<p>um...there is no such thing as #1 medical school...those rankings are based on superficial facts, and there are many factors that can't be measured. i'd go by "tier" schools (1st, 2nd, third) would be a better estimate, but in general, all allopathic US medical school are great b/c they have to abide by very strict and high standards set to be accredited.</p>
<p>There is such thing as the number one medical school in research, and the number one medical school in primary care</p>
<p>Maybe they aren't as accurate as you'd like, but they do exist.</p>
<p>And yes, all accredited medical schools are great.</p>
<p>well, ranking can be rather subjective...what are you basing research on? the fact that they get the most money or the fact that they have the most patents or the fact that they make the most profit or the fact that they make the most difference? what about primary care? whos to say they are primary care #1 because they dish out the most primary care? what about quality? all going to serve the rich or a mix? where the grads are going for residency, and how much money they end up making? there's soooo many factors, and many times, it comes down to who they end up recruting (highest GPA and MCAT) over what they end up doing...</p>
<p>I don't understand how or why high schoolers are planning on which medical schools to attend.</p>
<p>Go to US News, which is considered by most a reliable list of the top colleges. They explain their criteria for ranking the medical schools.</p>
<p>i'm just saying...it's different for everyone...my #1 school isn't necessarily yours because we all have our own criterias and weigh different things differently</p>
<p>I'm not telling anyone their personal #1, that would be impossible. I'm just using the top source for the college lists out there, and saying what their number one is.</p>
<p>It's like this, Harvard isn't my number one choice for undergraduate. But wouldn't you say that most people regard it as the top college. Princeton isn't high on my list of where I'd like to go either, but who's ever gonna say it's not good.</p>
<p>but should it be #1 is my response...that's why i said i prefer to "tier" it over definite rankings...and even that makes me a little wary</p>
<p>I wouldn't argue with quynh's reasoning, she's a little bit closer to med school than you are, texasmathwhiz. (Soph in high school vs soph in college?)</p>
<p>Texasmathwhiz, you're a sophomore?</p>
<p>Yeah I'm a sophomore. And closeness to med school has nothing to do with the ability to read rankings. I'm not saying quyn's opinions are wrong so don't turn this into a fight when it's not. She was saying her number one might be different than mine and I'm explaining that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the rank by US News, which is known by most to be the most reliable source for rankings. Do you understand? I'm not telling anyone what their number one choice is obviously.</p>
<p>i'm just question who gets the right to put a certain school as number one? is there a race and whoever crosses the finish line first wins? no, the factors that go into these ranking are waay more superficial. If you ask medical students and even doctors themselves, they will undoubtedly tell you that those ranking mean very little. so what does this mean? those rankings are done purely for profit to the pre-med and their respective parents. why should med school x be #1 because it gets .2million more in NIH funding than med school y? that doesn't say ANYTHING about the quality of the medical school because in fact those medical students do not ever benefit from it. </p>
<p>so, that was my argument, and I don't think necessarily conflicts with texasmathwhiz, but just questioning US NEWS in general.</p>
<p>I get the right, sillies :cool:
<em>please don't kill me</em></p>