What are the pros and cons of large vs small class sizes?

[drhy]

What are the pros and cons of large vs small class sizes (in medical school, not undergraduate)?

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[efle]

What are the pros and cons of large vs small class sizes (in medical school, not undergraduate)?

Large

Pro: Plenty of people
Con: Could be too many people

Small

Pro: Not too many people
Con: Might not be enough people

 

[Oncie]

Having lots of people in a class helps when you take difficult classes like Physics or Ochem. Instructors may make the curve more generous since a good number of people may be below a passing grade.

 

[gannicus89]

Large

Pro: Plenty of people
Con: Could be too many people

Small

Pro: Not too many people
Con: Might not be enough people

How droll. :]

 

[gannicus89]

I like small classes. Like... as small as 5 people. It forces me to be a more responsible student. Too large and I earnestly take part in some major social loafing.

 

[sovereign0]

Having lots of people in a class helps when you take difficult classes like Physics or Ochem. Instructors may make the curve more generous since a good number of people may be below a passing grade.

OP talks about medical school, not undergrad. Unless there's been some serious changes to medical school curriculum recently..

 

[gyngyn]

A small class size with a large applicant pool dramatically reduces your chance of matriculation.

 

[snowflakes]

I think it depends what kind of person you are. Some class sizes are as small as 30-50 students (CCLCM, Mayo), and some are around 200. I don't think larger class size necessarily means under-resourced, because even some top 10 schools have class sizes over 150 (like Columbia).

Some people find small class sizes nurturing, and value the increased attention they'll get from admin as well as the increased cohesiveness of the class. For example, I remember at CCLCM, one of the deans knew something about pretty much every student. Others prefer the variety of a larger class size--more people to meet, less of an "everyone knows everything about everyone" environment, and more space to do your own thing.

As long as the larger class size schools are well-resourced, I think it's totally a personal preference.

 

[NickNaylor]

I went to a school with a small class size and thought it was a great experience, but a smaller class size was something I was specifically looking for. It was nice knowing all of your classmates by name - both professionally and socially. It's weird to me that you would graduate from your med school without knowing some of your classmates. On rotations, there were never more than two med students on a team, and often you were the only med student on the team depending on the rotation and clinical site. From a learning and evaluation standpoint, I thought that was pretty helpful.

 

[drhy]

I went to a school with a small class size and thought it was a great experience, but a smaller class size was something I was specifically looking for. It was nice knowing all of your classmates by name - both professionally and socially. It's weird to me that you would graduate from your med school without knowing some of your classmates. On rotations, there were never more than two med students on a team, and often you were the only med student on the team depending on the rotation and clinical site. From a learning and evaluation standpoint, I thought that was pretty helpful.

Hey NickNaylor, just wanted to say your MDApplicant profile helped me out a lot! Thanks to everyone for your input.

In my undergrad, I always preferred large class sizes, because as Oncie mentioned above, it's easier to get good grades when they curve. But I suppose in medical school, grades don't matter too much and only board scores matter?

Totally agree with all the benefits of small class sizes mentioned above, my only concern is not getting along with my class and being stuck with them for 4 years...but I guess this is not a big deal.

 

[WingedOx]

@SouthernSurgeon once again nails it.

My med school was 200+ and I seriously felt like a number there when it came to dealing with advising and administration. Grass is greener and all that, but small is the way to go.

 

[WedgeDawg]

@SouthernSurgeon once again nails it.

My med school was 200+ and I seriously felt like a number there when it came to dealing with advising and administration. Grass is greener and all that, but small is the way to go.

Do you think this is still the case at a school with a very large hospital? I'm going to a school with a large (160-170) class size and am wondering if these problems are endemic to schools with smaller hospitals but large classes or to any school with a large class size. If so, are there any steps I should take to prepare for being in a large class or things I should do while in medical school to mitigate these issues?

 

[WingedOx]

Do you think this is still the case at a school with a very large hospital? I'm going to a school with a large (160-170) class size and am wondering if these problems are endemic to schools with smaller hospitals but large classes or to any school with a large class size. If so, are there any steps I should take to prepare for being in a large class or things I should do while in medical school to mitigate these issues?

It wasn't just about spots on clinical rotations. It was more about when I walked into the Deans' office with a problem I wasn't exactly treated as much of a priority when there are literally 1000 other students at the school. I had to be kind of a noisy pain in the ass to get problems solved.

I suppose (in hindsight) taking the time to meet with your advisors and have them get to know you early in the game has its benefits, but as they say...ain't nobody got time for that.

 

[rocklobstr]

Having lots of people in a class helps when you take difficult classes like Physics or Ochem. Instructors may make the curve more generous since a good number of people may be below a passing grade.

Many professors don't curve grades though.

 

[Banco]

I mean, how large is the range for med schools anyway? Is 150 vs. 100 students really that different?

 

[efle]

I mean, how large is the range for med schools anyway? Is 150 vs. 100 students really that different?

New schools might have 50-100 people total, while some of the biggest get to 1200-1350 total. I suspect the biggest differences in experience would be based on location though, like rural New Hampshire vs LA...different worlds