I need some advice (tough love)

[Eyewantoph]

Hey guys, I hope you are all well. I know there are tons of posts like this but I would like some advice from people that know far more than me in terms of matching.

I am very interested in Ophthalmology and I applied to 96 programs. I have a big weakness which is my step 1: 230. Step 2 still don't have the scores. My gpa is: 3.56.

I have around 9-10 papers, which I have presented in Europe and many countries around 4 of those, and they are either all in submission or published. I also have strong letters.

I know my apps is not the best, but I feel like it has some strong points. What do you guys think are my chances? If I don't match should I do a research fellow?

Thank you all and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

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[Merlin0082]

Error 143

 

[Eyewantoph]

I appreciate your response. I also don't know how to correlate gpa to the honors/high honors measurements

Any other opinion out there would be helpful, thank you all.

 

[DrZeke]

I appreciate your response. I also don't know how to correlate gpa to the honors/high honors measurements

Any other opinion out there would be helpful, thank you all.

You don't need to correlate your gpa. Your deans letter or your reference letters may/should speak to your class standing or your level of achievement. If you are an American medical grad not on a visa your app sounds strong.

 

[Eyewantoph]

You don't need to correlate your gpa. Your deans letter or your reference letters may/should speak to your class standing or your level of achievement. If you are an American medical grad not on a visa your app sounds strong.

Oh ok, well that makes sense. Also I am a american med grad so hopefully it all goes well. Thank you all for your help. Good luck on your own goals.

 

[Afferentophta]

Hey guys, I hope you are all well. I know there are tons of posts like this but I would like some advice from people that know far more than me in terms of matching.

I am very interested in Ophthalmology and I applied to 96 programs. I have a big weakness which is my step 1: 230. Step 2 still don't have the scores. My gpa is: 3.56.

I have around 9-10 papers, which I have presented in Europe and many countries around 4 of those, and they are either all in submission or published. I also have strong letters.

I know my apps is not the best, but I feel like it has some strong points. What do you guys think are my chances? If I don't match should I do a research fellow?

Thank you all and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

Hey guys, Eyewantoph ( love your name btw) its seem you and I are almost in the exact situation. My step 1 is 231 , grades are good but not perfect. My research is where I'm strong with various presentation and submitted papers. I'm also doing an away rotation which I hope helps me out and gets me one more interview.would be interesting to hear from more people. Thank you and I wish everyone the best in this upcoming match

 

[Eyewantoph]

Hey guys, Eyewantoph ( love your name btw) its seem you and I are almost in the exact situation. My step 1 is 231 , grades are good but not perfect. My research is where I'm strong with various presentation and submitted papers. I'm also doing an away rotation which I hope helps me out and gets me one more interview.would be interesting to hear from more people. Thank you and I wish everyone the best in this upcoming match

Thank you! Yeah its a very stressful situation. We seem to be in the same boat. Hopefully we can all do well. Anyone else out there willing to give us their input would be greatly appreciated. Good luck afferentophta!

 

[eyeballzer]

eyewantoph and afferentophta, how many invites have you gotten so far? I'm also in the same boat and good LORs as I've been told so far

 

[Hemolytic Alenemia]

I did pretty good on step 1 (mid 240s on USMLE and 650s Comlex) but I'm a DO. Additionally, although I have lots of community service/leadership activities, my school has very little research (ie almost none) and I'm in a rural area. If I have some simple poster presentations/case studies and one possible publication, is this going to be enough assuming I have good LORs?

I'm hoping the lack of research won't kill my app completely

 

[eyeballzer]

I did pretty good on step 1 (mid 240s on USMLE and 650s Comlex) but I'm a DO. Additionally, although I have lots of community service/leadership activities, my school has very little research (ie almost none) and I'm in a rural area. If I have some simple poster presentations/case studies and one possible publication, is this going to be enough assuming I have good LORs?

I'm hoping the lack of research won't kill my app completely

From what it sounds like your research is average if not above average for applicants. Average applicant has maybe a few research things (see 2011 match PDF for details) and it seems like you have a lot already. Research things can be literally anything, from poster to case studies to pubs.

 

[hurdlepup]

I don't get why applicants with lower Step 1 aren't all taking Step 2 in time to get a score to show you are also good at taking tests. It is certainly looked at by programs. After all programs do not want to show their graduates cannot pass the boards after residency or have low OKAPS, etc.

Too late for many reading this now but for future folks you really should consider supplementing a low Step 1 with strong Step 2. That being said a 230 with other good application and some personal connections and you should match somewhere.