What are the standard deviations for your exams?

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smarts1

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So I'm currently an M1, and I was wondering... What are the standard deviations for your exams or distributions for your exams?

I'm generally below average on most of my exams (we've taken 5 exams so far, and I've only been slightly above average for 2 of them... For the other three, I was like 8 points below average). My school only gives us the averages on our exams, so I was wondering, what is the standard deviation or grade distribution for exams at your school?

Also, does anyone have tips on trying to stay above the average on each exam?
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We have only had a handful of exams ourselves so far as well, but avgs were around 87% with std. deviations ranging from 6-10 % points.
 
I'm currently an M1 at a top 25 med school
Click to expand...

I'm currently an MS2 at a Top 17 med school
50px-23853100.png.jpg


Lowest SD = 5.9 (MS1 course)
Highest SD = 12.9 (MS2 course)

They tend to be around ~7.

Our exam class averages have been between 70 and 87.
 
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My standard deviations have a standard deviation of 5ish. I think the lowest average was 75, most are high 70s to low 80s, highest was 85 for neuro (because they actually tested what was lectured on that block).
 
smarts1 said:
So I'm currently an M1 at a top 25 med school, and I was wondering... What are the standard deviations for your exams or distributions for your exams?

I'm generally below average on most of my exams (we've taken 5 exams so far, and I've only been slightly above average for 2 of them... For the other three, I was like 8 points below average). My school only gives us the averages on our exams, so I was wondering, what is the standard deviation or grade distribution for exams at your school?

Also, does anyone have tips on trying to stay above the average on each exam?
Click to expand...
Why it relevant where you are in relation to your class on exams, if H/HP/P,etc. are already defined numerically? Unless your school ranks and divides you into quartiles based on exam averages?
 
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Sorry guys, it was superfluous info that I didn't need to put (I edited it out). I didn't mean to offend anybody with that... But thanks for the info for everyone else who responded!

DermViser said:
Why it relevant where you are in relation to your class on exams, if H/HP/P,etc. are already defined numerically? Unless your school ranks and divides you into quartiles based on exam averages?
Click to expand...

According to upperclassmen, we are still put into quartiles based on our pre-clinical grades and it apparently goes into our MSPE... But they never tell us what quartile we're in for the pre-clinical years...
 
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Fluffy Pomeranian said:
How is knowing the SD on exams at some random, unnamed schools useful to you?
Click to expand...

Sorry about that. It was random info I didn't need to put, and I was in no way trying to offend anyone... They should probably be similar across all schools, which is why I was asking.

I'm generally kind of below average on each exam (sometimes 8 points and sometimes 2), and I would like to be at least a little bit above it... Does anyone have any tips on what they did to get there?
 
smarts1 said:
According to upperclassmen, we are still put into quartiles based on our pre-clinical grades and it apparently goes into our MSPE... But they never tell us what quartile we're in for the pre-clinical years...
Click to expand...
Yes, they most likely won't calculate quartile stuff until the very end, probably bc medical school classes are neurotic as it is. So is it quartiles based on the numerical average, weighted by credit hours accordingly or is it based on the grade (H/HP/P/F, etc.) which is then weighted accordingly? Would suck it if it was based on exact points where the difference btw a quartile is like 1-2 points.
 
Fluffy Pomeranian said:
How is knowing the SD on exams at some random, unnamed schools useful to you?
Click to expand...
Probably more for info/curiosity sakes, to see if it's just his class that has tight distributions or if it's the pattern across all med schools.
 
Mean in high 80s with a deviation of +/- 4
 
DermViser said:
Yes, they most likely won't calculate quartile stuff until the very end, probably bc medical school classes are neurotic as it is. So is it quartiles based on the numerical average, weighted by credit hours accordingly or is it based on the grade (H/HP/P/F, etc.) which is then weighted accordingly? Would suck it if it was based on exact points where the difference btw a quartile is like 1-2 points.
Click to expand...

