Top of class average school VS bottom of class prestigious school?

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Top of class average school VS Bottom of class prestigious school

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J

Jack08

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Ok, first off I have read on here for a couple years and just now made an account, so HI all. I know the question i'm answering doesn't have a specific 100% answer. However, I'd still like to have a healthy debate and get your guys opinions and poll on the subject. NOT these particular schools listed below, but just top class avg vs bottom class prestigious. Thanks!



Avg schools: Kansas U. Oklahoma U. Colorado U Arizona state, ect...



Prestigious schools i.e: Harvard, Hopkins, Wash U, UPenn, Stanford ect...
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eJACKulEIGHT said:
Ok, first off I have read on here for a couple years and just now made an account, so HI all. I know the question i'm answering doesn't have a specific 100% answer. However, I'd still like to have a healthy debate and get your guys opinions and poll on the subject. NOT these particular schools listed below, but just top class avg vs bottom class prestigious. Thanks!



Avg schools: Kansas U. Oklahoma U. Colorado U Arizona state, ect...



Prestigious schools i.e: Harvard, Hopkins, Wash U, UPenn, Stanford ect...
Click to expand...

Your first post here has a poll and a request for a healthy debate...

I suspect that you'll only get the poll.
 
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V5RED said:
It would help if you asked a question.
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Sorry, I thought my question & question mark were both located in the title of the thread. Perhaps you accidentally overlooked it. In any case, the question is simple, which is better in overall terms. Top of your class at an average school. Or bottom of your class at a prestigious school. And then I asked for a discussion or your guys opinions on the topic which I guess could be replaced with "why?" if that helps you out. Thanks!
 
A more accurate choice would be btw average student at top school and top student at average school. The majority of top students at "average" schools would not be at the bottom of their class at a HYPSM.
 
Kinase, I agree with you on that. So based on the two, which would you say is the better off overall? And why?
 
Irish Football said:
I voted. Am I done now?
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YES! Thank you so much for your time, input, and opinion as to why you thought so. It helped out a lot with what I was asking and brought an abundance of wealth and knowledge to the question at hand.
 
I thought medical schools were not like law schools, where prestige determined significantly job placement.
 
MDforMee said:
Your first post here has a poll and a request for a healthy debate...

I suspect that you'll only get the poll.
Click to expand...

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As hard as it is to get into a top school you've got a better chance at that than being top of your med school class.

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eJACKulEIGHT said:
YES! Thank you so much for your time, input, and opinion as to why you thought so. It helped out a lot with what I was asking and brought an abundance of wealth and knowledge to the question at hand.
Click to expand...

Do I sense some sarcasm?
 
It is a million times more important to be at the top of your class than which school you went to. I can't tell you how many Ivy League grads I know that didn't do so well and ended up going to less desirable med schools or none at all.
 
Just go with the theme "a medical school is a medical school (as long as it's in the US)" to make prestige a moot point.
 
Agent B said:
Just go with the theme "a medical school is a medical school (as long as it's in the US)" to make prestige a moot point.
Click to expand...

so if it came down to residency or something you don't think politics would come into play at all? Or even if they did, would the top tier-avg school stud/studette pull rank?

edit: *assuming all other parts equal obv...
 
La Presse said:
I thought you wanted a debate. Why do you think that this is false?

Damn..this thread blew up fast. I just went to potty. :(
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well honestly I do not know enough to say that he is wrong. I don't agree nor disagree yet. I'm still formulating my opinion. That's why I came to you geniuses hoping to get some help. I imagine that everywhere you go in life politics play a role, but I just wondered if top of class at an avg school would trump bottom class anywhere, or if throwing out the HYPSM would take charge
 
eJACKulEIGHT said:
well honestly I do not know enough to say that he is wrong. I don't agree nor disagree yet. I'm still formulating my opinion. That's why I came to you geniuses hoping to get some help. I imagine that everywhere you go in life politics play a role, but I just wondered if top of class at an avg school would trump bottom class anywhere, or if throwing out the HYPSM would take charge
Click to expand...

You sir need to familiarize yourself with something they call a match list. it shows the residency positions that each medical student "matched" or was accepted into. With each school, these lists vary tremendously every year. Would you expect NYU's match list to trump a match list from Wayne State or Mercer? Naw. it does not work that way. You will find that many people match into FM or primary care at both institutions, but you cannot simply judge based on prestige. After all, the most important factors to maximize one's chances of matching to a decently competitive specialty lie within the USMLE Step 1 through 3--CK from Step 2 is also included. Keep in mind that grades also play a part as well as activities (research, internships) and the marks for clerkships. Someone feel free to add to this, but the bottom line is that these schools and programs get sooo competitive that the overall rank of the medical school gets overshadowed by academic factors such as being a decent standardized test taker and getting involve---oh yeah!--and getting LoRs from very dynamic individuals.
 
