worried about 1st year grades

[Sina]

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so i just got my grade from my first module (anatomy). missed the high pass cutoff by .4 points. (was a 88) ive heard that anatomy is the easiest class at this school, so now im worried that ill just pass every class. i did well on the written portions, but the lab practicals killed me. anyways, everyone tells me that 1st and 2nd yr grades dont really matter and that boards, recs, 3rd year grades far outweigh 1st 2 year grades. ive also heard that directors only care about honors, so not getting a high pass, as opposed to barely missing it, isnt that big of a deal to begin with. i know ive only taken one class in med school so far, but we're doing biochem now and having a undergrad business education isnt helping very much. can someone provide me some relief?

appreciate it. 👍

 

[Giving My .02]

Grades aren't important unless you fail or do really really well. Expect Biochem. to be challenging, and just appreciate your good grade in Anatomy. Repetition is EVERYTHING.

 

[erin682]

Be happy with your good grade, it is good. You really can't expect grades to matter a huge amount because all the schools have totally different grading systems. What's high pass one place isn't somewhere else. Plus you have schools like mine that still have A,B,C... The only way to compare someone who passed a pass fail course to someone who made an A is to not that they both passed. From the top down everything I've heard is that board scores and even more importantly clinical rotations are what really matter to res directors. I don't know about at your school but our single internal medicine rotation in 3rd year is worth more grade wise than the entire 1st year.

 

[kappasigMD41]

so i just got my grade from my first module (anatomy). missed the high pass cutoff by .4 points. (was a 88) ive heard that anatomy is the easiest class at this school, so now im worried that ill just pass every class. i did well on the written portions, but the lab practicals killed me. anyways, everyone tells me that 1st and 2nd yr grades dont really matter and that boards, recs, 3rd year grades far outweigh 1st 2 year grades. ive also heard that directors only care about honors, so not getting a high pass, as opposed to barely missing it, isnt that big of a deal to begin with. i know ive only taken one class in med school so far, but we're doing biochem now and having a undergrad business education isnt helping very much. can someone provide me some relief?

appreciate it. 👍

OMG. See, this is why people hate med students. "I missed high pass by 0.4 points." And now you are worried about "just passing" every class? I think this episode defines overreaction. If you are being serious, then I hope I don't hurt your feelings, but this smells of troll poo. But to offer some relief, if you ask resident directors what is most important to them, 1st and 2nd year grades are usually dead last. Please relax. You are making me nervous 🙂

 

[Sina]

OMG. See, this is why people hate med students. "I missed high pass by 0.4 points." And now you are worried about "just passing" every class? I think this episode defines overreaction. If you are being serious, then I hope I don't hurt your feelings, but this smells of troll poo. But to offer some relief, if you ask resident directors what is most important to them, 1st and 2nd year grades are usually dead last. Please relax. You are making me nervous 🙂

i am being serious. i tend to overreact and think of the worst case scenario. the only reason i mentioned .4 points is bc it sucks to bust your ass and then miss high pass by basically 1 question on an exam. and give me a break, its my first grade in med school, everyone here is all flipping out and saying how grades are important, i just wanted to see how important they really are. so basically, someone could have no high passes and still get into a good residency if they have good boards, etc. if grades are really looked upon last, then why is everyone so crazy about grades?

 

[kappasigMD41]

i am being serious. i tend to overreact and think of the worst case scenario. the only reason i mentioned .4 points is bc it sucks to bust your ass and then miss high pass by basically 1 question on an exam. and give me a break, its my first grade in med school, everyone here is all flipping out and saying how grades are important, i just wanted to see how important they really are. so basically, someone could have no high passes and still get into a good residency if they have good boards, etc. if grades are really looked upon last, then why is everyone so crazy about grades?

Because everyone in med school is an overachiever. Many have never even made a "B" before. Most have compulsive personalities, such that you could tell them that grades are meaningless and they would still overstudy and freak out come exam time. It is just the way things are. The same goes for those who obssessively go to class, even though they realize that they don't need to go. I have a few good friends who go to class just because they can't imagine not going, despite realizing that attending every class is completely unnecessary. People worry too much. Remember that med school is a means to an end, not an end itself. Do your best, and that is all that you can do.

 

[omarsaleh66]

yeah grades dont matter from 1st and 2nd year but I would still really learn the stuff cuz there's no way u will be able to learn all the stuff a couple of weeks before u take ur USMLE. So I have heard...

