What really matters in M1-M2 year?

[anonymouskoala28]

Hi everyone. MS2 here. I'm looking for opinions on what I should be focusing on. I'm at one of the only schools that still has letter grades and GPA along with the class rank everyone else has. My school continuously harps on GPA being the most important thing (which I don't agree with) but I would like some outside opinions. Should I be killing myself to get an A vs a B (I have a pretty good GPA its not that I'm struggling or anything) but I just find it hard to believe someone would give a crap if I had a 3.4 vs a 3.7 or a 3.5 vs a 3.8 if you get my point. Like I don't even know what a GOOD medical school GPA is? Is it a 3.8-4.0 like previously? Or is it wow you have a 3.3 even in med school, good job? I literally don't know.

I'm heavily involved with outside things - I do a lot of research, have a lot of leadership roles and still have a life outside of school. I'm part of the step 1 p/f group so I know how much step 2 will mean. I also understand not to be at the bottom half of the class which I don't think I am anywhere close to that.

I'm just getting to a little bit of a burn out (multiple degrees, never took gap year and did a masters instead) so I'm a little tired of just fighting for A's constantly when other schools get a p or f. Should I still be trying so hard to get those A's or is it ok to relax a little, take time to focus on some other things a bit like research and personal time?

Other notes: I'm interested in surgery. Nothing crazy like NSG but gen surg and maybe ortho.

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[DOVinciRobot]

Other notes: I'm interested in surgery. Nothing crazy like NSG but gen surg and maybe ortho.

A good rank will help you. Not any sort of a deal breaker, but being top quartile will look nice on an app

 

[anonymouskoala28]

A good rank will help you. Not any sort of a deal breaker, but being top quartile will look nice on an app

Thanks! Any other things to help stick out besides nice board scores?

 

[DOVinciRobot]

Thanks! Any other things to help stick out besides nice board scores?

Research and good LORs from academic surgeons

 

[trundlethegreat]

Agree with DOVinci. I'm applying subspecialty surgery and have done decent on the interview trail, but haven't matched yet so take my advice with a grain of salt.

However, by far the most important thing for you to do right now is be doing research, getting involved in organized national surge/ortho, and leveraging those opportunities into networking and 4 strong LORs from key players come 4th year. Being in the top 10% of your class means something but other than that, academic surgery PDs don't know what to do with our MSPEs or grades. We also don't have AOA and they don't care about SSP. Honor medicine and surgery at a minimum, others are a plus (particularly OB/GYN, the other ones are good too). Do well on Step 2 (>250), and then pray. There is a lot of randomness to this process, which no one talks about, but you can minimize it by doing these things.

Some programs use a semi-standardized scoring system to decide who to interview outside of sub-Is and home students, assigning points to boards, LORs, research, and clinical performance. The ranking is similarly done but with the interview in mind. All you can do is excel on what you have in front of you.

 

[Goro]

Hi everyone. MS2 here. I'm looking for opinions on what I should be focusing on. I'm at one of the only schools that still has letter grades and GPA along with the class rank everyone else has. My school continuously harps on GPA being the most important thing (which I don't agree with) but I would like some outside opinions. Should I be killing myself to get an A vs a B (I have a pretty good GPA its not that I'm struggling or anything) but I just find it hard to believe someone would give a crap if I had a 3.4 vs a 3.7 or a 3.5 vs a 3.8 if you get my point. Like I don't even know what a GOOD medical school GPA is? Is it a 3.8-4.0 like previously? Or is it wow you have a 3.3 even in med school, good job? I literally don't know.

I'm heavily involved with outside things - I do a lot of research, have a lot of leadership roles and still have a life outside of school. I'm part of the step 1 p/f group so I know how much step 2 will mean. I also understand not to be at the bottom half of the class which I don't think I am anywhere close to that.

I'm just getting to a little bit of a burn out (multiple degrees, never took gap year and did a masters instead) so I'm a little tired of just fighting for A's constantly when other schools get a p or f. Should I still be trying so hard to get those A's or is it ok to relax a little, take time to focus on some other things a bit like research and personal time?

