According to my school by phone (no official letter yet) I received a 217. Figures this was the year the national average broke 220, oh well. :p

Would you say this is more "no help, no harm" or is it truly damaging (particularly if I don't honor my medicine rotation) for BUMC/BID? I know there's no certain answer, but even a general idea would be nice - thanks!

According to my school by phone (no official letter yet) I received a 217. Figures this was the year the national average broke 220, oh well. :p

Would you say this is more "no help, no harm" or is it truly damaging (particularly if I don't honor my medicine rotation) for BUMC/BID? I know there's no certain answer, but even a general idea would be nice - thanks!

my impression is that strong letters of recommendation really can help to offset an average/low average USMLE score and even a High Pass in Medicine (I'm not so sure about a Pass). I have a feeling I'll be in a similar situation soon as I'm still waiting for my Medicine grade and have a feeling it won't be the happy H (it's not easy to Honor at the site where I did my rotation, plus I don't think I really deserved more than a High Pass). I have a somewhat higher USMLE score, but got a couple of unfortunate Passes and the rest High Passes.. I am doing an away rotation at BIDMC next block, and hope to get an LOR from there; I hope that will help. Definitely an away rotation at BIDMC or BUMC, doing the best you can on your IM rotation (and other rotations), and pulling down strong LOR's (the more well-known the person the better) should stand you in good stead. You are definitely not out of the running; I know someone who graduated from U Maryland med with Step 1 and 2 scores around the mean and about average class rank who got a spot in Radiation Oncology (and some mighty good interviews at CWRU, Wash U, Rochester, and Mayo), so worry not. g'luck..

oh yeah, if you have a strong interest in living in/near Boston; you might want to consider applying to Lahey Clinic; beautiful hospital, strong reputation, REALLY nice people. If it weren't in Burlington (suburb of Boston) it would probably be my first choice... Also excellent GI fellowship program and 50% of the program consists of outpatient training. I think a few people from Temple U have gone there over the past few years.. I'm not a big fan of T-NEMC; but I know many excellent docs in Boston who graduated from their IM residency. U Mass and Brown are very close to Boston and great programs too; they will undoubtedly be near the top of my list if either school is kind enough to interview me. best of luck..

Thanks irlandesa - I'm pretty sure I'll apply to those programs you mentioned. Is Burlington far from the city or a not-too-nice place? There's also Mount Auburn and Cambridge...have you heard much about those programs? What kind of areas are they in? I imagine I'd like Cambridge but have never been there, and ideally I really want to be able to find a good place within walking distance of the hospital.

If anyone else can give some clue as to my chances, please let me know...but I guess it's a "gray" zone. I can speak Spanish, I wonder how much that might help in Boston.

Is Burlington far from the city or a not-too-nice place?

Burlington is very close to the city (i.e. close to the commuter rail-
Anderson RTC, I believe, and the end of the red line- Alewife station is close by in the northern edge of Cambridge). I spent my summer in Woburn (which is a stone's throw from Burlington) and it took me an hour to get from Anderson RTC to my office at BWH. All are very nice places to live, but they are close enough to Boston to have a med.-high cost of living. Burlington also has the typically large shopping/strip mall area, has a humongous Barnes & Noble, and a very nice mall.

Burlington is very close to the city (i.e. close to the commuter rail-
Anderson RTC, I believe, and the end of the red line- Alewife station is close by in the northern edge of Cambridge). I spent my summer in Woburn (which is a stone's throw from Burlington) and it took me an hour to get from Anderson RTC to my office at BWH. All are very nice places to live, but they are close enough to Boston to have a med.-high cost of living. Burlington also has the typically large shopping/strip mall area, has a humongous Barnes & Noble, and a very nice mall.

you are correct; Burlington is about 45-1 hr from downtown Boston with the rush hour traffic (VERY bad on Sox game days), and 25-35 the rest of the time. Advantages of living out there include break from living in the city, huge patient referral area and excellent training at Lahey, close enough to Boston. Disadvantages:surburbia can be boring, not much cheaper than Boston, and if you don't own a car it is not easy to get around out there.

Mt. Auburn is a very nice program, but small; plus as a community program it tends to place the majority of its grads in Primary Care, which is not for everyone.. I will apply there, but it will probably not be as high as Lahey, BIDMC, etc, b/c 5 categorical residents is VERY few, leading to inc. understaffing and potential stress. Don't know much about Cambridge. good luck to all; I wish I could calc. your chances (and mine), but I don't think you'll have a problem. If all else fails, you can always transfer programs after 1st year; with a 20% specialty change rate after first year, you should have a good shot at changing into somewhere good. My neighbor started a prelim residency @ Mt. Auburn in medicine, meant to go to Rads at BIDMC, then changed his mind and is now at Penn for categorical med.