Does medical school ranking really matter?

[lemonxlime]

I'm seeking advice about medical school rankings. I do not have an interest in academic medicine, but am potentially interested in specialties such as cardiology, pediatric ENT, ENT and pediatric cardiology.

If you want to pursue a competitive specialty does it matter if you go to a Top 30 vs Top 50 vs Top 100-120 school? Why or why not?

I do not have a physician mentor or physicians in my family so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Ho0v-man]

Yes. Let me repeat that:

YES!!!

Prestige is huge for residency selection. Everyone knows the guy/gal from whatever Ivy League school is great and recruiting that person to your residency program will make your program look better. Like 1/3 derm matriculants come from top schools for example.

Coming from a lower tier program, your reach programs are that top students safeties.

I recommend going to the most prestigious program you can get into regardless of your goals.

 

[wondervisions]

In a broad sense, yes, but people tend to overvalue small differences in ranking. For instance, the difference between a school in the top-10 versus a school in the top-20 is marginal, but the difference between a school in the top-20 and a school ranked 40-50 may be significant.

 

[i-doctor]

I agree with the first response above, that med school ranking can be very important.
I went to a T15 med school. I matched into Ophtho even though I was at best in the middle of my class (based on test scores and evaluations) and had no research experience or extracurriculars. I matched into a low/mid tier Ophtho program. I know they chose me because they liked having a resident from a “prestigious” med school. Obviously some luck is involved also, as my chances were probably 50/50.. And now that Step 1 is going pass/fail, the ranking of the med school becomes even more important.

 

[Slack3r]

Yes it does. We frequently passed over candidates from newer or “low tier” medical schools during residency interview selection.

 

[Lawpy]

Yes it does. We frequently passed over candidates from newer or “low tier” medical schools during residency interviews

That is harsh man

 

[Lawpy]

I'm seeking advice about medical school rankings. I do not have an interest in academic medicine, but am potentially interested in specialties such as cardiology, pediatric ENT, ENT and pediatric cardiology.

If you want to pursue a competitive specialty does it matter if you go to a Top 30 vs Top 50 vs Top 100-120 school? Why or why not?

I do not have a physician mentor or physicians in my family so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

SDN has a very bizarre addiction to prestige (just head on over to preallo and you’ll see at least dozens of threads involving premeds, med students, fancy attendings and adcoms heavily fawning over HMS, Hopkins, Penn, Columbia etc etc)

School name matters but SDN exaggerates this out of proportion as if going to a low tier basically prevents you from matching to excellent and top tier residencies and programs, which is completely ridiculous

School name helps in simplifying things and not having to worry about having to straight honor everything and getting high quality research/ECs + fighting for AOA. Top tier schools have huge alumni networks in far places that’ll help you match wherever and whatever you want. But going to a low tier school doesn’t restrict you, it just makes things more difficult just because of competition alone and the removal of objective metrics like Step 1

 

[Med Ed]

I'm seeking advice about medical school rankings. I do not have an interest in academic medicine, but am potentially interested in specialties such as cardiology, pediatric ENT, ENT and pediatric cardiology.

If you want to pursue a competitive specialty does it matter if you go to a Top 30 vs Top 50 vs Top 100-120 school? Why or why not?

It matters a great deal for competitive specialties, primarily because the individuals who evaluate residency applications often have no way to stratify applicants in any meaningful way. After the initial screen you're left with a pool of people who all have great scores, great grades, great LORs, etc. Applying an external ranking system to guide further decision making is just the sort of mental shortcut you need.

Besides, if you match someone from a T5 who later turns out to be a disaster, no one will ever second guess your choice to rank that individual so highly. After all, how were you to know? The person got into a top 5 medical school!

 

[Slack3r]

That is harsh man

It is. I don’t agree with it, but it happens. I interviewed at a “top” program in my specialty, and they bragged during the interview day that most of their residents come from top 20 med schools.

