Schools with AOA

[thecleaner]

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Meh, AOA is cool, but it's definitely not necessary for any residency. Those residencies prefer to see great LOR's, a great performance during third year, a great Step 1 score, and research experience than proof that you know your biochem (oooooooh...oh wait, you'll never use it again, that's right). If you're going to be gunning for something, and it sounds like you want to be better than your peers in any way possible, gun for the best research mentor. Getting a 98 on your anatomy midterm is going to be a waste of time.

You have to consider the fact that med school is hard enough on its own that passing requires a lot of work. Getting an 80 requires at few hours a day of hard work with very productive weekends. But you CAN have a life- you can go out to eat, and work out, and sleep 8 hours. For MOST people, going from say an 85 to a 95 EXPONENTIALLY increases the amount of work. That means you're getting those random 10 points that no one in the class got cause the questions were asking for such nitpicky detail that people barely read about that stuff knowing it would be super low-yield. To memorize all of that stuff requires way more hours of work, and you'll have way less of a chance to still have some sort of life.

Incidentally, it'll leave you less time to focus on the other stuff that ACTUALLY matters, like the research experience, or finding a preceptorship in a field you really like so you can start making contacts. You want to be smart and get a good residency? Focus on that, not on getting a 100 on every test.

who says you can't have it all? 🙂 (AOA + everything else you just mentioned)

 

[dikoerastenie]

Doesnt matter, you can still have a high goal to shoot for. I told everyone that I was going to score a 40 on MCAT and I got a 39, while i didnt exactly it my goal it was close (I am realizing the goal of getting 4.0 in college though). It is like saying that I should not try to get a 40 because there actual chance is less than 0.5%. Just by having a goal I will be better off than where I am without it. I know the quality of people in medical school (I dont fail to realize this at all) and I am looking forward to do my absolute best.

I don't really know what is AOA. Is it like a Dean's List? Like they give you some recognition if your gpa is top10% throughout the semester? I never made the dean's list in college which is why I am in smp. But I can say that med school classes are not much different from ugrad bio classes. Your grade is proportional to how much you study. And contrary to popular belief very few people live in the library... Also unless you want to go into a competitive specialty I don't see why you would care about being in the top 10%? P=MD for most.

 

[Handy388]

who says you can't have it all? 🙂 (AOA + everything else you just mentioned)

you crack me up.

 

[ButImLETired]

who says you can't have it all? 🙂 (AOA + everything else you just mentioned)

Well, this is one of those "wait and see" situations. There's no point in saying that statistically it's unlikely this'll happen for you or most people who read this site. Even at a school like Wash U, where everyone got a 40 and a 4.0, half the class is at the bottom. However, pointing this stuff out only incites cries of "well they are not motivated" or "well they don't know how to study" and "well that sure as hell won't be me, cause I'm mentally prepared to put in the work and I don't need a life anyway" or even "I'm smarter than all these people and I can have a life and get a 95% on all my exams". I don't know you, so I don't know if that'll be you- hell, it might be. You won't know until you're here. TRUST ME. It's a different universe. You just won't know until you're smack dab in the middle of it.

I would say though that it's generally unhealthy to start school with such high expectations, because you want to adjust to the workload and the pace before expecting to learn everything and memorize everything. One of the great lessons med school teaches you is that you have to triage what's presented and figure out what's high-yield. If you start with that, and know your high-yield stuff cold, then you can start adding some of the fluffier detail. But you have to know what constitutes fluff and what doesn't. And you can't get so bogged down from the beginning trying to memorize EVERYTHING to be at the top of your class that you'll 1) become that kid everyone hates (trust me, once third year comes and subjective stuff comes into play, being that kid won't do you any favors), 2) become a stressed out nutjob with a severe substance issue (be it caffeine) who never sleeps, 3) burn out after a couple of months and quit, or 4) and this is the most likely, fall behind because you're still stuck on some nitpicky concept from a week ago. Strive for the best, sure, but don't put the pressure on yourself to be the top of your class.

 

[chessknt]

/agree that its unhealthy to go in expecting yourself to be in the top. That makes you very prone for depression/substance abuse.

 

[thecleaner]

Well, this is one of those "wait and see" situations. There's no point in saying that statistically it's unlikely this'll happen for you or most people who read this site. Even at a school like Wash U, where everyone got a 40 and a 4.0, half the class is at the bottom. However, pointing this stuff out only incites cries of "well they are not motivated" or "well they don't know how to study" and "well that sure as hell won't be me, cause I'm mentally prepared to put in the work and I don't need a life anyway" or even "I'm smarter than all these people and I can have a life and get a 95% on all my exams". I don't know you, so I don't know if that'll be you- hell, it might be. You won't know until you're here. TRUST ME. It's a different universe. You just won't know until you're smack dab in the middle of it.

I would say though that it's generally unhealthy to start school with such high expectations, because you want to adjust to the workload and the pace before expecting to learn everything and memorize everything. One of the great lessons med school teaches you is that you have to triage what's presented and figure out what's high-yield. If you start with that, and know your high-yield stuff cold, then you can start adding some of the fluffier detail. But you have to know what constitutes fluff and what doesn't. And you can't get so bogged down from the beginning trying to memorize EVERYTHING to be at the top of your class that you'll 1) become that kid everyone hates (trust me, once third year comes and subjective stuff comes into play, being that kid won't do you any favors), 2) become a stressed out nutjob with a severe substance issue (be it caffeine) who never sleeps, 3) burn out after a couple of months and quit, or 4) and this is the most likely, fall behind because you're still stuck on some nitpicky concept from a week ago. Strive for the best, sure, but don't put the pressure on yourself to be the top of your class.

You are obviously a very intelligent person. I still wonder how you find time for these long winded posts while attending med school. I cannot see myself doing anything but studying once I get there. interesting...

 

[Handy388]

You are obviously a very intelligent person. I still wonder how you find time for these long winded posts while attending med school. I cannot see myself doing anything but studying once I get there. interesting...

can't wait for the burn out thread from you.

 

[riceman04]

AOA = Another Overrated Accolade

just kidding!

In all seriousness, my school neither ranks you nor maintains any semblance of an AOA chapter. Students here match "well" and beat the crap out of step 1 every year.

 

[FlowRate]

I think some expectation of success is healthy. i.e. I went into both high school and college thinking I wouldn't accomplish any more than the average student. Turns out I was initially wrong. I think that if I had set higher goals, esp in hs, I could have achieved a lot more. So yeah, go in with AOA as a goal, just don't make your life depend on it!