It's apparently quartiles based on our numerical average (NOT H/HP/P/F)... I did hear from the upperclassmen that getting one more question right on an exam could push you into the next quartile, which is why I was wondering what the standard deviation tends to be at other schools. Based on the responses here, it does seem to be the case.
 
smarts1 said:
It's apparently quartiles based on our numerical average (NOT H/HP/P/F)... I did hear from the upperclassmen that getting one more question right on an exam could push you into the next quartile, which is why I was wondering what the standard deviation tends to be at other schools. Based on the responses here, it does seem to be the case.
Click to expand...
Yes, if quartiles are based on numerical average then yes, every measly point counts as each quartile break would probably be a difference of 2-3 pts. or less. Hence why most schools don't do this and either do "true" P/F, or H/P/F, or H/HP/P/F, or H/HP/P/MP/F, where each letter is a numerical range, like H = 100-90, HP = 89-80, etc.

On another note, your med school sucks for doing that to you guys, as if med students aren't already neurotic enough as it is. Surprised a top tier school is doing this.
 
DermViser said:
Yes, if quartiles are based on numerical average then yes, every measly point counts as each quartile break would probably be a difference of 2-3 pts. or less. Hence why most schools don't do this and either do "true" P/F, or H/P/F, or H/HP/P/F, or H/HP/P/MP/F, where each letter is a numerical range, like H = 100-90, HP = 89-80, etc.

On another note, your med school sucks for doing that to you guys, as if med students aren't already neurotic enough as it is. Surprised a top tier school is doing this.
Click to expand...
Your school did not do it that way...
 
W19 said:
Your school did not do it that way...
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Uh, no. Most schools don't do it that way to where class rank can be separated between 1-2 test question points.
 
Top 4 Caribbean medical school.

Avgs. 72-80% (once had a 82%) std. ~2-8.
 
Most averages at my school are kinda insane. 90+ averages with 5 standard dev. Don't worry, we have extra credit/cushion/PBL factored in + no preclerkship grades or rank.
 
DermViser said:
Yes, if quartiles are based on numerical average then yes, every measly point counts as each quartile break would probably be a difference of 2-3 pts. or less. Hence why most schools don't do this and either do "true" P/F, or H/P/F, or H/HP/P/F, or H/HP/P/MP/F, where each letter is a numerical range, like H = 100-90, HP = 89-80, etc.

On another note, your med school sucks for doing that to you guys, as if med students aren't already neurotic enough as it is. Surprised a top tier school is doing this.
Click to expand...

My school is weird, we do H/HP/P/F, but honors is reserved for the top 15%; they calculate everyone's grade for the class after the final and then decide cut-offs based on that. So you could make an A in the class but still only high pass.
 
xiwang said:
My school is weird, we do H/HP/P/F, but honors is reserved for the top 15%; they calculate everyone's grade for the class after the final and then decide cut-offs based on that. So you could make an A in the class but still only high pass.
Click to expand...
So then at your medical school - students are in fact directly competing against each other for a grade -- since only 15% of the class is allowed to get Honors, and you don't know what your grade will be until the very end, bc cutoffs haven't been established at the beginning of the course i.e. H = 100-90, etc. Something tells me they probably didn't advertise this fact at admissions.
 
DermViser said:
Uh, no. Most schools don't do it that way to where class rank can be separated between 1-2 test question points.
Click to expand...
My school even rank every single exam... I think they do it as a way to make people more neurotic... and I guess it probably has an effect on me because I don't want to be in the lower 3rd quartile and down on any exams.
 
W19 said:
My school even rank every single exam... I think they do it as a way to make people more neurotic... and I guess it probably has an effect on me because I don't want to be in the lower 3rd quartile and down on any exams.
Click to expand...
That school should be outed. Medical students are already neurotic as it is, esp. with the match getting tighter and tighter. Ranking students on a grade sheet of posted grades is so old school and unnecessary.
 
DermViser said:
That school should be outed. Medical students are already neurotic as it is, esp. with the match getting tighter and tighter. Ranking students on a grade sheet of posted grades is so old school and unnecessary.
Click to expand...
I agree with you. I was actually shocked to get such a detailed report (highest score, lowest score, mean, median, mode, standard deviation, rank etc...) about my grade after my 1st exam.
 
W19 said:
I agree with you. I was actually shocked to get such a detailed report (highest score, lowest score, mean, median, mode, standard deviation, rank etc...) about my grade after my 1st exam.
Click to expand...
Those type of parameters, I'm ok with. It's more the ranking of people on 1 exam is what I consider unnecessary.
 
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