Should average uGPA and MCAT of class affect decision?

[Guac&Chips]

A friend in podiatry school told me she wishes she went to a school where the average accepted student had lower MCAT and uGPAs because then it would be easier to rank high in the class. She worries now about getting into a good residency because of her lower class rank. Do you guys think this is a legitimate argument?

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[Weirdy]

A friend in podiatry school told me she wishes she went to a school where the average accepted student had lower MCAT and uGPAs because then it would be easier to rank high in the class. She worries now about getting into a good residency because of her lower class rank. Do you guys think this is a legitimate argument?

Tricky question.

I can see why she would think that, but there is no guarantee she would have done better than she is doing now.

That would assume the program is easier than others. It would also assume the training there is still equivalent to top schools despite accepting students they know would not succeed. It is unethical on the program's part.


It's a lot of assumptions. I would tell your friend to just focus on herself and her grades.
She cannot change the past. Being bitter about her decision will only take away from what she has to do right now.

Life's too short to waste time thinking "What if?".

Would love to hear @SLCpod or an attending's thoughts on this.

There is no pretending that those with higher GPAs/class ranks will still land good residencies despite their character.

 

[Podstar]

I go to a lower matriculation stat, bigger school and the median exam grades are usually in the low to mid 80s.

 

[Packers4lifeDPM]

We are trying to grow in podiatry. Why would we want lower stats? That just gives our specialty less clout. Just do the best you can GPA wise and shine during rotations and externships. Grades will get you the rotations but your personality and skills will get you the residency. Also remember, podiatry is a small community so if you are doing well at your externships, the word will get out.

 

[de Ribas]

A friend in podiatry school told me she wishes she went to a school where the average accepted student had lower MCAT and uGPAs because then it would be easier to rank high in the class. She worries now about getting into a good residency because of her lower class rank. Do you guys think this is a legitimate argument?

Too many variables.

Not guaranteed that going to school with lower averages will lead to be ranked higher. Just too many variables.

Even if you are placed rank spots higher in your class, doesn't guarantee better residency.

I would guess that one who would consider going to a school with lower averages for reasons described above wouldn't do well anyways.

 

[ftdoc11]

Doesn't make any sense to try and avoid competition in school if the purpose of doing so is to get into a competitive residency program. Get used to not being the smartest person in the room and learning from others, these qualities will do more to get you into a good residency than anything involving class rank and GPA.

 

[Perkis]

Class ranking and GPA only really matter when first applying to the residencies that you will rotate through your 4th year. And in most cases you don't need an amazing GPA to get the opportunity to do a 4th year rotation with the residencies that you want. Once you rotate with the residency programs your 4th year all they care about is if they like you, GPA and class ranking becomes minimal at that point. So.... I would say if you have a low GPA and class rank show them how great you are in a clinical setting and that you can work hard and are easy to teach. That is one of the great things about podiatry school compared to MD and DO, pod school is much more forgiving when it comes to messing up grades, in the end it's mainly about your personal/team based skills and work ethic.

And for those of you who don't know, the general 4 year layout for pod school is 2 years of studying for boards 1. 3rd year you rotate through local clinics to get a hang of working in a clinical setting, and then 4th year you'll rotate through a whole bunch of residencies for about a month each. at the end of 4th year you'll interview with the residences who liked you. You rank your top residencies and the residencies rank their top students. "The system" then matches the students and the residency programs and everyone is happy. Unless you scramble which means you don't rank with the program you wanted and some programs don't rank with the students that they wanted. You all then have a few days to all find each other and match one with another, scrambled with scrambled (this whole scramble situation is actually pretty low and won't happen if you aren't incredibly picky, but that's a discussion for another thread).