- Joined
- Jun 1, 2006
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 1
Anybody know if they are still sending out invites?
Northwestern is a strange bird. Every year there are people that will get invites to places like Hopkin's and UCSF and Duke but .......get rejected by Northwestern. And then there will be some middle tier type candidate that applies there as a reach and they somehow get an interview there. Honestly, whoever is reviewing the apps there, must be on crack while reviewing them.
Northwestern is a strange bird. Every year there are people that will get invites to places like Hopkin's and UCSF and Duke but .......get rejected by Northwestern. And then there will be some middle tier type candidate that applies there as a reach and they somehow get an interview there. Honestly, whoever is reviewing the apps there, must be on crack while reviewing them.
Diane Wayne was a PD, now she is an assistant PD at IM.
http://www.scholars.northwestern.edu/pubDetail.asp?t=pm&id=78751591672&n=Diane+Bronstein+Wayne&u_id=2559
The USMLE score validity argument breaks down on grounds of extrapolation and decision/interpretation because the scores are not associated with measures of clinical skill acquisition among advanced medical students, residents, and subspecialty fellows. Continued use of USMLE Step 1 and 2 scores for postgraduate medical residency selection decisions is discouraged.
Diane Wayne was a PD, now she is an assistant PD at IM.
http://www.scholars.northwestern.edu/pubDetail.asp?t=pm&id=78751591672&n=Diane+Bronstein+Wayne&u_id=2559
The USMLE score validity argument breaks down on grounds of extrapolation and decision/interpretation because the scores are not associated with measures of clinical skill acquisition among advanced medical students, residents, and subspecialty fellows. Continued use of USMLE Step 1 and 2 scores for postgraduate medical residency selection decisions is discouraged.
Northwestern 4th year here. I can't say that I know how NW selects candidates for interviews, but I will say that what they are doing works. The IM residents I have worked with have been outstanding across the board. The motto has always been that they want residents that are nice, hard working and smart - in that order. It's been very true in my experience. If that is any indication, then it would support the argument that they put less weight on things like USMLE scores.
In regards to the article referenced above, I agree with the findings. There is a saying that test scores are only predictive of how you will do on your next test. There are phenomenal doctors that are not great test takers and vice versa.
I hope you get your interview soon. I imagine that spots will be opening up soon if they haven't already.
It sounds like nice/hard working correlate with 3rd year grades. Smart, sorry, but that can only be correlated with boards / AOA. Really hard to wrap you head around some of the rejections. Especially when offers from better places have been handed out.
It sounds like nice/hard working correlate with 3rd year grades. Smart, sorry, but that can only be correlated with boards / AOA. Really hard to wrap you head around some of the rejections. Especially when offers from better places have been handed out.
Someone told me they love people that have something outside of medicine that is interesting. Either, speak another language (Spanish), have done something outstanding in another field, or have done something cool that has nothing to do with medicine.
Maybe Northwestern has adopted an unorthodox selection method because they get a disproportionate number of entitled applicants....
I can say I am a very average Jane applicant, nothing up to SDN standards, and I'm still in purgatory for NW. I don't expect to ever receive an invite, but I guess the fact I've not been rejected yet should be flattering? lol I do have an interesting non-medical background tho..
And yes, to those who are getting MGH, UCSF but were rejected at NW, you can't win them all folks. It's kind of annoying that you expect 100% of your top tier invites just cuz you got your 260/AOA, etc. Nobody gets 100% of anything, I have a friend who's applying path with ridiculously good #s and even he's not hit that yet. 90%, but not 100%. And IM is much more competitive, esp at the top tier.
Northwestern is a strange bird. Every year there are people that will get invites to places like Hopkin's and UCSF and Duke but .......get rejected by Northwestern. And then there will be some middle tier type candidate that applies there as a reach and they somehow get an interview there. Honestly, whoever is reviewing the apps there, must be on crack while reviewing them.
This + the reciprocity statement. I was rejected by NW on the same day I received an Osler interview last year, as were a bunch of my friends. Bottom line, NW, like any program, is going to chase the applicants who will likely rank the program highly.
Hey, I got rejected a long while back, with AOA, step 1 256 and step 2 281. I dont know what I did to ruffle their feathers, but clearly they dont like me for some reason.
281? Holy hell, that's impressive assuming it's not a typo
I guess it seems to be one of those residencies which looks for other things in their applicants
Sorry for the delay, Hollycat - by reciprocity I mean that NW, like any program worth its salt, monitors the "average" profile who actually ends up matching to its program. There was a PDF floating around a few years ago with the average Step scores, % of AOA members, etc. per residency at NW, along with comments from the admins regarding why they weren't attracting "better" applicants to their fellowships, etc. Ironically enough, this was right around the time the PD's paper on Step scores and their value (or lack thereof) of predicting residency performance was released. Maybe someone would be kind enough to provide a link to the PDF (and the PD's paper) for sake of comparison...
Suffice it to say the average Step 1 of a NW IM resident was well below atengnr's type of mark (he/she would more closely match their ENT resident profile). Not knocking NW or anything - but they know that people with those types of scores, unless they have some tie to the Midwest, generally aren't going to have NW at the top of their rank lists come February. It's smart on their part and spares the admin from defending why they went so low on their rank list.
Case in point - see the multiple rankings threads, "this is my rank list, please comment" threads, academic reputation threads, etc. People, fairly or not, often guide their residency decisions based on those types of things than they do shimmering facilities or a pristine location.
One thing I never considered as a med student is pedigree.
Where one went to med school and even undergrad influences whether one gets an interview at the elite programs.
That's why I tell my premed mentees, go to the best medical school possible because it has the potential to open more doors later.
A northwestern IM program will give an average applicant from university of Chicago an interview over an AOA, USMLE of 260+ from Chicago medical school.
Pedigree matters to the top programs.
Agreed, though in my case, I have a friend from class with essentially the same app, as far as school, board scores (excluding step 2) and class grades, who got an invite there, and other places in NWs caliber. One thing I have on my record which may be the reason I have underperformed is a DUI from 2002. Can anyone attest to what impact this would have?? I have no other clues otherwise.