Medical School Reputation in Match Outcome

[/quote]. . . if you bust your tail and are a shining star, you can get access to almost any program, especially if you rotate. . . [/quote]

This is great advice -- encouraging. Thanks.

ha ha looks like my peers already addressed the matching question....ha ha

not sure who you talked to at harvard, but that statement is unfortunately quite false.

i am graduating from hms in a couple weeks, going into ortho, and all 8 of our students matched into ortho, and i think all at our top choice.

bottom line - school name DEFINITELY matters and DEFINITELY helps. that being said, you will be compared against your peers, so name alone won't help. you will have to rise to the top no matter where you go to school to maximize your chances of getting in, but big name schools (esp if there are associated big name ortho programs) help open some doors a bit easier than from other places. that being said, if you bust your tail and are a shining star, you can get access to almost any program, especially if you rotate.

but - take it for what its worth - our applicants got a lot of interviews based on name of school alone... or at least that helped quite a bit......

it matters very little. go where you will be happiest.

but, consider debt load in these uncertain times.

comparing Yale to a carribean school isn't the same as comparing Yale to a state school. Carribean schools are in a completely different ballgame

By now everyone is the school they have chosen. From talking to multiple program directors some take the medical school into account and some brush it off. Obviously Yale vs St. Georges is one where the PG willl choose the lesser Yale applicant. On the other hand, I believe that Caribbean programs have on occasion matched an applicant. Thus, if this is your only choice you should still apply to Ortho and maybe you will match.

Remember the other factors (grades, Step I/II, LORs, Sub I, research, and who is pulling for you). Do not focus on the reputation too much.

I believe that the "reputation" of the school will be a lower factor now as more candidates have matched from lesser programs (that may have better training).

If your program has matched people in the past at a specific program, it gives you the leg up.

Wow, looks like someone is a little upset they didn't match this year.
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Harvard always matches all students applying to orthopaedics.

That being said, I agree with the above posters that a student could likely match anywhere no matter where they went to school if they work hard and take some chances. I'm not the only medical student at HMS from an unknown state school...

This year: 4 Harvard, 1 Columbia, 1 UCSF, 1 UW, 1 Emory (8 applicants)

Best of luck with your decision.

One more reason to not trust what you read on a message board. I know for a fact that Harvard went 8/8 into Ortho this year. 4 matched at the Harvard program, 4 went to programs elsewhere.

This may be true, but for what it's worth, many "top" med schools have students who don't get into ortho either. For example, I know for sure that Harvard had students not match in ortho this year. Yes, students - plural. I've heard the figure is at least four, but I can't verify the actual number.

A good name can carry a lot of weight, but the bottom line is go somewhere you think you'd be happy and work your ass off.

4 years ago, I faced a similar decision as you. I was weighing my midwestern state school against a top 20 school that was way more expensive. I chose the state school and don't regret it one bit. Times are somewhat uncertain regarding the financial future for medicine, so I think costs should be an even more important factor now.

I worked my ass off for the last 4 years and got AOA, top class rank, step 1/2 >250, several 1st and 2nd author pubs, etc. and was offered interviews by every top tier program to which I applied including HSS, Mayo, Harvard, Rush, Duke, Campbell Clinic, Iowa, UCSF, UW and got phone calls from >8 programs saying I was either ranked to match or similar love notes.

My undergrad advisor put it to me like this: the cream will always rise to the top. My advice is to go to MCG, bust your tail, and you will be able to do whatever you want.

As a senior picking schools, i have a few options but the crux of my decision is Northwestern and Medical College of Georgia. I realize that many switch preferences of speciality but I'm strongly leaning towards orthopedics.

Since most of you guys are further down the line in terms of applying and going through the match, I wondered what you guys thought about the merits of attending a more reputable medical school.

I realize that an academic superstar is going to do well regardless but I might not be one of those few students.

lakerfan]

I'm a senior and college and I have been accepted into MCG and Northwestern among other schools. I have it narrowed down to these two. For what it's worth, MCG's cost of attendence is ~35K and NW's is probably upwards of ~65K but i am itching to leave GA

indeed, I actually graduated from Northwestern last year (2009) and there were 3 guys from my class who did not match into orthopaedics.

PM if you want more info

And? ~200 US seniors who actually got interviews, didn't match into ortho this year. Who knows how many applied and didn't get any interviews, or gave up and didn't even apply. I would go as far as to say, most med schools have people that didn't match into ortho that wanted to.

mcg did not match all ortho students this year

It seems like there are at least 10 MCG students going into ortho every year and they have a good track record of matching. I would go with MCG since the tuition is going to be a lot cheaper than NW. Seriously, who knows if you're going to be an orthopod in 4 years or you might fall in love with FP. Seriously, it is a huge burden to have $250K in debt when you come out of med school.

There was a JBJS article that polled 100+ ortho PDs and had them rank 25 or so items based on the importance for matching. Med school reputation was 9 I believe, below obvious things like Step 1, class rank, AOA, and ortho LOR. But it was above things like PS, Dean's Letter, non-ortho LOR, most ECs, research, and publications.

So is it important? Yes
Is it as important as the obvious things? No

Another thing to remember to is, although med school reputation and ortho program reputation has some correlation, it is no where near 100%.

While places like Iowa, Rochester, or Utah won't wow people for going to med school there like Harvard or Hopkins, they all have amazing ortho departments that will probably set you up better than going to some "Top Tier" med school for getting into ortho residency.

Also, some schools regardless of reputation, have an excellent track record of getting people into ortho. I don't know if MCG just has a ton of people that want to do ortho, but when I was looking through residency web pages, MCG alums seemed to be everywhere, from academic to community, north to south, east to west, and everything in between. Having experienced faculty mentors known for getting their students to match is more important that reputation in my opinion.

Medical school reputation means very little. I went to an average state school with no faculty connections to other major ortho programs and was told I was ranked to match at 4 out of the top 10 ortho residency programs.

Your merit will be largely based on grades, board scores, aways, and LORs. That's what will get you the interviews, period. Getting to know attendings during medical school and having someone who will go to bat for you is also immensely important when it comes time for programs to make their lists.

I completely agree with the above comment's about the importance of tuition. It may not seem as significant now if you haven't even started medical school, but I will personally say how much better of a feeling it is knowing I easily saved $100k+ by going to a state school.

If you have the drive and the capabilities, you will be successful wherever you are.

As a senior picking schools, i have a few options but the crux of my decision is Northwestern and Medical College of Georgia. I realize that many switch preferences of speciality but I'm strongly leaning towards orthopedics.

Since most of you guys are further down the line in terms of applying and going through the match, I wondered what you guys thought about the merits of attending a more reputable medical school.

I realize that an academic superstar is going to do well regardless but I might not be one of those few students.

lakerfan]


Rush is NOT easier to get into than NW.

lakerfan: how did you decide on NWU and Georgia? Do you just want to get to chi or is there some other reason? If its just because of the city I recommend trying out programs which are a bit easier to get into like Rush and UIC unless your a well above average candidate.