Admits, before you commit the next 4,5,... number of years of your life to Stanford Med, you need to be aware of an important change.
On April 20th, Dean Pizzo announced a town hall meeting that the school will start putting grades in clinical years starting next year affecting even currently enrolled students. A lot of us chose Stanford because of the unique no grade system and are very frustrated that such a drastic change was done without any student input and completely insensitive to students who have already enrolled.
It should be noted that Stanford has not had grades for over 50 years, and until today, it's still one of the best medical schools in the nation with a awesome match result. Over the years, Stanford has defined itself through the community that it builds because people here collaborate rather than compete. This movement will surely erode that culture.
The worst part of this is that the decision was unilateral and students were only "notified." After the announcement, it was made clear that "students inputs are welcome although the decision will not be changed."
So if you're considering to come to Stanford, just be aware of the situation, because next year, they could very well decide that there will be grades starting pre-clinical years. We were told that students' inputs are taken seriously and we experienced the total opposite.
I can tell you personally that the no - grade system in no way made us worse students. We all still work hard. The difference is people are much more collaborative and much more willing to help each other. For those of you who think you can be all stars in med school, think twice because people come here from all walks of life. Some had a PhD in Biology... Good luck competing with them if you're straight out of college.
For those coming to admit weekend, I encourage you to ask many questions to the administration and the students. Just bear in mind that whatever the administration tells you can change at anytime, and we have experienced that. This was in no way a transparent process when Stanford always prided itself in transparency. Right now, you still have choices, so consider all factors when making your choice. Good luck!
Stanford!!!
