What the future holds
Dr. Carmody recommends that students determine what information about a school matters to them. “What is their residency placement like, for instance? Keep in mind that most schools don’t convey this entirely truthfully, but it’s a measurement.”
Mr. Ahmed points to the Medical School Admission Requirements database compiled by the AAMC. “Look in the database to filter out where you should apply without the numbers attached to it,” he said. “Look at the faculty-to-student ratio, how much debt you might have to take on, and what housing is like, for instance. We should move toward a weighing system like that, rather than rankings.”
If the withdrawals of medical schools eventually lead to the demise of the rankings, Dr. Carmody noted the downsides. “There’s some concern that this will hurt pre-med students because it was the one place to find a certain amount of credible, objective data. There’s a ring of truth to that and a worry that schools won’t provide data in any sort of standardized way for an apples-to-apples comparison.”
It would also take time – probably as much as a decade – for the legacy of the U.S. News rankings to completely disappear, according to Dr. Carmody. Dr. Fathy agrees. “The rankings are ingrained on so many levels,” he said. “The better the ranking, the better the funding, so it’s self-reinforcing.”
In the future, other factors should guide students’ decision-making, including distance from family and friends, available research opportunities, and whether students are happy at the school, Dr. Fathy said. “There are so many experiential points to consider that go beyond the flawed ranking system.”
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.