School choice based on grading

[AA|FCB|DOC]

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Hi all,

Everything else aside in the school decision process, how much of a difference do you guys think it makes to your stress and anxiety to be in a H/P/F vs P/F vs ABCDF system? Trying to choose between a school that has P/F grading vs one that has H/HS/S/MU/U and this is a factor I want to take into account among many other things. I would also appreciate it if medical students could chime in as well. Thanks in advance.

 

[NickNaylor]

It depends on you. Will it stress you out to be graded on a traditional ABCDF system? Do you want the stress of those things weighing on you in terms of potential AOA nomination? Or are you the kind of person that is driven by those kinds of things? Only you can answer those questions.

I, for one, am very glad that I attended a true P/F institution. It allowed me to spend as much or as little time studying the material as I liked provided I passed the exam. It allowed me to ignore obvious minutia that was so irrelevant to anything clinical - e.g., pet topic of a lecturer that goes into way more depth than could possibly be necessary - or allowed me to really dig into material that I found interesting. It allowed me to make doing other things with my time - whether that be ECs, research, or simply nothing and spending time with others - possible while feeling less guilt for doing so. During second year, I didn't feel as stressed doing some MCAT prep on the side because I knew I could set aside the time necessary to do so (while also taking the academic "hit" for not studying).

There is no easy answer to this question and it's highly dependent on you. Personally I would prefer P/F over traditional grades any day. That said, not everyone shares that mentality. If you're interested in P/F, you should also determine whether your school ranks or takes pre-clinical grades into account if/when nominating for AOA; if the answer is yes to either of those, then, in my mind, that somewhat invalidates the benefit of P/F. In either case, understand that pre-clinical grades - P/F or traditional - have very, very little importance in terms of your residency application. I wouldn't worry about grades from that perspective if that's one of your concern.

 

[AA|FCB|DOC]

It depends on you. Will it stress you out to be graded on a traditional ABCDF system? Do you want the stress of those things weighing on you in terms of potential AOA nomination? Or are you the kind of person that is driven by those kinds of things? Only you can answer those questions.

I, for one, am very glad that I attended a true P/F institution. It allowed me to spend as much or as little time studying the material as I liked provided I passed the exam. It allowed me to ignore obvious minutia that was so irrelevant to anything clinical - e.g., pet topic of a lecturer that goes into way more depth than could possibly be necessary - or allowed me to really dig into material that I found interesting. It allowed me to make doing other things with my time - whether that be ECs, research, or simply nothing and spending time with others - possible while feeling less guilt for doing so. During second year, I didn't feel as stressed doing some MCAT prep on the side because I knew I could set aside the time necessary to do so (while also taking the academic "hit" for not studying).

There is no easy answer to this question and it's highly dependent on you. Personally I would prefer P/F over traditional grades any day. That said, not everyone shares that mentality. If you're interested in P/F, you should also determine whether your school ranks or takes pre-clinical grades into account if/when nominating for AOA; if the answer is yes to either of those, then, in my mind, that somewhat invalidates the benefit of P/F. In either case, understand that pre-clinical grades - P/F or traditional - have very, very little importance in terms of your residency application. I wouldn't worry about grades from that perspective if that's one of your concern.

Thanks for your input. I wasn't aware that the grades are not a big facror for residency? Is that the case for most medical schools? Also, the class is not ranked but it's not just simple pass or fail. It's H/HS/S/MU/U. So essentially I wonder if that's pretty much as hard as ABCDF. In my case I feel like I prefer your style of studying where there is less stress in getting an A over a B

 

[NickNaylor]

Thanks for your input. I wasn't aware that the grades are not a big facror for residency? Is that the case for most medical schools? Also, the class is not ranked but it's not just simple pass or fail. It's H/HS/S/MU/U. So essentially I wonder if that's pretty much as hard as ABCDF. In my case I feel like I prefer your style of studying where there is less stress in getting an A over a B

Yes, that's pretty much a universal judgment. Things like clerkship grades, boards scores, and LORs are far more important than pre-clinical grades.

And yes, that system is essentially ABCDF with different words.

 

[pyrrion89]

I like a true P/F because I can incorporate more STEP-I relevant studying which may not overlap with what you need to study to pass your MS1-2 courses. If you do H/P/F type grading in MS1-2, I feel like you have less freedom to customize and optimize your studying regimen since you need to ace your courses to get H's and AOA.

In terms of lack of motivation with pure P/F? Personally I feel very motivated just by having clinical experiences built into MS1-2... seeing patients and (not) knowing what to do can be a huge motivation to study, at least for me. Also your peers will be working hard regardless, and that can motivate you too. And just knowing that you need to study hard regardless, if you want to do well on STEP and know what you're doing on the wards to be competent, serve your patients, and do well in clinical grades (STEP and clinical being the most important for residency, from what I hear)

 

[WingedOx]

If there's a school that is P/F in clinicals take it.

Otherwise, (I go contrary to SDN opinion on this), pre-clinical grading system is kind of a "meh" factor for me in hindsight.