- Joined
- Jun 17, 2009
- Messages
- 735
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- 81
Just trying to wade through the sea of advice regarding aways. I'm a pretty strong applicant (I think!): mid-tier med school, 2 HP and the rest honors on rotations, 247 step 1, one pub plus one in the works. I'm trying to stay in the same area that I go to school in, so initially figured I'd do my aways at two local programs. After some thought, it occurred to me that the programs I had in mind are "mid-tier," and not necessarily tough to match into per my advisors. Since we all know the lore about aways having the potential to hurt you, I'm starting to think I should scrap these aways, since my numbers are a decent match with these (i.e. why mess with a good thing?) Instead, I'm now thinking of trying for an away at Hopkins, which I also plan to rank. Since this would be ridiculously hard to get, I'd need a backup plan. Let's say I used one of my original institutions (which I also plan on applying to) as a backup, but then had to pull out- would that sink my chances at that program? Would I be better off just not having a backup plan and then scrambling as need be if I don't get the Hopkins elective?