But like you said, going to a top school doesn’t guarantee you a good match, nor does going to a newer or lower ranked school doom you either.

 

[catnip12]

Go to the school that matches the highest prestige for the lowest cost. In a P/F world, you might need more things to make you a favorable applicant. Unless you have a Harvard, UCSF, or Hopkins in your options. I can't speak to that level of prestige since I did not get an interview at either one when I applied some 4 years back. That said, I also would not pick a USNews T15-20 over a T30-50 (...or whatever) with a full ride. But that's just me. Academics does not pay as well and you'll be straddled with that debt for a long time.

Edited to add: People in community practice are much less likely to GAF about the prestige of your medical school compared to your efficiency and whether or not you're a good partner to work with.

 

[lemonxlime]

C

Yes it does. We frequently passed over candidates from newer or “low tier” medical schools during residency interview selection.

Could you give me an example that of what you mean by lower tier medical school? Is it a ranking person of 50 or 80 or unranked?
Like for instance are Wake, Loyola, Toledo or University of Illinois considered low tier?

 

[lemonxlime]

SDN has a very bizarre addiction to prestige (just head on over to preallo and you’ll see at least dozens of threads involving premeds, med students, fancy attendings and adcoms heavily fawning over HMS, Hopkins, Penn, Columbia etc etc)

School name matters but SDN exaggerates this out of proportion as if going to a low tier basically prevents you from matching to excellent and top tier residencies and programs, which is completely ridiculous

School name helps in simplifying things and not having to worry about having to straight honor everything and getting high quality research/ECs + fighting for AOA. Top tier schools have huge alumni networks in far places that’ll help you match wherever and whatever you want. But going to a low tier school doesn’t restrict you, it just makes things more difficult just because of competition alone and the removal of objective metrics like Step 1

So thanks so much for your response? And when you refer to top tier, just to make sure, is that top20?

 

[Lawpy]

So thanks so much for your response? And when you refer to top tier, just to make sure, is that top20?

Yeah

 

[Browns99]

Yes it does. We frequently passed over candidates from newer or “low tier” medical schools during residency interview selection.

More is needed from your statement...were the ones passed over less qualified? Are you talking apples to apples? Are you saying that your program picked less qualified applicants over more qualified that went to a "low-tiered" school?

Either way, the answer to the OP's question is yes, it can definitely help. However, I don't care what school you come from.... have excellent grades, scores, big-time letters, AOA, interview well and you will likely match at the top residencies in competitive specialities.

 

[deleted1106140]

Is the fact that an applicant’s school (high, mid, or low tier) may not have AOA at all considered? Would an applicant from a mid tier with no AOA (no AOA chapter) be at a disadvantage to an applicant from a low tier who is in AOA all other things being equal?

 

[BioPsychotic]

Me, an accepted DO applicant, reading this thread: 👁️ 👄 👁️

 

[lemonxlime]

Me, an accepted DO applicant, reading this thread: 👁️ 👄 👁️

All I have to say is congrats!!! Lol I don't know what to think anymore except hopefully by doing your best you can achieve what you want.

 

[wondervisions]

Is the fact that an applicant’s school (high, mid, or low tier) may not have AOA at all considered? Would an applicant from a mid tier with no AOA (no AOA chapter) be at a disadvantage to an applicant from a low tier who is in AOA all other things being equal?

From what I gather, many top schools are doing away with AOA entirely, so I think it will become less meaningful in the coming years.

 

[srirachamayonnaise]

Is the fact that an applicant’s school (high, mid, or low tier) may not have AOA at all considered? Would an applicant from a mid tier with no AOA (no AOA chapter) be at a disadvantage to an applicant from a low tier who is in AOA all other things being equal?

If you go to a t20, you can forget about AOA since most of them don't have it anyway. If you go to a lower-tier school, I think AOA is still important.

 

[Lawpy]

Me, an accepted DO applicant, reading this thread: 👁️ 👄 👁️

welcome to allo

 

[FluffyCat1212]

Me, an accepted DO applicant, reading this thread: 👁️ 👄 👁️

Deep breaths. You will be fine.