Last year when I was an Ms1 I didnt really study anatomy or biochem cuz I heard that grades dont matter, now I dont remember that stuff at all. haha so my point is dont worry about the grades, they dont matter but make sure u are learning the material really well.

 

[kappasigMD41]

yeah grades dont matter from 1st and 2nd year but I would still really learn the stuff cuz there's no way u will be able to learn all the stuff a couple of weeks before u take ur USMLE. So I have heard...

Last year when I was an Ms1 I didnt really study anatomy or biochem cuz I heard that grades dont matter, now I dont remember that stuff at all. haha so my point is dont worry about the grades, they dont matter but make sure u are learning the material really well.

Exactly.

 

[fielight]

don't worry about the 0.4 points difference, because most likely, it'll happen again (imagine how you'd feel if your grade were 87.9). most (if not all) schools determine gpa/percentile and ranking using your actual average and not just the letter grade, so i wouldn't stress over not getting the HP.

 

[lilmo]

i am being serious. i tend to overreact and think of the worst case scenario. the only reason i mentioned .4 points is bc it sucks to bust your ass and then miss high pass by basically 1 question on an exam. and give me a break, its my first grade in med school, everyone here is all flipping out and saying how grades are important, i just wanted to see how important they really are. so basically, someone could have no high passes and still get into a good residency if they have good boards, etc. if grades are really looked upon last, then why is everyone so crazy about grades?

hope you don't want to go into family practice. i hear those residencies are pretty competitive😉

 

[Sina]

hope you don't want to go into family practice. i hear those residencies are pretty competitive😉

thats actually why i was all worried. the only residency i really dont wanna go into is family practice.

and our prof told us that they only report the h/hp/p grade to the registrar so i dont know how they would calculate our rank. someone here told me that we're not even ranked, except for the aoa people

 

[stoic]

yea you're screwed. looks like you aren't smart enough to be anything but a FP. maybe you could match into a crappy community IM program, if you're lucky.

sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but maybe you're just not cut out for medicine.

 

[lilmo]

yea you're screwed. looks like you aren't smart enough to be anything but a FP. maybe you could match into a crappy community IM program, if you're lucky.

sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but maybe you're just not cut out for medicine.

i've been studying like 10 hours a day just trying to make grades to get into this awesome rural family practice program. looks like i'll be stuck with orthopedic surgury or radiology instead🙁

 

[Fin-Nor]

drop out while you have a chance b4 you're expelled.

 

[felipe5]

i've been studying like 10 hours a day just trying to make grades to get into this awesome rural family practice program. looks like i'll be stuck with orthopedic surgury or radiology instead🙁

just pray that you don't get stuck in derm 😱

 

[stoic]

just pray that you don't get stuck in derm 😱

jesus lord how that would suck.



look everyone! a gunner!

 

[omarsaleh66]

drop out while you have a chance b4 you're expelled.

LOL

 

[lilmo]

just pray that you don't get stuck in derm 😱

think i'd rather be a proctologist than get stuck in derm. wonder what kind of grades you have to make to go into that specialty..................

 

[stoic]

think i'd rather be a proctologist than get stuck in derm. wonder what kind of grades you have to make to go into that specialty..................

pretty shitty grades, i'd imagine

😎

 

[Sina]

i got the goddamn point already. thanks to everyone that gave serious responses. im ok with yall picking on me, as long as i get real responses too. i just didnt know how anal residency directors are. yall seem so confident, i guess i can just pass my classes the 1st two years, and if everything else is good, ill still be ok for good residencies? i wish someone had told me and the rest of my classmates this info. 😳

 

[Sina]

pretty shitty grades, i'd imagine

😎

that was pretty damn funny though. 😀

 

[lilmo]

that was pretty damn funny though. 😀

i second that. sina, i totally was not making fun of you. you will not believe how much i get made fun of for wanting to go into FP. best of luck. spend less time on sdn and more time studying.

 

[stoic]

i got the goddamn point already. thanks to everyone that gave serious responses. im ok with yall picking on me, as long as i get real responses too. i just didnt know how anal residency directors are. yall seem so confident, i guess i can just pass my classes the 1st two years, and if everything else is good, ill still be ok for good residencies? i wish someone had told me and the rest of my classmates this info. 😳

i'm sorry too sina,

i'm just a jackass. it's in my blood.

