How accurate is the 2014 PD survey?

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etxbear

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I wanted to hear from current and former residents and those who have recently matched regarding the most recent program director survey and how accurate it is in terms of what program directors really value in evaluating applicants and ranking them. Would you place a particular emphasis on a metric that is not highly ranked? Or would you devalue a highly ranked metric?

The survey is attached.

Thanks for your input.

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I wanted to hear from current and former residents and those who have recently matched regarding the most recent program director survey and how accurate it is in terms of what program directors really value in evaluating applicants and ranking them. Would you place a particular emphasis on a metric that is not highly ranked? Or would you devalue a highly ranked metric?

The survey is attached.

Thanks for your input.

looks pretty reasonable/accurate to me. Wish I'd looked at this before applying.
 
I think that Step1, research and letters are very important as well as doing away rotations in places where you can get good letters (and hopefully an interview). While the PS is highly ranked in the PD survey I had quite a few interviews where it was evident (appeared to) that hadn't been read at all, so unsure about that one (perhaps an outlier in my case?). Grades help a lot and AOA but you can't really change those things by this point.Try to focus on what you can improve (research, letters, etc). People have posted their stats in the google doc which you may find useful. Also, Step 2 never came up. A significant amount of people don't have their scores back.
 
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It's interesting to me that Step 2 CK is cited by 51% of programs as an important factor for selecting applicants for an interview. 23% cite it as important for ranking. I'm not really sure what to make of this. From reading numerous threads on SDN, it seems like Step 2 CK doesn't really matter and can be a gamble if you do poorly. Right now I am planning to take Step 2 CK in December and focus more on away rotations in the fall.
I don't want to ask a question that's been discussed repeatedly, but in the specific context of this report, is this a bad idea for Step 2 CK?
Also, is a Step 2 CS score necessary prior to the match?
 
Step 2 doesn't matter. I don't care what some survey says. Most places rank you the day you leave your interview or very shortly afterwards. They are not going to go back and make changes because someone's step 2 score comes in, that's just way too much work. If you have a good one at the time of interview fine, that can help. But if your getting interviews without one, and virtually everyone does the it doesn't matter. Most places simply do not have the time or energy to care enough to go back and check on how everyone did a few weeks to months later.
 
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