And congrats on the A!

 

[srirachamayonnaise]

I'm seeking advice about medical school rankings. I do not have an interest in academic medicine, but am potentially interested in specialties such as cardiology, pediatric ENT, ENT and pediatric cardiology.

If you want to pursue a competitive specialty does it matter if you go to a Top 30 vs Top 50 vs Top 100-120 school? Why or why not?

I do not have a physician mentor or physicians in my family so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Prestige only applies to a very few schools, not even all t20's. I will say probably 5 to 8 schools at most.

 

[Lawpy]

Prestige only applies to a very few schools, not even all t20's. I will say probably 5 to 8 schools at most.

This isn’t true

 

[7331poas]

SDN has a very bizarre addiction to prestige (just head on over to preallo and you’ll see at least dozens of threads involving premeds, med students, fancy attendings and adcoms heavily fawning over HMS, Hopkins, Penn, Columbia etc etc)

Aren't you premed?

Prestige is incredibly important in the residency selection process. Especially now that step is going P/F.

When a program displays what residents exist in their program, they dont post their ECs, Step scores, or charming personalities. They post their name and then their med school below it. When applicants look at program strength, one of the very first things they look at is "do most of their residents come from name brand MD programs or **** tier programs".

 

[Lawpy]

Aren't you premed?

Prestige is incredibly important in the residency selection process. Especially now that step is going P/F.

When a program displays what residents exist in their program, they dont post their ECs, Step scores, or charming personalities. They post their name and then their med school below it. When applicants look at program strength, one of the very first things they look at is "do most of their residents come from name brand MD programs or **** tier programs".

No i’m in med school. I think SDN is exaggerating and overhyping the prestige factor and i have maintained this view pretty regularly.

 

[BioPsychotic]

Deep breaths. You will be fine.

And congrats on the A!

Thank you! I'm so happy that I get to pursue my dream career. I've overcome a lot of obstacles to reach this point, and I am determined to be the best physician possible for my future patients.

 

[Dr. Anonymouss]

This is honestly the reason making step 1 p/f was the worst decision possible. There is already a heavy bias towards students from "prestigious medical schools", so this decision effectively eliminates one of the best metrics students have to differentiate themselves from one another. Obviously the emphasis will just get placed on step II now, but can you imagine not knowing what specialty you may be going into until the start of your 4th year? If you bomb your step II you can kiss your chances at a competitive speciality goodbye so you better start rethinking your options. At least if you bombed step I it gave you plenty of time to re-evaluate your options and explore different specialties before the clock starts ticking. Medical school prestige was always a big factor and now it is even bigger...

 

[srirachamayonnaise]

This isn’t true

Why not? Prestige only exists in a very few select places in every profession, no exception in medicine. No one will think UCSD is prestigious even though it is No.19.

 

[Anakinmemer]

Why not? Prestige only exists in a very few select places in every profession, no exception in medicine. No one will think UCSD is prestigious even though it is No.19.

If you're talking about layperson prestige then yes only the classic name brand places will be recognized but I doubt PD's in medicine have that simplistic of a view

 

[DOVinciRobot]

Why not? Prestige only exists in a very few select places in every profession, no exception in medicine. No one will think UCSD is prestigious even though it is No.19.

Joe at the gas station check out won’t, but PDs will. We aren’t talking about lay person prestige.

To answer your question OP, yes it matters. There is nuance to it, yes, but yes it matters.

 

[Slack3r]

More is needed from your statement...were the ones passed over less qualified? Are you talking apples to apples? Are you saying that your program picked less qualified applicants over more qualified that went to a "low-tiered" school?

Either way, the answer to the OP's question is yes, it can definitely help. However, I don't care what school you come from.... have excellent grades, scores, big-time letters, AOA, interview well and you will likely match at the top residencies in competitive specialities.

