Benefit of Top 5 Med School

[helloworld1135]

1) Now that step 1 is p/np, does attending a top 5 medical school pretty much guarantee an NSG spot somewhere in the US?
2) How early should med students get involved in NSG research? Is it a disadvantage if we have significant research in other specialties but not much in NSG by the time we apply to residency? Also, what is considered "basic science" for neurosurgery?

[Guest]

1) Absolutely not. Plenty of kids from top programs around the country don't match because they come off as incompatible during interviews and dinners. Personality flaws will wipe off any "prestige shine" you had.

[Guest]

Also, step 2 is going to be exactly as important as step 1 now. Program directors aren't just going to go "oh well, guess we need to base everything off how they did on the MCAT"

[Guest]

I agree with the last two posts. However, all things considered, I imagine that medical school prestige will carry a little more weight over the next few years until programs comfortably make Step 2 the standard. In line with that, I would think that DO and IMG applicants will be the most disadvantaged as their primary differentiating factor has been removed.

That being said, interviews can always break you, no matter how good your app is.

[helloworld1135]

Thank you.
In all honesty, how crazy are the research profiles to get into competitive academic NSG programs?
Are clinical papers on neurosurgery journals really that attractive?

---

Is it better to have 1 first author paper or 10 second author papers?

[Guest]

(05-07-2020, 03:44 AM)helloworld1135 Wrote: Thank you.
In all honesty, how crazy are the research profiles to get into competitive academic NSG programs?
Are clinical papers on neurosurgery journals really that attractive?

---

Is it better to have 1 first author paper or 10 second author papers?

Is this an actual problem you are posed with? Did your PI ask you to decide between the two? The way to get a good first author paper is to learn the ropes helping others with their projects before you start your own.

[Guest]

(05-07-2020, 09:01 AM)Guest Wrote:

(05-07-2020, 03:44 AM)helloworld1135 Wrote: Thank you.
In all honesty, how crazy are the research profiles to get into competitive academic NSG programs?
Are clinical papers on neurosurgery journals really that attractive?

---

Is it better to have 1 first author paper or 10 second author papers?

Is this an actual problem you are posed with? Did your PI ask you to decide between the two? The way to get a good first author paper is to learn the ropes helping others with their projects before you start your own.

^^^

If you had to pick between the two, numbers matter more for cut offs. But this shouldn't be a choice. Do both

[Guest]

(05-07-2020, 10:29 AM)Guest Wrote:

(05-07-2020, 09:01 AM)Guest Wrote:

(05-07-2020, 03:44 AM)helloworld1135 Wrote: Thank you.
In all honesty, how crazy are the research profiles to get into competitive academic NSG programs?
Are clinical papers on neurosurgery journals really that attractive?

---

Is it better to have 1 first author paper or 10 second author papers?

Is this an actual problem you are posed with? Did your PI ask you to decide between the two? The way to get a good first author paper is to learn the ropes helping others with their projects before you start your own.

^^^

If you had to pick between the two, numbers matter more for cut offs. But this shouldn't be a choice. Do both

What # total do you think the highest cutoffs would be?

[Guest]

(05-07-2020, 10:51 AM)Guest Wrote:

(05-07-2020, 10:29 AM)Guest Wrote:

(05-07-2020, 09:01 AM)Guest Wrote:

(05-07-2020, 03:44 AM)helloworld1135 Wrote: Thank you.
In all honesty, how crazy are the research profiles to get into competitive academic NSG programs?
Are clinical papers on neurosurgery journals really that attractive?

---

Is it better to have 1 first author paper or 10 second author papers?

Is this an actual problem you are posed with? Did your PI ask you to decide between the two? The way to get a good first author paper is to learn the ropes helping others with their projects before you start your own.

^^^

If you had to pick between the two, numbers matter more for cut offs. But this shouldn't be a choice. Do both

What # total do you think the highest cutoffs would be?

Not a good way to think about it. Can you publish 30 papers? Then do it. Can you publish 5? Then do it. I don't think any good researcher does more or less research based on a cutoff.

[Guest]

(05-07-2020, 11:35 AM)Guest Wrote:

(05-07-2020, 10:51 AM)Guest Wrote:

(05-07-2020, 10:29 AM)Guest Wrote:

(05-07-2020, 09:01 AM)Guest Wrote:

(05-07-2020, 03:44 AM)helloworld1135 Wrote: Thank you.
In all honesty, how crazy are the research profiles to get into competitive academic NSG programs?
Are clinical papers on neurosurgery journals really that attractive?

---

Is it better to have 1 first author paper or 10 second author papers?

Is this an actual problem you are posed with? Did your PI ask you to decide between the two? The way to get a good first author paper is to learn the ropes helping others with their projects before you start your own.

^^^

If you had to pick between the two, numbers matter more for cut offs. But this shouldn't be a choice. Do both

What # total do you think the highest cutoffs would be?

Not a good way to think about it. Can you publish 30 papers? Then do it. Can you publish 5? Then do it. I don't think any good researcher does more or less research based on a cutoff.

It does seem like an arms race though. If you get on T-star, it looks like 3 papers is the entry point for interviewing and matching while 6+ is how you become competitive. Obviously personality and other things play a big factor, but by the numbers I would say try to publish as much as you can, but try to get at least 5-6 papers unless you have some big basic science work or something like that.