 

[Sina]

so i talked to our associate dean today, just wanted to get a perspective from the lady that writes the letters of rec. she was making it seem that preclinical grades are more important than yall make it seem. she basically told me that the top resdiencies (optho, derm) look for aoa. now i dont care if i get those residencies or not and that im gonna need to get good grades if i wanna get decent residencies. do yall know if thats true? she also told me that i should be studying for 8 hrs a day. 😱

needless to say, she didnt make me feel any better. ive got issues.

 

[lilmo]

so i talked to our associate dean today, just wanted to get a perspective from the lady that writes the letters of rec. she was making it seem that preclinical grades are more important than yall make it seem. she basically told me that the top resdiencies (optho, derm) look for aoa. now i dont care if i get those residencies or not and that im gonna need to get good grades if i wanna get decent residencies. do yall know if thats true? she also told me that i should be studying for 8 hrs a day. 😱

needless to say, she didnt make me feel any better. ive got issues.

dude. if you study for 8 hours a day (besides the week of a test block), you've got issues. for real, believe it or not, there is life outside of med school.

p.s. what kind of residency do you want?

 

[comebackid04]

so i talked to our associate dean today, just wanted to get a perspective from the lady that writes the letters of rec. she was making it seem that preclinical grades are more important than yall make it seem. she basically told me that the top resdiencies (optho, derm) look for aoa. now i dont care if i get those residencies or not and that im gonna need to get good grades if i wanna get decent residencies. do yall know if thats true? she also told me that i should be studying for 8 hrs a day. 😱

needless to say, she didnt make me feel any better. ive got issues.

Just be aware that the med school "officialdom" will *always* attempt to "rally the troops", and will even play mindgames with you to do so.

Their motivation? More students passing the boards.

Oh yeah, they *might* actually want "better" doctors, but they know better than to think the first-year classes really contribute anything to clinical acumen. They just want to get the boards passing rate up, and the average higher, so they can be regarded as a more impressive insitution than Med School X down the road....

So being AOA would be great, but if your board scores suck, then your "home" institution may be the only one that will "appreciate" your "quality". But even then it could be dicey.

But the officialdom will always encourage you to study more, work harder, and sacrifice more.

The most important info you may need is actual commentary from individuals who have obtained the residency you desire presently. I am sure that many such individuals are indeed "academically perfect". However, I bet you some are not, and they probably have other factors that contributed to their successful placement (stellar board scores, exemplary clinical grades, personal contact with residency director, research, etc)..

 

[novacek88]

There seems to be too much partisanship in regards to these answers. You have two political parties. You have one group that says board scores matter and grades don't count. The other group says everything is really important including grades.

The truth is depends on what field you plan to enter. For the most competitive fields like neurosurgery, dermatology, opthalmology etc, then everything is important. Areas like family practice, pediatrics and internal medicine don't really look at grades unless you are planning on doing internal medicine at a top 10 program.

Your board scores will always weigh more than grades. It really depends on the program. I have a very good friend who is a radiology resident. He told me they don't even look at grades and that board scores are the most important but by good board scores, we are talking 240+ for his program so.....

So to answer your question, first year grades don't matter 75% of the time. It only depends if you want to enter one of the 5 most competitive fields or you want to go to a top 10 program.

 

[omarsaleh66]

There seems to be too much partisanship in regards to these answers. You have two political parties. You have one group that says board scores matter and grades don't count. The other group says everything is really important including grades.

The truth is depends on what field you plan to enter. For the most competitive fields like neurosurgery, dermatology, opthalmology etc, then everything is important. Areas like family practice, pediatrics and internal medicine don't really look at grades unless you are planning on doing internal medicine at a top 10 program.

Your board scores will always weigh more than grades. It really depends on the program. I have a very good friend who is a radiology resident. He told me they don't even look at grades and that board scores are the most important but by good board scores, we are talking 240+ for his program so.....

So to answer your question, first year grades don't matter 75% of the time. It only depends if you want to enter one of the 5 most competitive fields or you want to go to a top 10 program.