After a certain point, there isn’t much difference in score/stats. Is a person with a 250 step 1 “less qualified” than a person with a 260? Is the person elected during the 4th year to AOA less qualified than the person who was elected as a junior? There’s quite a bit that goes into residency candidate selection, and the process is, much to the chagrin of most med students, not entirely meritocratic.

But yes, “qualified” candidates from newer or less highly regarded med schools did slide down the rank list in favor of students with similar applications from “prestigious” schools. But again, school reputation is just one factor of many when it comes to evaluating applicants. It DOES matter, but it’s not worth beating yourself up over.

 

[Lawpy]

Joe at the gas station check out won’t, but PDs will. We aren’t talking about lay person prestige.

To answer your question OP, yes it matters. There is nuance to it, yes, but yes it matters.

Yes exactly. I think some people view my criticism of SDN exaggeration of prestige bias as my denying that prestige bias exists, which isn’t true. Of course school name matters especially for top programs and super competitive specialties (not to mention the opportunities and networking these schools offer). But SDN has a clear elitist mindset that focuses pretty much primarily on T5 name so extensively as if going anywhere else effectively dooms your matching success, which is absurd.

 

[srirachamayonnaise]

Yes exactly. I think some people view my criticism of SDN exaggeration of prestige bias as my denying that prestige bias exists, which isn’t true. Of course school name matters especially for top programs and super competitive specialties (not to mention the opportunities and networking these schools offer). But SDN has a clear elitist mindset that focuses pretty much primarily on T5 name so extensively as if going anywhere else effectively dooms your matching success, which is absurd.

I don’t think going anywhere other than t5 dooms anyone. But rather going to a t5 ENHANCES your chance.

 

[operaman]

Does school rank matter? No. Not one bit.

Does school quality and prestige matter? Heck yeah it does. A lot. Maybe even more than ever now with step being p/f.

The two (rank and quality) generally align but the actual rankings change a bit from year to year so small differences in ranking don’t really matter that much. Aim for the best school you can get at the best price.

I managed to land a top residency in a competitive field coming from a mid tier state school, but I had a very very strong application and my home department had an excellent national reputation with many faculty who have since become chairs elsewhere and led our national organizations. I’ve definitely seen other applicants struggle with weak or absent home programs even if they’re otherwise good students.

 

[Browns99]

After a certain point, there isn’t much difference in score/stats. Is a person with a 250 step 1 “less qualified” than a person with a 260? Is the person elected during the 4th year to AOA less qualified than the person who was elected as a junior? There’s quite a bit that goes into residency candidate selection, and the process is, much to the chagrin of most med students, not entirely meritocratic.

But yes, “qualified” candidates from newer or less highly regarded med schools did slide down the rank list in favor of students with similar applications from “prestigious” schools. But again, school reputation is just one factor of many when it comes to evaluating applicants. It DOES matter, but it’s not worth beating yourself up over.

You glossed over my post and then quoted something about scores. Scores are only part of the app, like I said, AOA, letters of rec, interviews , etc. but you only quoted scores and asked rhetorically if a step 1 250 is "less qualified" than a 260. While I understand you discussing scores, but If you are going to quote a post, please make sure you just don't cheery pick from it, scores are just a part of an overall app.

As I said to the OP, it certainly helps coming from a "top ranked/top tiered/prestigious" school, so I have no argument with respect to that question. I was trying however, to let those out there that are not from a top school, not to lose hope because outstanding applicants from the lowest tiered schools match every year to highly competitive residencies.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Prestige matters for sure. That said, I do agree with whoever said that people tend to be way too stringent in the actual rankings. Saying that a "T15" school is better than a "T40" school is silly--they're both good. And as others have said, it's just one part of your application. By far you're going to be judged primarily on how you perform academically, so if for whatever reason you believe you will have better support at a "lower ranked" school (ie you have family support nearby, it'll help you stay with your significant other, etc) then you should factor that into the equation too. You shouldn't just select your school in a vacuum based solely on rank.

