<p>Curmudgeon, maybe we’ve all been missing the point for some time now. After all, the title of this thread asks “…later on in life?”</p>
<p>My bad, as I did not quote enough context, which caused the confusion.</p>
<p>I responded to mom2collegekids. The context is:</p>
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<p>So, I referred to colleges (as premeds trying to get into a medical school), not medical schools (as medical school students trying to get into a residency.)</p>
<p>^true. But what is “AOA” ? I even did wikipedia, but still can’t decide which one is correct: Association for Ontological Anarchy ?? joking. Is it Alpha Omega Alpha, the honor society ?</p>
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AOA is a three-letter abbreviation with multiple meanings, as described below:</p>
<p>Abort Once Around, an intact abort procedure for Space Shuttle launches
Absence of opportunities of arbitrage, a fundamental theorem in Finance
Administration on Aging, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services
Agent of Armageddon, one who promotes or embodies the end of time and all things through conscious action or simply by existing
Age of Apocalypse, a popular X-Men story arc
Age of arrival, marks the time at which one has arrived in a foreign country
Air Officer in charge of Administration, a position in RAF commands
Air Operators Association, a trade associon for UK airport operators, formerly known as the Aerodrome Owners’ Association
Alienating Our Audience, a live album by the band Mindless Self Indulgence
Alpha Omega Alpha, one of three national honor societies for medicine in the United States
American Optometric Association, the organization representing optometrists nationally in the United States
American Osteopathic Association, the representative organization for osteopathic physicians in the United States
American Outlaws Association, the corporate body through which the Outlaws Motorcycle Club operates
American Overseas Airlines was an airline that operated between the United States and Europe between 1945 and 1950.
Analysis of Alternatives, a military study or consulting term used to identify and analyze the possible alternatives to an issue or question
Andrews Osborne Academy, a private boarding and day school in Willoughby, Ohio
Angle of Arrival, a technique for determining the direction of propagation of a radio-frequency wave incident on an antenna array
The currency code for the Angolan kwanza
Army of Anyone, an American rock band
Armies of Arcana, a fantasy-based tabletop wargame
Article of Association
Atlantic Ocean Association, an international consortium dedicated to the preservation of oceanic health and habitat
Association for Ontological Anarchy
Array of Arrays, a common data structure in Perl
As-Salamu Alaykum, a traditional Islamic greeting.
Activity on Arrow, a PERT model for activities in operations. See: Program Evaluation and Review Technique
Axial Offset Anomaly, in nuclear power, a fouling-induced phenomenon of neutron-flux depression at the top of a pressurized water reactor, which may lead to operational difficulties or plant power de-rating[1]</p>
<p>Look, the caliber of your med school does matter. Ask the 4th year med students at your school who are interviewing.</p>
<p>If you plan to get AOA and a 270 USMLE score, then it may not matter. But, for those of you who end up with less than that, it will matter, especially if you plan to get into a competitive specialty or if you plan to get into a top program within a less competitive specialty.</p>
<p>It’s not the most important thing on your residency application but it is something that’s under heavy consideration (as shown by the residency directors study that was done). When you are one of the 900 applicants for 6 spots in a program, you should want to get every advantage you can get.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the residency you get into will influence 95% of how you practice. But, the med school you go to will influence what residency you get into.</p>
<p>Alpha Omega Alpha, one of three national honor societies for medicine in the United States</p>
<p>I think this one</p>
<p>Hopingdad, you had it there in your long list:</p>
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<p>(Sorry, Scales. Evidently I was mid-typing when you posted.)</p>
<p>^ ^^ thanks. I sort of guessed too, but wasn’t sure.</p>
<p>@norcalguy, this is so true: “When you are one of the 900 applicants for 6 spots in a program, you should want to get every advantage you can get.”<br>
Nice to read your post here … when my S1 was applying for college two years ago I read many of your posts. Are you in practice or in academia? My S1 is in premed at cornell, had a rough first semester (barely 3.0) which he pushed really hard and is now around 3.6 (with two consecutive semesters at 4.0). He has been doing research from high school years and has a published paper in cancer genetics (from the high school work) and is currently well into another research program at cornell. But he finds it much challening to acquire clinical experiences there. My S2 is applying to colleges now and is interested in premed, also applying several BS-MD programs. Anyway, wanted to thank you for many helpful advices you posted over the years – this is a learning process for both my children and myself.</p>
<p>*But I hear that students from big name schools may get interviews just because of their school name? </p>
<p>*</p>
<p>I got confused…I thought he was talking about interviews for med school. I guess he’s talking about interviews for residencies.</p>
<p>So…a question is…how many med school grads can’t get accepted anywhere for residencies? (I would think that only a small % can’t get a residency anywhere)</p>