La Presse said:
You sir need to familiarize yourself with something they call a match list. it shows the residency positions that each medical student "matched" or was accepted into. With each school, these lists vary tremendously every year. Would you expect NYU's match list to trump a match list from Wayne State or Mercer? Naw. it does not work that way. You will find that many people match into FM or primary care at both institutions, but you cannot simply judge based on prestige. After all, the most important factors to maximize one's chances of matching to a decently competitive specialty lie within the USMLE Step 1 through 3--CK from Step 2 is also included. Keep in mind that grades also play a part as well as activities (research, internships) and the marks for clerkships. Someone feel free to add to this, but the bottom line is that these schools and programs get sooo competitive that the overall rank of the medical school gets overshadowed by academic factors such as being a decent standardized test taker and getting involve---oh yeah!--and getting LoRs from very dynamic individuals.
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now we're talkin'! Wonderful input. Makes a ton of sense actually.
 
I'm still not sure what the question is. Are you asking will you get a better job after residency if you did well in medical school or not? Do you think your match in residency is dependent on your class rank in school and that the prestige of a school is a signifcant factor? Do you think doctors who go to prestigious medical schools make more money than ones who don't? What are you asking? Do you even know which hospitals are better places to train than others? Just because a place is famous doesn't mean it is a good place to train for every specialty. Your step one score and grades in MS 3 are far more important in the match than the name of your med school.
 
eJACKulEIGHT said:
so if it came down to residency or something you don't think politics would come into play at all? Or even if they did, would the top tier-avg school stud/studette pull rank?

edit: *assuming all other parts equal obv...
Click to expand...

So, being bottom in the class in a top medical school guarantees a spot in residency? Ok, if you're happy with it, go for it.
 
Agent B said:
So, being bottom in the class in a top medical school guarantees a spot in residency? Ok, if you're happy with it, go for it.
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Love the Sarcasm.


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A good class rank and dean's letter will go a long way. Plus, since you are top of the class, you must have gotten great clinical grades, which is one of the most important parts of your app (along with the good LORs that come with those grades).

Yeah, it's way better to be top of the class at an average school.
 
eJACKulEIGHT said:
so if it came down to residency or something you don't think politics would come into play at all? Or even if they did, would the top tier-avg school stud/studette pull rank?

edit: *assuming all other parts equal obv...
Click to expand...

Of course politics does come into play. Look at any residency program and the most well-represented school will be their own affiliated med school. So, going to a top school will give you a slight advantage just by attending. However, being bottom of your class is not going to help you with that.
 
eJACKulEIGHT said:
Ok, first off I have read on here for a couple years and just now made an account, so HI all. I know the question i'm answering doesn't have a specific 100% answer. However, I'd still like to have a healthy debate and get your guys opinions and poll on the subject. NOT these particular schools listed below, but just top class avg vs bottom class prestigious. Thanks!



Avg schools: Kansas U. Oklahoma U. Colorado U Arizona state, ect...



Prestigious schools i.e: Harvard, Hopkins, Wash U, UPenn, Stanford ect...
Click to expand...


LOL at your list of "top" and "average" schools... not to mention your question.
 
La Presse said:
Maybe he meant AZCOM.


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Regardless, placing CUSOM (a top 40 school tied with certain Ivy League institutions and with several residency programs that are top 5 nationally) into the same category as either U of AZ (what I assume he meant to do, and a bottom tier state school) or AZCOM (an unranked DO program) is asinine, as is the very idea of this thread in fact. Medical schools are quite prestigious on the whole and the ranking system itself is pitiful in its attempt to categorize schools.
 
I'm curious whether they would actually say in a dean's letter that "jesse120 was the bottom of his class, ranked 147 out of 147" or instead use some vague wording that doesn't come off as negatively.
 
Stay in the top 25th percentile nationally and you're gold.


No class ranks in universities - at least not big ones.
 
Parklife said:
Stay in the top 25th percentile nationally and you're gold.


No class ranks in universities - at least not big ones.
Click to expand...

Sounds like we are talking about SOMs, in which case most do some sort of class rank. Mine does it by quartiles only. AOA status is also quite important and rank matters there.
 
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