 

[i-doctor]

The arms race to get into competitive specialties is ridiculous. Perhaps that’s the intention. The path of least resistance is to do primary care, where the need is greatest.

 

[Dral]

My thoughts (a post I made on a recent thread in the pre-med forum):

Maybe, maybe not.

When I was on the interview trail for Dermatology, there definitely seemed to be over-representation of schools like Harvard, Hopkins, Yale, etc. There could be a little bias since a lot of the places I interviewed at were what would be considered good programs (Emory, Northwestern, UPMC, Cornell, NYU, Hopkins, Mayo, Miami, UCSF, etc). However, we could assume that there is a trickle down effect where those from top med schools get more interviews overall. There are factors like accessibility to research, mentors, programs, and other opportunities.

However, I am at program that isn't an ivy league type program, and we rarely if ever interview people from those places. So there may be a bit of self selection.

So maybe...maybe not. Overall in my opinion it does matter. However, for most things in general it probably doesn't matter a great deal. If your goal is really to become a solid IM doc for instance, I can't see how it matters a ton.

However, as alluded to by others, if you're going for a higher stakes competitive specialty or if it really matters to you to get into IM residency at Penn, then it could very well matter.

Does it matter if you go to Hopkins vs Wake Forest for most things? Probably not. Does it make a difference if you go to Harvard vs a newly minted DO school? Yes and no. If your goal is to become a doctor probably not. If your goal is academic Neurosurgery, probably so.

 

[Lawpy]

I don’t think going anywhere other than t5 dooms anyone. But rather going to a t5 ENHANCES your chance.

Can’t split like that because in that case, going to HMS enhances your chances better than any med school.

 

[HelpMeDecideXvsY]

Yes it matters, but not as much as some people obsess about. If you look at the charting outcomes for the match, they have separate statistics for match rates based on if someone went to a NIH top 40-funded school or not. The vast (I repeat vast) majority of matching into your desired specialty is on you though. The grades, research, letters, etc. are more important. Go wherever you’ll succeed.

 

[mitchel674]

If you think you are even remotely interested in ENT, it's most important that you select a medical school with a home program. Prestige and medical school ranking are also factors.
659 people are applying for the 350 ENT residency spots this year.

 

[lemonxlime]

If you think you are even remotely interested in ENT, it's most important that you select a medical school with a home program. Prestige and medical school ranking are also factors.
659 people are applying for the 350 ENT residency spots this year.

Wow competition is steep. It's my top choice. I'll keep that in mind. Could you elaborate why it's important to choose a medical school with a home program? Do they favor accepting students from their school?

 

[Dr McSexy]

If you think you are even remotely interested in ENT, it's most important that you select a medical school with a home program. Prestige and medical school ranking are also factors.
659 people are applying for the 350 ENT residency spots this year.

I'll agree with this. Yeah, having a home program is certainly helpful and more important.

Some things to consider:
Top ranked medical schools do not always align with top ranked residency programs. Sometimes having a strong or more well known residency department is more important than the medical school itself. This is where having a home program can help or choosing your away rotations carefully can help.

While there is definitely name/prestige bias present, you still have to check all of the other boxes (AOA, step scores, research etc. Etc.) Otherwise it doesn't matter where you go to med school.

I certainly wouldn't go into an additional 100-200k in debt just to go to a more prestigious school. There are still plenty of people matching into these competitive specialities who didn't go to a top rank school. They may not be going to top ranked programs, but they are going to be well trained and be able to do what they want. Obviously if you're goal is to be a academic/department chair then yeah sure try to go to the most prestigious school you can.

 

[GB4ME]

Yes. Let me repeat that:

YES!!!

Prestige is huge for residency selection. Everyone knows the guy/gal from whatever Ivy League school is great and recruiting that person to your residency program will make your program look better. Like 1/3 derm matriculants come from top schools for example.

Coming from a lower tier program, your reach programs are that top students safeties.