Exactly, its just like undergrad. Remember if u wanted to get into a top med school, u needed a high MCAT. It didnt matter if u had a 4.0 and a 25, u will not get an interview at Harvard, but if u have a 3.5 and a 40 MCAT, u have a better chance. That's exactly how it is when u are applying for residency. The USMLE matters alot, that 3 digit score is the first thing people notice and its the easiest to use when screening applications. And grades matter too, but the grades that they will really look at is the important grades which u get in 3rd year. So what does that mean? 1st and 2nd years grades arent THAT important. But what if u want to do derm, well Most of derm applicants are going to have good grades 1st and 2nd yaer, good USMLE, and good everything because they are cream of the crop so in that sense u might want to get good grades 1st year becuase of the few spots anc competition but i mean the preclinical years COMES LAST in terms of importance!!!

 

[10minutes]

so i just got my grade from my first module (anatomy). missed the high pass cutoff by .4 points. (was a 88) ive heard that anatomy is the easiest class at this school, so now im worried that ill just pass every class. i did well on the written portions, but the lab practicals killed me. anyways, everyone tells me that 1st and 2nd yr grades dont really matter and that boards, recs, 3rd year grades far outweigh 1st 2 year grades. ive also heard that directors only care about honors, so not getting a high pass, as opposed to barely missing it, isnt that big of a deal to begin with. i know ive only taken one class in med school so far, but we're doing biochem now and having a undergrad business education isnt helping very much. can someone provide me some relief?

appreciate it. 👍

I have the same issue. I tend to do well on written exam, but always screw up the practicals (we just had second exams this week). 🙁

 

[Gut Shot]

she was making it seem that preclinical grades are more important than yall make it seem.

Dude, professional school is like running a marathon. Run too fast and you will burn out. Run too slow and you will never cross the finish line.

So here is the key: Do your best, don't make yourself too miserable (you won't perform well if you're unhappy, no matter how many hours you study per day), and in the end just let the chips fall where they may.

-Havarti666, Ph.D. (2001), M.D. (2005)

 

[mfrederi]

trust what people say about the importance of first year grades. In the residency forums there have been numerous posts by junior or chief residents who are involved in evaluating applications who have straight up said that MS I & II grades are the last thing they look at. Are they important- yes. Do you need really good ones if you want to go into derm, rads, etc- probably. But if your goal is to not get pigeonholed (I think I spelled that wrong or something) into FP, just keep doing well, because a high B is doing well. Think about this, if only the top 10 or 20% of med students specialize, then how is it that only about a 1/3 of all physicians in the US are FP or general practice?

 

[Sina]

trust what people say about the importance of first year grades. In the residency forums there have been numerous posts by junior or chief residents who are involved in evaluating applications who have straight up said that MS I & II grades are the last thing they look at. Are they important- yes. Do you need really good ones if you want to go into derm, rads, etc- probably. But if your goal is to not get pigeonholed (I think I spelled that wrong or something) into FP, just keep doing well, because a high B is doing well. Think about this, if only the top 10 or 20% of med students specialize, then how is it that only about a 1/3 of all physicians in the US are FP or general practice?

thats a damn good point. honestly, my goal is not to get pigeonholed (i dont know the stupid spelling either 😀 ). i was just scared into getting myself in a position where i wont be able to decide my future ie-only FP. and i really dont care if i dont get into derm, optho, whatever, cause i dont wanna kill myself for the next 4 years. it just sux when a 87 ends up being only a pass.

i also wanted to thank all of yall for the good advice. 😎 its nice to know that there are people out there willing to help(more than i can say for my classmates). i feel better now, but im probably gonna get on paxil or prozac or some ****. 😱

 

[Gut Shot]

Crappy island? Nah, it's just surreal. You just have to learn to go with the flow down there. I recommend getting to know all the Jimmy Buffet types that frequent O'Malley's. Does Mitzi still work there? Anyways, you can have a kickass, if unconventional, time there, if you choose to melt in to the scenery.

-Havarti666, O'Malley's/Molly's/OCB Customer Of The Year, 1999.

 

[thackl]

dude. if you study for 8 hours a day (besides the week of a test block), you've got issues. for real, believe it or not, there is life outside of med school.

p.s. what kind of residency do you want?

UTMB has a very low number of contact hrs; hence, more out of class work. They also suffered from many yrs of abismal board scores/pass rates that only got worked out in the last few yrs. I can believe a UTMB dean would say this (true or not) to rally students in an effort to avoid past USMLE problems.