Chances for California Residencies

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poplarthrow

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Trying to go back to California for residency, any place. Currently in top 20 med school. Realistically probably will end up in socal due to my grades, but what about for UCSF or Stanford?

Step 1: 255. Step 2: in November or December
Grades: P/F 1st 2 years. H in anesthesia, ICU. HP in medicine, PCC. H/HP in neuro (pending). P in everything else.
Research: Anesthesia presentations at various conferences, including IARS. One pub in anesthesia. Lots of pubs/abstracts including 1st author from gap year in GI, unrelated to anesthesia.
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Ok, switching applications and programs now. What are my chances for FM?
 
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Two of my friends matched in anes in So Cal. Both at UCI.

One from BU other from Yale.

Good luck
 
when i was applying i was never THIS clueless about what it takes to match into places. your step 1 score will give you an interview at all california places and "ending up in socal" would really suck wouldnt it? ucla, ucsd are just so inferior to stanford and ucsf.
 
Oops, forgot to mention that my family and I are from norcal. Didn't mean any disrespect to the socal schools, so location wise it's not as ideal and I know that UCSF and Stanford are much more competitive in general. I'm just trying to set some realistic expectations for myself.
 
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GaseousClay said:
when i was applying i was never THIS clueless about what it takes to match into places. your step 1 score will give you an interview at all california places and "ending up in socal" would really suck wouldnt it? ucla, ucsd are just so inferior to stanford and ucsf.
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I am a *******. Thus even as a Cal Berkeley alum for undergrad, best I could match was at UCLA for fellowship

:)
 
You're going to apply anyway and your Step 1 scores as well as what appears to be a solid application will land you interviews pretty much everywhere you apply, so will anything someone says about your chances here deter you from clicking on UCSF and Stanford in ERAS and later ranking them via the NRMP? Even if you thought they were out of reach, you could still rank them at the top and theoretically not affect your chances of matching elsewhere.

If someone other than the PD at these places told you not to bother, you would still apply right?

See you in March once you've told us you've matched either at UCSF/Stanford or one of the SoCal programs.
 
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Well given the fact that I didn't honor 3rd year rotations and most likely in the lower half of my class made me question my competitiveness. So in the sense how we question whether or not a diagnostic test would change our management, then I guess asking what my chances are wouldn't affect whether or not I would apply. But don't I end up seeing the tests ordered anyways, if anything just to reassure the attending or resident?
 
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poplarthrow said:
Trying to go back to California for residency, any place. Currently in top 20 med school. Realistically probably will end up in socal due to my grades, but what about for UCSF or Stanford?

Step 1: 255. Step 2: in November or December
Grades: P/F 1st 2 years. H in anesthesia, ICU. HP in medicine, PCC. H/HP in neuro (pending). P in everything else.
Research: Anesthesia presentations at various conferences, including IARS. One pub in anesthesia. Lots of pubs/abstracts including 1st author from gap year in GI, unrelated to anesthesia.
Click to expand...


Get a Step 2 over 240 and the odds are over 50% you match at UCSF:

Average USMLE Step 1 Score of interviewed applicants: 223
Average USMLE Step 2 Score of interviewed applicants: 257
Percentage of applicants offered interviews who were AOA: 43%

UCSF- Upper 1/3 Program
 
Average USMLE Step 1 Score of interviewed applicants: 211
Average USMLE Step 2 Score of interviewed applicants: 254
Percentage of applicants offered interviews who were AOA: 39%

Get over a 240 on Step 2 and the odds are 75% (or higher) you match at UCSD
 
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Ended up on the bottom quartile of my class. They rank solely on 3rd year grades, no step scores involved which is a bummer. About 50-50 P/HP on my 3rd year clerkships. I'm currently sitting on 30-35 applications, basically all west coast, all boston programs and all places near my home institution. Do I need to apply to more? I'm pretty worried right now about not applying to enough. How much is this going to hurt my application? My only hope right now is that I can get invites before the MSPE comes out, cause transcript wise my grades look just OK.

After the interview invite, do grades matter for ranking?
 
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I would assume the fact that you go to an elite medical school would cancel out match of the damage of being ranked in the bottom quartile.
 
Just top 20 according to US News World Report, so not sure if that counts as elite or not or if those rankings are even worth anything.
 
poplarthrow said:
Ended up on the bottom quartile of my class. They rank solely on 3rd year grades, no step scores involved which is a bummer. About 50-50 P/HP on my 3rd year clerkships. I'm currently sitting on 30-35 applications, basically all west coast, all boston programs and all places near my home institution. Do I need to apply to more? I'm pretty worried right now about not applying to enough. How much is this going to hurt my application? My only hope right now is that I can get invites before the MSPE comes out, cause transcript wise my grades look just OK.

After the interview invite, do grades matter for ranking?
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Just make sure you throw enough mid tier programs into your mix. Class rank will hurt you but your step score should help.
 
BLADEMDA said:
Average USMLE Step 1 Score of interviewed applicants: 211
Average USMLE Step 2 Score of interviewed applicants: 254
Percentage of applicants offered interviews who were AOA: 39%

Get over a 240 on Step 2 and the odds are 75% (or higher) you match at UCSD
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Lol Blade you need to stop with these stats. Someone might actually believe them. 211 average for step 1 interview? Do you really believe UCSD would interview an average score of 211 on step 1 when the average test taker gets a 227?
 