I recommend going to the most prestigious program you can get into regardless of your goals.

If you look at the neurosurgery residency at Hopkins( one of he most difficult to get into of all residencies in all specialities) more than half didn’t go to Ivy League for either UG nor med school. Make great step and shelf scores and get great lors especially from professors in the areas you want to match. It won’t hurt you to go to a highly ranked school but it isn’t going to be the end of the world.

 

[farmtodoc]

Wow competition is steep. It's my top choice. I'll keep that in mind. Could you elaborate why it's important to choose a medical school with a home program? Do they favor accepting students from their school?

Having a home program allows you to have access to all of the research, mentors/faculty, exposure during electives, etc. to make you a more competitive applicant for said specialty. I'm not sure if they necessarily favor students from their school, but my guess is you have more time to create the connections/ relationships in the field to help your residency app out.

Take this with a grain of salt, as I have outsiders perspective being an M-0 lol. 🤪

 

[doctorsharukhan]

Aren't you premed?

Prestige is incredibly important in the residency selection process. Especially now that step is going P/F.

When a program displays what residents exist in their program, they dont post their ECs, Step scores, or charming personalities. They post their name and then their med school below it. When applicants look at program strength, one of the very first things they look at is "do most of their residents come from name brand MD programs or **** tier programs".

People are also forgetting that someone who got into harvard medical school (or similar) with a 520 MCAT, 3.8+ GPA, tons of research, ECs, etc is MORE LIKELY to perform higher on Step 1 (Step 2 now) since this is likely someone who is more efficient --> more free time to strengthen their clinical skills (and these schools generally have great clinical training). These individuals ALREADY know how to pump out pubs and have UNLIMITED access to the top research in the world. These factors make these individuals much more attractive to residencies.

It's very rare that a low ranked MD (I attend a low-tier MD btw) or DO student will check all of the boxes above. Research is plentiful at my school but not many take advantage of it. Most of us can barely keep up with the material. On the other hand, I have friends at prestigious schools. Their matriculant age seems to be higher (Einstein is 26 for example) and generally have lots of "X" Factors on their applications as premeds (research, unique skills, etc) --> and this generally translates into more of the same accomplishments during med school.

If you were were betting $1000 and were asked to pick an individual with a 240+ step 1 + lots of pubs. You're given a pool of 50 students from Yale and 50 students from State School X. You're more likely to be right picking at random a student from yale. Yes, the state school might have 10/50 students who meet the criteria, but yale would have 40/50 students meet it. Since many students take Step 2 very late (right before or after ERAS), things like school prestige generally translate to "higher step 1, research, great clinical experience, unique skills"

 

[doctorsharukhan]

If you look at the neurosurgery residency at Hopkins( one of he most difficult to get into of all residencies in all specialities) more than half didn’t go to Ivy League for either UG nor med school. Make great step and shelf scores and get great lors especially from professors in the areas you want to match. It won’t hurt you to go to a highly ranked school but it isn’t going to be the end of the world.

Neurology and Neurosurgery

www.hopkinsmedicine.org

I'm seeing mostly hopkins, stanford, columbia, washington (st louis) for med school. The FMGs like AUB (Beirut) is on the same caliber as MIT (for undergrad) and also considered the best med school in the middle east. I suspect the same for the Chinese and Spain med schools (and those people likely had connections + Pumped out pubs)

Also, NSG is very self-selecting. Lots of people with derm stats would rather do derm even if they COULD do nsg. The lifestyle pushes a lot of people away. I mean heck, if I put in a bit of extra effort I could probably match ENT/ophtho but I hate surgery and I'd rather be a "cog in the machine" doing anesthesia/rads with minimal effort to match

 

[Lawpy]

People are also forgetting that someone who got into harvard medical school (or similar) with a 520 MCAT, 3.8+ GPA, tons of research, ECs, etc is MORE LIKELY to perform higher on Step 1 (Step 2 now) since this is likely someone who is more efficient --> more free time to strengthen their clinical skills (and these schools generally have great clinical training). These individuals ALREADY know how to pump out pubs and have UNLIMITED access to the top research in the world. These factors make these individuals much more attractive to residencies.

