A friendly warning to future applicants...

[Pir8DeacDoc]

Well reading this thread thoroughly has definitely diminished my optimism. I am an MSIII, school in California and I am totally a sub-stellar applicant.
Step 1 -> Low 230's
Step 2 -> Not yet
Not even close to Junior AOA
My third year is littered. Honors in surgery, hp and P on everything else.
Non-ENT research, although I'm starting ENT research soon..probably won't get a publication.

I'm planning for 2-4 aways...I'll straight up slave at wherever I go.
Also, I have NO geographical restriction. No joke, I'll apply to 100 programs.

Thoughts? Think i can do it?? I'm officially freaking out and I may switch back to medicine (my original choice).

~ Bnb

You would be an average applicant, no reason to turn your back on ENT. If you applied broadly I bet you match. You likely won't have time/energy to do 4 aways.

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[nordr]

4 aways? Including your home program that is 5 months of ENT. That seems a bit excessive. What's your home program like? Have you sat down with your chairman or PD and gone over your CV? I think that is a crucial thing to do in your 3rd year so that you can plan out your 4th year well. Also your chair/PD will have suggestions on the best places to do aways coming from your program. On paper you seem a bit below average so you need to get on the research and get good letters, all of which it seems you already know. If you do this I think you can definitely match no problem. Applying to every program, early, will help you tremendously. I applied to every program but didn't get my app in until early October and I know that hurt me at several places. Thankfully it all worked out though.

 

[Blondnuttyboy]

Actually yeah including my home programs, I'll wind up with 4-5 months of ENT. Very excessive I assume. Nonetheless, I want to show programs that I what I lack in objectives on my resume I can make up for with hard work. Cheesy? Probably.

I'm just worried b/c literally everyone in this field has better numbers than I do. I have old research in Cardiology but I'm going to start gunning for research in ENT.

So if I apply early (September), with hopefully strong letters, and to every program I can afford, you guys think I'll survive?

 

[ZagDoc]

So if I apply early (September), with hopefully strong letters, and to every program I can afford, you guys think I'll survive?

Hard to say. When the pool of applicants is so homogenous, there's a large factor of luck/who reads your application/who knows your LOR writers/who strikes a chord with your PS in the process. But I think your chances are as good as many people who apply each year. The fact is that 83% of Us seniors who applied this year ended up matching. That's pretty good.

 

[Blondnuttyboy]

statistically, that is pretty solid. I guess I, and I'm sure others in my shoes, are scared and pessimistic because most programs have 1-3 spots and its hard to imagine being in the top 1-3 of all the kids they interview. granted that's not how the match works but you catch my drift....

I guess there's no point in whining. Pedal -> Medal -> Speeding ticket.

 

[MCAT guy]

Hard to say. When the pool of applicants is so homogenous, there's a large factor of luck/who reads your application/who knows your LOR writers/who strikes a chord with your PS in the process. But I think your chances are as good as many people who apply each year. The fact is that 83% of Us seniors who applied this year ended up matching. That's pretty good.

Agreed, pretty good.

 

[Blondnuttyboy]

Hard to say. When the pool of applicants is so homogenous, there's a large factor of luck/who reads your application/who knows your LOR writers/who strikes a chord with your PS in the process. But I think your chances are as good as many people who apply each year. The fact is that 83% of Us seniors who applied this year ended up matching. That's pretty good.

Yeah that does sound reassuring. I'm just hoping that the posted averages, are really averages..in that half of successful applicants are <240, have less than 4 publications, and are not AOA. That's how averages work

 

[HEENTdude]

Yeah that does sound reassuring. I'm just hoping that the posted averages, are really averages..in that half of successful applicants are <240, have less than 4 publications, and are not AOA. That's how averages work

Not to rain on anyone's parade but just remember that 1/2 of applicants won't have ALL aspects below average.

A person with <240 on Step I may be that crazy MD/PHD who has pumped out 10+ papers. A person with a 260 may only have 1 publication.

 

[Rollo]

Hard to say. When the pool of applicants is so homogenous, there's a large factor of luck/who reads your application/who knows your LOR writers/who strikes a chord with your PS in the process. But I think your chances are as good as many people who apply each year. The fact is that 83% of Us seniors who applied this year ended up matching. That's pretty good.

Would you say that this high success rate is due to the fact that ENT is a very self-selective field and people who are going to even attempt to apply to the field are already "qualified" on paper to get a spot?

 

[greenteapudding]

What are my chances?
School: low-tier, not Caribbean
Program: MD-PhD in pharmacology, finishing in 7 years for all
Publications: 2 from research before at an Ivy League school; will have 2-3 first authors by the time I apply; not related to ENT in all of them
Step1: 249/99
School grades: As in all but 2 classes
Bunch of extracurricular, presentations, talks and conferences..but not in ENT...

What are my chances?

Thanks for your input..

 

[ZagDoc]

Would you say that this high success rate is due to the fact that ENT is a very self-selective field and people who are going to even attempt to apply to the field are already "qualified" on paper to get a spot?

Wish I could speak to that. But on the interview trail, never really discussed with other applicants their stats or who was also applying to backup specialties (for good reason... their application shouldn't matter to you).

My general gestalt is that otolaryngology tends to self-select a fair amount.

That being said, I think strong letters go a loooong way since oto is such a small field (especially in academia). In casual conversations with attendings on interviews, at conferences, etc, everyone is incredibly excited that ENT is considered such a desirable field and attracts such top notch applicants. But there's also a certain degree of lament from some since the high competition tends to self-select out good applicants who may have marginal board scores or research experiences. ENT is very much a personality-driven field (i.e. we're generally known for being friendly, affable, and approachable compared to many surgical fields and I think the gross majority of us would like to see that continue) and I know of quite a few people who feel the personality is being sterilized to a degree by the competitiveness. Which bring me back to my point... LORs are key. What's the saying... a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush? Residencies want to know you're going to be a bird in the hand (i.e. you're going to be a competent resident and you're going to be enjoyable to work with). If you have other, respected opinions corroborating those facts it means much more than how many papers you were second author on, etc.

 

[kilroth]

Agreed about LORs. One staff wrote me a letter (retired chair, name very well known)... on the interview trail some interviewers raved about my LORs and showed me his...

It was only a few generic sentences typed, but then he hand-wrote in the corner "a real keeper". This spoke volumes to them and they said so.

 

[THE armada]

http://www.nrmp.org/data/chartingoutcomes2011.pdf

Step 1 Average of 243.

 

[Hour30]

WOW can't believe this thread is still stickied! I was 'kilroth' back in the day. Brings back memories..

 

[MaxillofacialMN]

WOW can't believe this thread is still stickied! I was 'kilroth' back in the day. Brings back memories..

Kilroth's latest post on this thread was less than a year ago....

Yeah, those were the days....

 

[Hour30]

Kilroth's latest post on this thread was less than a year ago....

Yeah, those were the days....

Lol, max.. I was referring to med school days when i started the thread.

 

[MaxillofacialMN]

Lol, max.. I was referring to med school days when i started the thread.

I just like stirring the pot

I see you started this thread about four years ago. Soo I feel ya.