What's the deal with the MSPE?

[hawksfan]

So, everyone at my program keeps saying "Don't worry, once the Dean's letter comes out, you will start getting plenty of interviews." But...why?

I went to read my Dean's letter and it was kind of underwhelming. I could barely make it through the pages of nice comments/evaluations about myself, much less expect an Interview Committee to read it for me and every student applying there. I guess I'm just confused about what the Dean's letter has to offer that isn't already submitted? I was under the impression that they had our USMLE scores and school transcripts already. If most schools try as hard as they can not to include negative clinical comments, then how does it benefit those of us who didn't get any negative comments anyways?

I'm not saying it's not important, but I'm more just worried that this "wait until the Dean's letter comes out" excuse is going to be really disappointing for me. If you guys have any insight into what they're really looking for, I would appreciate it a lot.

Thanks

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[gutonc]

Code words. Your MSPE is 6 pages of bulls**t and one sentence that will actually determine whether or not you get the interview. If you're not used to these shenanigans by now it's going to be a rough few years for you coming up.

 

[medstudent7860]

Code words. Your MSPE is 6 pages of bulls**t and one sentence that will actually determine whether or not you get the interview. If you're not used to these shenanigans by now it's going to be a rough few years for you coming up.

What's the one important sentence?

 

[chargersfan]

My guess is the recommendation statement.
i.e. I give this applicant the highest recommendation vs high recommendation vs just recommendation, etc.

 

[Aequanimitatis]

Code words. Your MSPE is 6 pages of bulls**t and one sentence that will actually determine whether or not you get the interview. If you're not used to these shenanigans by now it's going to be a rough few years for you coming up.

This one sentence though is based on class rank as far as I know...so class rank/quartile +/- AOA are all you need, no? Not sure what purpose this sentence serves.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

That's not completely fair. The MSPE lists all of your grades and usually the grade distribution. Without that, I can't tell if 90% get pass or 90% get Honors. There's also usually some sort of ranking system, placing students into quartiles or some other grouping. SO there is quite a bit of useful information in most MSPE's.

 

[Raryn]

My guess is the recommendation statement.
i.e. I give this applicant the highest recommendation vs high recommendation vs just recommendation, etc.

Varies from school to school. The MSPE comes with a cover letter the schools don't show the students that explicitly states the hierarchy of their language. For example "highly and enthusiastically recommend", "highly recommend", or "recommend.

 

[Kaixuan]

What is contained on your med school transcripts? My school only records pass-fail grades, whereas the MSPE has specific honors/high-pass/pass/fail grades. Is that different from most people?

 

[gutonc]

What is contained on your med school transcripts? My school only records pass-fail grades, whereas the MSPE has specific honors/high-pass/pass/fail grades. Is that different from most people?

Yes. Yours is weird. Your transcript should be just that, a precise transcription of the grade you received in every single course.

Your school sucks.

 

[DermViser]

What is contained on your med school transcripts? My school only records pass-fail grades, whereas the MSPE has specific honors/high-pass/pass/fail grades. Is that different from most people?

Yes, I know some people who have transcripts like that. Essentially it's bc the university doesn't have other schools that grade H/HP/P/F, and there is no GPA associated with those letters, it's up to the MSPE to show what the grades are while the transcript shows credit/no credit (P/F). Usually it's at universities that have several schools: School of Medicine, School of Dentistry, etc.

 

[Kaixuan]

Yes, I know some people who have transcripts like that. Essentially it's bc the university doesn't have other schools that grade H/HP/P/F, and there is no GPA associated with those letters, it's up to the MSPE to show what the grades are while the transcript shows credit/no credit (P/F). Usually it's at universities that have several schools: School of Medicine, School of Dentistry, etc.

Yeah, it's interesting. I think our transcripts are overly-generalized possibly because, like you said, we have other colleges within our institution. It won't matter once the MSPE is out, but I think in the mean time, residency programs may wonder why they can't see my grades.

 

[DermViser]

Yeah, it's interesting. I think our transcripts are overly-generalized possibly because, like you said, we have other colleges within our institution. It won't matter once the MSPE is out, but I think in the mean time, residency programs may wonder why they can't see my grades.

I don't know if residencies even look at the trasncript, just the MSPE. They might look at the transcript to see if there were any failures as sometimes the MSPE masks it. Heck many times, they give an interview without even having an MSPE.