still a number of letter grade schools...

the one that comes to mind is UTSW

How does this no-grade system at Yale work exactly? 😕

 

[speedo542]

University of Oklahoma has letter grades. Pass/Fail would be awesome! I am doing well with the letter scale thus far, but a simple pass/fail would sure take a load off, IMO.

 

[robotsonic]

At many schools the "pass/fail curriculum" is BS, since there are enough variations to essentially be letter grades. My clinical rotations are graded as follows: Honors, High Pass, Pass, Fail which is essentially A, B, C, and F (there might also be a Marginal, which would correspond to a D).

 

[BaylorGuy]

At many schools the "pass/fail curriculum" is BS, since there are enough variations to essentially be letter grades. My clinical rotations are graded as follows: Honors, High Pass, Pass, Fail which is essentially A, B, C, and F (there might also be a Marginal, which would correspond to a D).

This is true....even in Pass/Fail courses/schools they keep rank of everyone anyway. That is what residency programs are looking for more than actual grades.

 

[71263]

This is true....even in Pass/Fail courses/schools they keep rank of everyone anyway. That is what residency programs are looking for more than actual grades.

Exactly. If someone gets straight Cs at a school that gives letter grades, there would be a disticntion between straight A students. But at pass/fail schools, both the A and C students are in the same group. Thats why there is very little basis for comparison. Most residencies dont care too much about the grades from M1 and M2 years anyway, from what I hear. Certainly not as much as Step 1s and cliinical grades.

 

[UCLAstudent]

UCLA is pass/fail. There's no high pass/low pass/etc., either ... just pass/fail.

 

[felipe5]

here at KU we have the equivalent of letter grades: Superior, High Satisfactory, Satisfactory, Low Sat, Unsat. Honestly though, its not that bad at all....grades have somehow acquired a really bad rep around these parts.

 

[run4boston]

Perhaps this is just me taking out my frustration for going to a med school that actually still gives letter grades, but it certainly makes things alot harder. That being said, I got curious and wanted to know:

What other med schools give letter grades? From what I heard, the vast majority is pass/fail (or honors pass/pass/fail), with Yale being the exception with their no-grade system.

how is the school otherwise?

 

[71263]

how is the school otherwise?

I cant really complain too much. Classes are rough, but thats how it is everywhere. People are pretty cool. Everyones smart and competitive, but not cutthroat to the point where they will screw you over. Some lectures arent that great, but the profs are generally friendly and willing to help out. The library and dissection labs are good. Theres plenty of opportunities to get involved in student life if you so desire. All in all, its been a good experience. Too bad i have finals coming up in 3 weeks.

 

[Brainsucker]

I know of schools with the first 2 years P/F, but are there any that have P/F grading in the clinical years? Those grades seem a lot more important because step I scores are likely considered more reliable by residencies. I guess basic science grades have some bearing on AOA.

 

[71263]

I know of schools with the first 2 years P/F, but are there any that have P/F grading in the clinical years? Those grades seem a lot more important because step I scores are likely considered more reliable by residencies. I guess basic science grades have some bearing on AOA.

Some schools may switch from a p/f to an honors/p/f at the clinical stage. Your clinical performance is also heavily gauged by your recommendations. Your attendings will write most of your recs, as they will know you more personally than a PhD with 150 students a year to worry about after 3 years.

 

[QofQuimica]

Cleveland Clinic is completely P/F and unranked.

 

[BaylorGuy]

Cleveland Clinic is completely P/F and unranked.

There has got to be some sort of ranking system, right? I mean, wouldn't you need a rank for residency apps?

 

[QofQuimica]

There has got to be some sort of ranking system, right? I mean, wouldn't you need a rank for residency apps?

No, they have no ranking at all. Unless they're lying. 😉

Students there have portfolios of their work. They evaluate themselves, they evaluate each other, and professors give them feedback as well. But they do not take tests, they do not get grades, and they apparently do not get ranked, even in the clinical years. There are only 32 of them in a class anyway. It's hardly worth it to rank them. The top ten percent would be three people. 😛

 

[BaylorGuy]

No, they have no ranking at all. Unless they're lying. 😉

Students there have portfolios of their work. They evaluate themselves, they evaluate each other, and professors give them feedback as well. But they do not take tests, they do not get grades, and they apparently do not get ranked, even in the clinical years. There are only 32 of them in a class anyway. It's hardly worth it to rank them. The top ten percent would be three people. 😛

Thats freaking crazy, i had no idea. but then again, they weren't on my list of possible schools so that is most probably why i didn't research enough. man, that is nuts.

 

[Law2Doc]

At many schools the "pass/fail curriculum" is BS, since there are enough variations to essentially be letter grades. My clinical rotations are graded as follows: Honors, High Pass, Pass, Fail which is essentially A, B, C, and F (there might also be a Marginal, which would correspond to a D).

Marginal -- that's funny. They should probably just write "Not Good, but could have been worse" on the transcript. Some of the letter grade schools make anything less than C an F. Just out of curiosity, is a D average a passing grade in a P/F school?

 

[QofQuimica]

Marginal -- that's funny. They should probably just write "Not Good, but could have been worse" on the transcript. Some of the letter grade schools make anything less than C an F. Just out of curiosity, is a D average a passing grade in a P/F school?

I think at most of those schools you need to score a C, not a D. A/B/C = pass, but D/F = fail.

 

[robotsonic]

Marginal -- that's funny. They should probably just write "Not Good, but could have been worse" on the transcript. Some of the letter grade schools make anything less than C an F. Just out of curiosity, is a D average a passing grade in a P/F school?

I know there were students in the pre-clinical courses who got Marginal. I think they had to do something to make up for it, but I'm not certain. You had to really screw something up to get marginal.

 

[Biscuit799]

I go to FSU, and they have A/A-/B+/B/C+/C/D/F. It's a real pain in the butt, and P/F would be much better IMHO. THey switch to H/P/F in clinical years.