This question was originally posted on Quora.com and was answered by Lacy Windham, studied at University of Tennessee Health Science Center My step-father is an attorney. On his very first day of law school a professor said “look to your left and then look to your right and in one year two of you won’t be here”. His law school was designed on a pyramidal structure. They planned to lose a certain percentage of students every single year until graduating a only small amount. Medical school is not generally designed that way. If you have been admitted to medical school then your program intends on graduating you. In my opinion this is a good thing. Medical school is an extraordinary financial investment. To admit large quantities of people who will never practice medicine (and therefore would have limited options for paying back large loans) would be extraordinarily unethical. Medical schools want to make sure you can pass your exams. Unlike some other programs, the attrition occurs prior to being accepted. Why are MCAT scores highly valued? You will take standardized tests as a medical student and again as a resident and finally for your boards in order to be a practicing physician. Your medical school and residency program wants assurance that you will pass. There is no time for remedial work in medical school. The first two years of medical school are bombardment with information in hopes that you can absorb the most crucial stuff. Every medical student is used to being at the top of the class and making great test scores with (sometimes) minimal effort. It all changes in medical school. Now you are placing a bunch of people used to excelling in a class together. I don’t know of anyone in medical school who didn’t have to work hard. We all studied as if our life depended on it. I would feel guilty just going to the grocery store to pick up groceries for the week. I never had a feeling like that in college. In college I could procrastinate and still feel confident in my scores. It comes down to time. It is a full-time job for people used to being at the head of the class just to survive medical school. There is no time for catching up. Source
