Four elite medical schools joined Harvard Medical School (HMS) in announcing their withdrawal from the U.S. News medical school rankings earlier this week.
- The dean of the Stanford School of Medicine, Dr. Lloyd Minor, attributed the institution’s decision to withdraw from the ranking to the conviction that “the [U.S. News] methodology, as it stands, does not capture the full extent of what makes for an exceptional learning environment.”
- Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons announced its withdrawal in a press release. Dean Katrina Armstrong stated, “The reasons for this decision principally include the selection of rankings criteria with implicit incentives misaligned with the highest goals of medical education.”
- Dean J. Larry Jameson of the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine announced that his decision after “several years of internal review and consideration” is because “the rankings measure the wrong things.” He added that Perelman has already submitted its data for this year’s rankings, so its withdrawal will affect the survey published in 2024.
- The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai also announced its decision to no longer participate in the U.S. News rankings. The announcement – attributed to Deans Dennis Charney and David Muller – stated the school’s leadership “has long believed that the U.S. News medical school rankings have a harmful impact on medical education,” adding that “Medical education cannot be reduced to a set of numbers that purport to reflect its quality.”
Harvard Medical School (HMS) was the first to withdraw from the U.S. News survey, on January 17, 2023.
Law Schools Led the Way in Departing U.S. News
The med school announcements followed the initiative of Yale Law School and Harvard Law School (HLS), who proclaimed their decision to discontinue participating in the U.S. News law school rankings in November 2022. Their declarations have been followed by those of about two dozen law schools at this point. More are expected to follow suit.
U.S. News has offered to make changes to its rankings methodology, but so far, its offer seems to be too little, too late to entice these law schools to provide data again. U.S. News has said that it will continue to rank law schools using publicly available data.
What does this mean for medical school admissions?
More medical schools will probably join the exodus. There is no love lost for the rankings among med school personnel. Plus, providing the necessary data to U.S. News is a time-consuming process. I don’t know how many will do so or when, but watch for more medical schools to join HMS, Stanford, Penn, Columbia, and Mt. Sinai. They make good company to be in.
Will a mass exodus from the rankings materially change medical school admissions or education? I doubt it. U.S. News will continue to rank programs based on publicly available information, and some applicants will continue to value those rankings, however flawed. And schools will still be tempted to behave in ways that maximize their ranking.
Furthermore, many, many medical school applicants really just want to get into a medical school – any school that will take them. For them, the rankings have been and will continue to be almost irrelevant. The candidates who only want “top X schools” will continue to be influenced by rankings and reputation.
The question in my mind is not about law schools or medical schools, but about business schools. Will Harvard Business School join HLS and HMS in withdrawing? Will Columbia Business School join Columbia’s medical school and law school?
Stay tuned.
| School | Date of Withdrawal |
|---|---|
| Harvard Medical | Jan. 17, 2023 |
| Stanford Medical | Jan. 23, 2023 |
| Columbia Vagelos | Jan. 24, 2023 |
| Penn Perelman | Jan. 24, 2023 |
| Icahn Mt. Sinai | Jan. 24, 2023 |
| Weill Cornell Medicine | Jan. 26, 2023 |
We’ll update this list as needed. If you know of or represent a school that is withdrawing from the U.S. News medical school rankings, please email blog@accepted.com.
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Related Resources:
- Harvard Medical School Leaves U.S. News Rankings
- U.S. News & World Report Sees High Drop Out Rate Among Elite Law Schools
- Explore Your Options with Accepted in a Free Consultation
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