It's very rare that a low ranked MD (I attend a low-tier MD btw) or DO student will check all of the boxes above. Research is plentiful at my school but not many take advantage of it. Most of us can barely keep up with the material. On the other hand, I have friends at prestigious schools. Their matriculant age seems to be higher (Einstein is 26 for example) and generally have lots of "X" Factors on their applications as premeds (research, unique skills, etc) --> and this generally translates into more of the same accomplishments during med school.

If you were were betting $1000 and were asked to pick an individual with a 240+ step 1 + lots of pubs. You're given a pool of 50 students from Yale and 50 students from State School X. You're more likely to be right picking at random a student from yale. Yes, the state school might have 10/50 students who meet the criteria, but yale would have 40/50 students meet it. Since many students take Step 2 very late (right before or after ERAS), things like school prestige generally translate to "higher step 1, research, great clinical experience, unique skills"

Ok even i’m not disagreeing with this if people actually read what i wrote. But people from lower tiers can compensate for this by getting AOA, getting great Steps and straight honoring etc etc. Of course people will have to work hard for this and the average students have unlikely chance of matching into top places. Top places and specialties are competitive for a reason, but it needs to be clear that going to a low tier is not a hindrance to matching even the best programs.

 

[mitchel674]

Wow competition is steep. It's my top choice. I'll keep that in mind. Could you elaborate why it's important to choose a medical school with a home program? Do they favor accepting students from their school?

Advantages of having a home program are varied and critical to a successful ENT application.

1. Home mentor/chairman relationship. Having a home mentor helps with advising and advocating. They will know you better than some ENT physician who gets to meet you for a few weeks on an away rotation. These LORs are more meaningful to other program directors. Behind the scenes calls and discussions between chairmen and PDs happen all the time. It's a small and tight knit group.

2. Greater opportunity for ENT research if you have a home program. Publications will bolster your application for such a competitive specialty.

3. Possibility to match in your home program. While most will not fill all slots from home, many ENT programs will take at least one student. This has become particularly prominent during the COVID era with limited ability for MSIV students to do away rotations. When programs do not see visiting students, it is often safer to take home students.

You can match ENT without a home program, but it is an uphill battle.

 

[7331poas]

People are also forgetting that someone who got into harvard medical school (or similar) with a 520 MCAT, 3.8+ GPA, tons of research, ECs, etc is MORE LIKELY to perform higher on Step 1 (Step 2 now) since this is likely someone who is more efficient --> more free time to strengthen their clinical skills (and these schools generally have great clinical training). These individuals ALREADY know how to pump out pubs and have UNLIMITED access to the top research in the world. These factors make these individuals much more attractive to residencies.

It's very rare that a low ranked MD (I attend a low-tier MD btw) or DO student will check all of the boxes above. Research is plentiful at my school but not many take advantage of it. Most of us can barely keep up with the material. On the other hand, I have friends at prestigious schools. Their matriculant age seems to be higher (Einstein is 26 for example) and generally have lots of "X" Factors on their applications as premeds (research, unique skills, etc) --> and this generally translates into more of the same accomplishments during med school.

If you were were betting $1000 and were asked to pick an individual with a 240+ step 1 + lots of pubs. You're given a pool of 50 students from Yale and 50 students from State School X. You're more likely to be right picking at random a student from yale. Yes, the state school might have 10/50 students who meet the criteria, but yale would have 40/50 students meet it. Since many students take Step 2 very late (right before or after ERAS), things like school prestige generally translate to "higher step 1, research, great clinical experience, unique skills"

Not sure exactly what your point is. But every brand name med school has a Harvard calibur applicant who was recruited through scholarship, geographic restrictions, etc. There is a surplus of talented med students around.