VSAS question

[nm825]

I need an August away in order to secure a second SLOE.

I am an averagish applicant (Step 234). How many places should I apply to in order to be able to secure an August away.

I was planning on applying to about 10 different places of what I feel are varying degrees of competitiveness, places like MCW, UWisconsin, UI-Chicago, UConn, the DC schools, etc.

Is this enough places to apply to? My home EM advisor says it is. I have all my immunixzations and thigns ready to go; just waiting for everything to open in mid-March and April.

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[kittykattat]

I need an August away in order to secure a second SLOE.

I am an averagish applicant (Step 234). How many places should I apply to in order to be able to secure an August away.

I was planning on applying to about 10 different places of what I feel are varying degrees of competitiveness, places like MCW, UWisconsin, UI-Chicago, UConn, the DC schools, etc.

Is this enough places to apply to? My home EM advisor says it is. I have all my immunixzations and thigns ready to go; just waiting for everything to open in mid-March and April.

If you are submitting these as soon as they open you should be fine. I have a very similar step 1 and submitted to 5 programs last spring (all in top 20 on Doximity) and got offered 4 of them and waitlisted on the 5th. Good luck!

 

[runthiscity]

Just my n=1, but I know MCW turned people down. Not entirely sure why, but may be due to not getting everything in on the day it opened (this wasn't me so I don't know their scores and if that factored in at all.) UW gives preference to home students in the first few months and then MDs (which it looks like you are.) UW also requires a letter of intent explaining why you want to go there, or at least they did for this past cycle.

Also, this is based all on hearsay, but I've heard of people not getting interviews at places that accepted them for an away and they then turned it down. No personal experience with that one.

If you have some flexibility with the month, I'd recommend applying for multiple months at the same program if you have one that you really want a chance to rotate at, and then withdraw from all the other programs once you get accepted at a program. You can still have a SLOE in decently early with a September rotation if you need it.

All that being said, you should have luck with at least one of those places for August. Just get your stuff in when the program opens on VSAS ASAP.

 

[Keladry]

Also, this is based all on hearsay, but I've heard of people not getting interviews at places that accepted them for an away and they then turned it down. No personal experience with that one.

I had heard that too, but this cycle I got an interview at a place where I had initially accepted an away, then declined it later (once I got accepted to my top choice for an away). N=1 here, obviously, but it's something.

 

[kittykattat]

I had heard that too, but this cycle I got an interview at a place where I had initially accepted an away, then declined it later (once I got accepted to my top choice for an away). N=1 here, obviously, but it's something.

Same experience here. Generally, it is two diff groups of people going through VSAS (clerkship directors and administrators) and ERAS (PDs and APDs) applications. I have a hard time picturing a clerkship director handing the PD a list of "do not interview" at the end of the summer based on people who turned down away offers... seems kind of petty. If someone doesnt get an interview after not rotating at that place, Occam's Razor says their ERAS application just wasnt what the PD was looking for (in most cases).