Yea, it seems like those numbers are from years ago and probably not accurate anymore. Looking at more recent ones worry me, those with 250+ and good grades who don't get interviews.
 
poplarthrow said:
Yea, it seems like those numbers are from years ago and probably not accurate anymore. Looking at more recent ones worry me, those with 250+ and good grades who don't get interviews.
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they'll match somewhere. as long as they finish residency, they'll end up as an anesthesiologist. = all good
 
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poplarthrow said:
Yea, it seems like those numbers are from years ago and probably not accurate anymore. Looking at more recent ones worry me, those with 250+ and good grades who don't get interviews.
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The problem is not that the data is old. The problem is that the samples are tiny. One cannot draw valid conclusions from that data. I would say that p is over 0.50, not under 0.05. ;)
 
per a friend from UCSD, "the current CA 1 class step 1 AVERAGE is 248." may be a fluke year but pretty high
 
FFP said:
The problem is not that the data is old. The problem is that the samples are tiny. One cannot draw valid conclusions from that data. I would say that p is over 0.50, not under 0.05. ;)
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Another issue with that data aside from the sample size is that for many of the programs there is a profile* where the user did not enter a step score, and it's calculated as a score of zero in the mean. So you have 7 or 8 students posting 230's and 240's and one posting no score at all, and the "mean" comes out to 211 or whatever.

For example, removing these two zeroes from UCSD the mean becomes 242 (n=14) which is closer to what is posted above.

*specifically, profiles 00262 and 00264
 
I think you will get interviews from most of the California programs just with your board score alone, though it is tough because there are only two Bay Area anesthesia programs and both are fairly competitive. I was your same shoes 6 years ago, and was fortunate enough to match at one of those two. You should also consider UC Davis. Good solid program with good clinical exposure. Its not Bay Area, but only an hour away from the East Bay.

Are you considering doing a sub-internship at either of those places? I have known several people who matched at UCSF after they had stellar sub-i's. But I would caution that you better be sure that you will do well because UCSF really values input from residents and attendings in evals, and I have also seen really bright students not get good marks. Its a pretty intense sub-i but gives you good breadth and lets you preview the rotations and cases residents see. Good luck.
 
poplarthrow said:
Trying to go back to California for residency, any place. Currently in top 20 med school. Realistically probably will end up in socal due to my grades, but what about for UCSF or Stanford?

Step 1: 255. Step 2: in November or December
Grades: P/F 1st 2 years. H in anesthesia, ICU. HP in medicine, PCC. H/HP in neuro (pending). P in everything else.
Research: Anesthesia presentations at various conferences, including IARS. One pub in anesthesia. Lots of pubs/abstracts including 1st author from gap year in GI, unrelated to anesthesia.
Click to expand...

Go derm or optho with a 255.
 
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FWIW, similar stats, from CA. 250s step 1, bottom half of class, some pubs. No interviews at UCSF, Stanford, UCLA or UCSD. Seems like anesthesia has gotten pretty competitive and not how it was how some of these older attendings have thought. Hoping to make it back to CA for residency somewhere. Can you still find a job in the Bay Area or LA if you don't graduate from the top 4? Feeling kind of bummed out right now and somehow after residency I won't be able to stay in CA anyways.
 
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It IS competitive, but only because some people think it's a lifestyle specialty. They will have a nice wake-up call (besides the one for life).

UCSF and Stanford are top 10 programs, so it's normal not to get interviews if in the bottom half of the class.
 
anesthesiology is competitive. The only interview i got from Cali school was Loma Linda... though i dont have any research pubs/presentations/abstracts etc. Actually even a bunch of nearby mediocre schools (by step and rep) refuse to interview me
 
I had step 1 > 250 and step 2 >260 and got no love from Stanford, UCSF, UCSD, or UCLA. I think these places are ultra-competitive and require extensive research or aways.
 
LMA24 said:
I had step 1 > 250 and step 2 >260 and got no love from Stanford, UCSF, UCSD, or UCLA. I think these places are ultra-competitive and require extensive research or aways.
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wow. im surprised at the continuing interest in anesthesiology despite all the uncertainty
 
LMA24 said:
I had step 1 > 250 and step 2 >260 and got no love from Stanford, UCSF, UCSD, or UCLA. I think these places are ultra-competitive and require extensive research or aways.
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I have similar scores and no invites either. A few people on the interview trail said the same thing, and some were AOA.
 
I have similar scores, top 5%, AOA, and very little actual research, and I heard back from Stanford but not UCLA. I think the California schools have a regional bias even when it comes to residency. About half the people during my Stanford interview were from California schools, and a few more had some regional ties to the area. It's always a crapshoot with the top programs to some extent plus the location alone is enough to make these schools competitive.
 
Sanzy said:
I think the California schools have a regional bias even when it comes to residency. About half the people during my Stanford interview were from California schools, and a few more had some regional .
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There may appear to be a regional bias but you have to remember the Ca medical schools are ultra-competitive and are filled with top talent. The programs don't have to look far for good candidates.
 
anbuitachi said:
man if i knew this earlier, i wouldn't have bothered applying
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Don't take individual comments on this forum as the norm. There are plenty of applicants from all over the map interviewing at good california residency programs.
 
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