<p>and…furthermore…how much harder is it to get an interview for a top residency program when coming from a med school that is ranked - say - below top 30 or so?</p>
<p>*When you are one of the 900 applicants for 6 spots in a program, you should want to get every advantage you can get.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Wow…are the numbers really like that? </p>
<p>Ok…so how many different residency programs does a med student apply to? This sounds more difficult than getting into med school, but that can’t be true since 50% of med students don’t end up without a residency program, right?</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, My guess is there are some residency programs (family practice, internal medicine) that would admit more applicants. But I do not know the details.</p>
<p>BTW, in case you have not known this but prefer to have a nice quoted box like some CCers have, you could put something like:
[ quote] your quoted message [ /quote]</p>
<p>You need to remove the space character after both “[” above though, in order to have a nice quoted box like this:</p>
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<p>Yeah, some residency programs are definitely like that - for some specialties, a 6-resident program (or even a 4-resident program) is actually considered pretty big.</p>
<p>But when you consider that the students applying for these competitive residencies are applying to a ton (think 40-50+) of programs…</p>
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<p>Definitely not - for US grads, the number has to be 99%+ who get into a spot (either preliminary or categorical), even if its not their first (or second, or third…) choice</p>
<p>mcat…</p>
<p>LOL…yes, I know how to quote…I’m just lazy and find it much quicker to hit cntl i and cntl v and have the quote just paste and show up in italics. </p>
<p>however, I’ve never been able to figure out what that check box with “Quote message in Reply?” means or does. Does anyone know?</p>
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<p>It didn’t do anything for me. whether check or not. and sometimes it is disabled/inactive.</p>
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Jeebus. I sure hope my kid’s school has a roadmap. I have no idea what speciality she might end up wanting, but based on her past history, I have no doubt it will be some almost unobtainable one. 40-50+? Shoot me now. I’ll look on the bright side. Maybe I’ll be dead by then ;). </p>
<p>To tie this back to the OP, this expectation that her med school name will help later on is “a” reason my kid chose her med school. But it wasn’t the major reason. In fact, in making her final decision she could find no quantifiable career basis for picking her school against her other final contender (an excellent Top Twenty med school), so career outcomes were largely ignored. (She thinks there is a benefit, she just couldn’t find it except by anecdote and “feeling”.) </p>
<p>She chose her med school with it’s much higher cost based on the 4 or 5 years she’d spend there and the experience. But the “benefits” will likely remain un-quantifiable and personal. Or non-existent. But, she’s learning alot and enjoying herself. And , for her, I think that was the point of spending the extra $100K. </p>
<p>She knows med students who picked their highest profile acceptance only to find their classmates and day to day life to be “less than desirable”.</p>
<p>When everything shook out, I had to choose between 2 medical schools, the one I currently attend and another place. The other medical school, ranked among the top 15 in the country in terms of research by USNWR, was and still is more highly ranked than my institution. Now that I’m applying for residency, I have no regrets. I have never wondered if the name of my medical school has held me back in getting interviews at some highly selective programs. I chose my program because I felt it was the right “fit” for me. </p>
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<p>Curm, it seems that most applicants end up choosing the most highly ranked place they can get into, and I think that can be a mistake. Medical school is hard - it’s physically, mentally, and emotionally stressful (and anyone who tells you otherwise is a bloody liar). I don’t know anyone who’s gotten through their stress by thinking, “Well, this sucks, but since I’m at Harvard/Stanford/Hopkins/etc. it’s not that bad.” From my own decidedly non-scientific observations, those of us who handled medical school stress the best were the ones who really liked being here. Those of us who did not like the institution have not fared as well.</p>
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Even though mine is just a med school noob, I think she already agrees with you. The camaraderie she feels with/from her classmates is worth it’s weight in gold.</p>
<p>Even though mine is just a med school noob, I think she already agrees with you. The camaraderie she feels with/from her classmates is worth it’s weight in gold.</p>
<p>Hmmm…now that would be an interesting topic…</p>
<p>Which med schools seem to have better camaderie amongst their students…and which don’t? </p>
<p>My son does have a social side, so he wouldn’t like a school that wasn’t friendly.</p>
<p>Putting words in my kids mouth, and with the distinct possibility that I am wrong, I think she’d say that of the schools she visited, the student body at Mayo, Cleveland Clinic, UTMB, and Yale felt the most “together” and inclusive. At some other schools there did not appear to be as much mingling. At Yale the vast majority of students in her class are cooperative and outgoing and social and friendly. I remain amazed at the social nature of her class.</p>