I attended a 4 hour Med School 101 presentation yesterday put on by the Mayo Clinic. They had 2 Assistant Deans cover the basics of applying to med school and tips of what they look for in a candidate, basically things that have been discussed many times on many forums. They did, however, subtly reiterate that non-trad candidates are quite attractive b/c of our additional life experiences.
For the last 1.5 hours, they had 5 current Mayo med school students (including 2 non-trads) do a Q/A panel session and a couple things the panel said stuck out in my mind:
They wish they had applied to more schools. Some had only applied to 8 - 12 schools but they wish they had applied to between 20 and 30.
Mayo does a pass/fail system on their classes to remove any competition between students and foster teamwork and collaboration. No one competes for class ranking b/c none exists. This was something I had not considered before but that curriculum setup sounds appealing.
The pre-med society at my school had a panel discussion at the end of last semester with graduating seniors who were accepted to med school. Two of the 4 said the same thing - they wished they had applied to more schools. I didn’t ask why because I assumed that perhaps they had gotten interviews/acceptances at some of their “reach” schools and so thought maybe they could have gotten into even better schools. I just got the sense that they felt they hadn’t set their sights high enough. I feel like the process is set up to make us all feel like unwanted garbage, just hoping that anyonewill want us, and so students limit where they apply; when they find out that the counselors and nay-sayers were far too harsh and that, in fact, schools want them, they regret that they didn’t shoot for the stars.
Thanks for the great info, especially about the class rankings - that has quickly become one of the most important qualities I’m seeking in a school.
This is great information. Thanks for sharing desert_shawn.
marianne … After the “IN” discussion … I have given a serious thought to the importance of choosing a right environment for myself. I want a conducive environment to learning (my style) and any kind of disrespect is a total NO-NO! We will have to share our list, though I am just beginning with pre-med in spring-11.
This is great information. Thanks for sharing desert_shawn.
marianne ... After the "IN" discussion ... I have given a serious thought to the importance of choosing a right environment for myself. I want a conducive environment to learning (my style) and any kind of disrespect is a total NO-NO! We will have to share our list, though I am just beginning with pre-med in spring-11.
One of OPM's early members and successes is Judy McElhiney, MD, who attended Mayo Medical School and is doing her residency I believe in the Mayo hospital system. She has presented at our past conferences.
The students didn’t elaborate on the reason why they wished they had applied to more schools but they mentioned that when they went on interviews and talked with other candidates, they found that others applied to a lot of schools and perhaps they would have liked to done the same to have more choices.
Also one guy was a re-applicant so perhaps he felt as if he may have got in the first time if he applied to more.
- They wish they had applied to more schools. Some had only applied to 8 - 12 schools but they wish they had applied to between 20 and 30.
'Grass is always greener on the other side of the fence' syndrome. I applied to many schools and was accepted to 5. Not a day goes by when I wonder how it would have been if I had instead gone to school A or school B and so on.
desert_shawn Said:
- Mayo does a pass/fail system on their classes to remove any competition between students and foster teamwork and collaboration. No one competes for class ranking b/c none exists. This was something I had not considered before but that curriculum setup sounds appealing.
Almost all schools do a P/F now. However read between the lines - almost all of these schools still maintain a coarse tiering though. For example at my school Honors will be top 10%, Letter of Commendation will be next 15% and everyone else will be Pass/Fail. So there may not be a percentile ranking but there still is a gradation.
And yes, I still see competition i.e. asinine behavior.
I think the point is where a school equates competition to asinine behaviour and promotes such behaviour.
Asinine behaviour is not truly competition but hypercompetition which is unhealthy.
There are limited resources and we are all competiting for them in a healthy way. I would definitely appreciate to be recognized in some fashion if I finish amongst the top 10% in my class (I worked hard or was more focussed than others) but I do not want to feel like I have to go back-stabbing others to get into top 10%. It should be based on my merit and not on throwing others under the bus.
Also, would you be able to give few examples of asinine behaviour observed by you and if they were brought to faculties attention? And, how did they respond?
Or, as I have learnt at OPM … to ask the question differently … Is the Top 10% of the class made of people who have demonstrated asinine behaviour through school years?
Is the Top 10% of the class made of people who have demonstrated asinine behaviour through school years?
From my experience, no. A couple of them maybe, but definitely not all, or even the majority. The guy who had the highest grade in both Med 1 and Med 2 was one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. He got there because he worked extremely hard and did it without backstabbing others. In fact, he was more than willing to help others out.
