Pre clinical grades

[FuturePharm21]

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Hey all,

I was just wondering how much of an impact MS1 grades play because I just finished first year and my grades were abysmal with mostly Cs toss in a few Bs. My class rank will be low but will this hurt me if I apply in the a few years?

 

[pgg]

Cs and Bs won't help, but you can do better as a MS2.

A bigger problem might be Step 1. Marginal MS1-2 grades is a strong predictor of a poor Step 1 score. Figure out why you did poorly as a MS1, fix the problem as a MS2, do well on Step 1 and you'll be fine. Lots of people have been where you are and things worked out.

Derm is probably out of reach but anesthesia isn't.

 

[FuturePharm21]

Yeah I wasn't planning on derm or optho because I know those are pretty much impossible.

 

[FutureDO2016]

So those that interviewed this year, did they care about your MS1 or MS2 grades at all? What do anesthesia program directors care most about?

 

[AnesThrow]

So those that interviewed this year, did they care about your MS1 or MS2 grades at all? What do anesthesia program directors care most about?

Only one person brought up my MS1/MS2 grades (which were all in the B+/A- range with a few As, but no honors) and asked me if my high step scores were a fluke. Needless to say, that program wasn't ranked.

Most program directors seemed to care most about:

1. Social skills during the interview. The people that are interviewing you are trying to gauge whether or not they want to spend countless hours over 3 years in your presence. One thing that I noticed is that the medical students that I've met on interviews who either instantly came off as douches or as incredibly weird were the same ones (with a few exceptions) that would complain afterwards about how terrible the interviewers were.
2. Board scores
3. Clinical honors

 

[Stellar Clouds]

Yeah I wasn't planning on derm or optho because I know those are pretty much impossible.

Ruling derm or ophtho out after a subpar MS1 year is a mistake in my mind. If you really like either of those fields, you can still bust you butt off MS2 year (and beyond), knock step out of the park and do relevant research.

So those that interviewed this year, did they care about your MS1 or MS2 grades at all? What do anesthesia program directors care most about?

I never had anyone mention my MS1/2 grades, but my grades were pretty solid, so it may be different if you did less than stellar (probably not much different, but they may ask you "what happened during first and/or second year?")

PDs seem to care about step scores and LORs. I did have a lot of people ask me about the research that I did during medical school (I think research only helps, unless you cannot explain what you did). I think a few places cared about 3rd year grades (mainly IM and surg), but this seemed few and far between. Your personal statement can have some impact. You can make it boring and generic, which won't help or hurt you. But if you actually make it memorable it can really help you.

As AnesThrow alluded to, personality is a big deal. Do not under estimate the importance of the interview. Dress nicely and be extremely polite to everyone you meet. Go to the pre-interview dinner. At the dinner, don't get plastered and act like an *******. Residents probably can't get you into a residency, but they certainly make sure you don't get ranked.

 

[FutureDO2016]

I got mostly C's and toss in a few B's....