Other notes: I'm interested in surgery. Nothing crazy like NSG but gen surg and maybe ortho.

With Step I/COMLEX I being P/F, it's no longer worth killing yourself for the A. Just do the best you can.

But despite your disbelief, there's plenty of data showing that one's pre-clinical GPA was the best predictor of a scored Board score.

Try and lobby your school to dump the AB?CF schema and at a minimum, move it to percentiles. That's way people don't have to kill themselves for the A or the B.

 

[MDMechEngr]

it't not always true, but the vast majority of the kids in the top quartile at my school for the last 2 years chose competitive specialties and have matched very well. The cream will rise to the top.

 

[anonymouskoala28]

Thank you all for your opinions. They’re very helpful. My GPA is pretty good. Probably top quartile if I had to guess. They don’t let us know where we stand.

I will stay involved with research and study my a*s off for step 2.

 

[Maximus2020]

With Step 1 as P/F, third year rotation grades are of paramount importance. 3rd year is unlike any pure studying needed in M1/M2. It's a social game and earning Honors is essential for whatever field you wish to match into. Certainly, I echo the above on research and outside things, but at the end of the day, your foot gets in the door with quantitative metrics: number of Honors and Step 2 score. Take a vacation now because there will be no time for such luxuries in 3rd year.

 

[anonymouskoala28]

With Step 1 as P/F, third year rotation grades are of paramount importance. 3rd year is unlike any pure studying needed in M1/M2. It's a social game and earning Honors is essential for whatever field you wish to match into. Certainly, I echo the above on research and outside things, but at the end of the day, your foot gets in the door with quantitative metrics: number of Honors and Step 2 score. Take a vacation now because there will be no time for such luxuries in 3rd year.

This is super helpful. Thank you!

 

[drducky.]

With Step 1 as P/F, third year rotation grades are of paramount importance. 3rd year is unlike any pure studying needed in M1/M2. It's a social game and earning Honors is essential for whatever field you wish to match into. Certainly, I echo the above on research and outside things, but at the end of the day, your foot gets in the door with quantitative metrics: number of Honors and Step 2 score. Take a vacation now because there will be no time for such luxuries in 3rd year.

Number of honors is definitely not a quantitative measure like step. There’s too many variables for it to matter too much, such as the quality of rotation (are you rotating at MGH or rural preceptor based rotations?), some schools are p/f in clinicals (no honors possible), the subjectiveness of grading and the amount of honors handed out (some school where only top 10% get honors while others over half the class get honors).

Getting good letters and mspe comments from each of your rotations is more important.

 

[Maximus2020]

Different people on here will have different perspectives and that's cool - get advice from many.

With that said, I can say with confidence (as both having been there and serving on residency admissions committees) that getting all Honors, mostly Honors, and only 50% Honors makes a huge difference in interview selection and residency placement. More Honors also means higher probability of being AOA, which in and of itself is a resume booster for interviews/top spots.

The MSPE is written based on reviews of your preceptors from 3rd year. So, whether it be P/F or not, if a preceptor would have given you Honors, that would show through in the review versus an "ok" medical student. The same is true with letters. More Honors means better MSPE and higher likelihood of getting good quality LORs.

 

[trundlethegreat]

Different people on here will have different perspectives and that's cool - get advice from many.

With that said, I can say with confidence (as both having been there and serving on residency admissions committees) that getting all Honors, mostly Honors, and only 50% Honors makes a huge difference in interview selection and residency placement. More Honors also means higher probability of being AOA, which in and of itself is a resume booster for interviews/top spots.

The MSPE is written based on reviews of your preceptors from 3rd year. So, whether it be P/F or not, if a preceptor would have given you Honors, that would show through in the review versus an "ok" medical student. The same is true with letters. More Honors means better MSPE and higher likelihood of getting good quality LORs.

I’d second this. Honors or at least getting High Pass on clinical rotations is very important and will likely become more so after Step 1 goes P/F. DO students cannot be inducted into AOA so do what you can to make programs think youd be inducted if you attended an MD school.