My take on this, there are only two medical schools that one can really feel proud about getting into, T2, HMS and SMS (the princes on horse as per @Rali_Jan again
Now getting there is not end all. The higher the school reputation, the higher will be the quality of the class composition and the competition there. Again major league minor league analogy of @Rali_Jan. Man, I canāt stop loving this person for the witty quotes and analogies though I donāt get time to read all of his/her posts.
I have also known a past colleagueās son, JHU Bio med undergrad, UPitt medicine but ended up at state med school for residency in IM. Of course he has done well eventually doing interventional cardiology fellowship at the same state school.
I have known people going to RPI/AMC kind of programs and matching into Neuro surgery kind of residencies followed by even more coveted fellowships. I have also known people going to T2 (mentioned above) via regular route, some with gap years (UCB ā HMS, Stanford ā SMS, Stanford ā HMS and a few more to these T2) and ending up in pediatrics, emergency medicine and such residencies. I canāt say for sure if the latter category chose those fields on their own interest or is it because they found themselves to be at mediocre levels at T2 (obviously canāt ask for sensitive reasons) or got so burnt out during their journeys to there or some other reason(s). Would they have done better going to lower profile med schools where they could have been shining stars? (Leave it your guess)
Where one will end up career-wise depends on a lot of factors: academic abilities, goals, personal preferences (locations, significant otherās goals), ambitions, strategies used (like a game of chess with moves and counter-moves), etc and definitely grit.
It is always interesting to see people doing family medicine or some other field everyone thinks is one was chosen because they couldnāt get into anything else, even if they come from big H. There are people who are idealists who chose fields they want to serve in without consideration for what it pays. Someone in my family who buys and runs hospitals once told me that he is paying an orthopedic surgeon on H1 between 600k and 700k while he pays someone doing family medicine from big H about a third to half of that and he felt bad about that. He said he did ask the big H graduate why he chose family medicine and he said he always wanted to be in that field, so it was a choice. This was somewhere in Ohio and so that location was also a choice.
Anyone who has any clue about medical schools wonāt say SMS is T2. UCSF, Hopkins, UPenn ( and probably Columbia) are considered better schools by those in the field not so called experts here!
@Vicky2019 , 100% agreeā¦ my thoughts tooā¦ but I/few get flak for saying the same and told we are pushing/scared/ānot smart kids parentsā etc., .It all depends on kids choice. Sadly you also see some parents want to push only Top schools too. If a Kid is sureā¦ then why not .
@junebug20 and @texaspg ā¦both of you are right that selection of residency depends on the interest,locations,life priorities etc., but sadly people do sayā¦ itās bcoz they went to BSMD and not Top colleges ā¦ I know one of my wife friends Dā¦ did DO and now get paid " heck of good $$$ like u mentioned" in āsemi ruralā area to do family medicine. (she like itā¦ and her husband loves it too)
@Creekland , I believe the mention of Top 2 (per him) is to show what others perceive (HSM and SMS)ā¦ Itās no different as all politicians are from Top 2/3 schoolsā¦ Again itās just perception only. Your DS (at REMS and my DD ā¦1st year done ) is an example of what they wants to doā¦ sticked to it and achievedā¦ Thatās what I am trying to show ( my DD is just finishing 1st year and sheās very determined on her BSMD trackā¦loves it so far ā¦).
Goal of CC is to help parents and kids make decisions and provide them guidance.
The guidance at this phase of the journey is choosing a school that best helps the student and parent with the following:
Is the choice right for the student in terms of fit (do they thrive in the expected environment - large school vs small school, the type of expected students they will spend the next 4 years with and so on)
Is the parent comfortable with the expected cost (is the student willing to take on the loan burdens if needed although at the undergrad level parent is equally liable)
Is the expected long term cost of 6-8 years bearable compared to possible lower costs may be in the traditional option
Is it possible the student might change their mind about MD and if so some elite school admissions give them better opportunities in life if they are liable to change their mind (this was my safe bet for my kids but may not be same for everyone).
Further up @thumper1 replied to one of my posts saying people should be entering MD with excitement (paraphrasing) and not be convinced to go by others. Same rules apply for undergrad too - if finances are doable, the student should be excited about where they are headed and they have a clear idea some are choices based on money.
Same status for my D. It looks like May 01 is last date to accept for students who offered in AMC. After May 01, they will be updating list and sending emails to wait listed students.
Excellent stuff. Another thing to consider is can you (or your child) handle another application cycle after 3 years without stressing out too much. Some parents say their kids did very will (3.9x GPA and 52x MCAT) without a but still quote others failures and say BSMD is the greatest.
Yes, No one can be 100% sure at age 17-18 about medicine or any other field. What they see or learn in HS is nothing compared to what they experience in college. We all know lot of kids change majors and careers more than once!
Iāve deleted several bickering posts that both violated Terms of Service and added zero to the conversation. If a user has a question as to why their post was deleted, they can refer review the below:
.
but still quote others failures and say BSMD is the greatest.