RFU MS in Biomedical Science

chaeymaey said:

Now that the AP program and the "wink wink nudge nudge" 3.0 auto acceptance are gone, do y'all think that it is still worth applying and enrolling in this program? Would you pick RFU's program over Drexel, EVMS, Loyola, or Barry? I say this because obviously BU and GTown are the best.

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HELL NO!! Not over any of them.

USArmyDoc said:

HELL NO!! Not over any of them.

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IMO the new program needs to establish itself as far as getting its students into CMS or into other medical schools. Until then I would opt for any other program that has solid numbers.

Then again if you enter the new program here and throw down and get a 3.6+ in it I would be extremely surprised if CMS wasn't busting down your door to take you. Considering the new program's schedule is close to this year I wouldn't put a 3.6 beyond anybody who gave it their all.

chaeymaey said:

Now the RFU MS site has changed to read that they will guarantee an interview, but that they are not ready to say acceptance. Do y'all think that this is a good sign?

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Yes - I believe they must have gotten no applications with the program change and are looking for ways to fix that problem. They realize that without the old guarantee of admission they arent competitive with G-town, EVMS, BU and more. So they found a middle ground. I believe if you do well in the program there and a good interview you will get into RFU. They arent going to have a program for long if 0% are accepted to RFU each yr....

can someone please give the link to the program's information and the link to it's application?

DesiMcatAcer said:

can someone please give the link to the program's information and the link to it's application?

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Bump

DesiMcatAcer said:

can someone please give the link to the program's information and the link to it's application?

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It looks as if you take the same classes as the old physiology and biophysics program. here is the link.

http://66.99.255.20/srhs/bms/

BOBODR said:

Yes - I believe they must have gotten no applications with the program change and are looking for ways to fix that problem. They realize that without the old guarantee of admission they arent competitive with G-town, EVMS, BU and more. So they found a middle ground. I believe if you do well in the program there and a good interview you will get into RFU. They arent going to have a program for long if 0% are accepted to RFU each yr....

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The language regarding the guaranteed interview is tucked near the bottom of the page and almost comically vague:

"Students enrolled in the Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences who submit applications to other programs or schools within Rosalind Franklin University will be granted an admissions interview with that program or school. However, no preference is given to BMS students regarding acceptance into any program or school at Rosalind Franklin University, including the Chicago Medical School."

It sounds like they are really gritting their teeth as they grudgingly give out the interviews.

silkworm said:

The language regarding the guaranteed interview is tucked near the bottom of the page and almost comically vague:

"Students enrolled in the Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences who submit applications to other programs or schools within Rosalind Franklin University will be granted an admissions interview with that program or school. However, no preference is given to BMS students regarding acceptance into any program or school at Rosalind Franklin University, including the Chicago Medical School."

It sounds like they are really gritting their teeth as they grudgingly give out the interviews.

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DrJekyll918 said:

It looks as if you take the same classes as the old physiology and biophysics program. here is the link.

http://66.99.255.20/srhs/bms/

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Thanks a bunch

BOBODR said:

Yes - I believe they must have gotten no applications with the program change and are looking for ways to fix that problem. They realize that without the old guarantee of admission they arent competitive with G-town, EVMS, BU and more. So they found a middle ground. I believe if you do well in the program there and a good interview you will get into RFU. They arent going to have a program for long if 0% are accepted to RFU each yr....

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As a former AP, I gotta get something off my chest...There was never a guarantee of admission! There have been cases over the years of individuals getting a 3.0 and not getting an acceptance to the medical school. Everyone in the AP program got an interview, but you needed to do well to get accepted, and believe me, it's not easy with the class load you have. There are many people who do not make it in the program...and all it took was one bad exam to erase a full year of hard work.

I must say it angers me that so many of you are bashing the program when you have absolutely no insight into how it will work. The med school courses are challenging, and the "graduate" courses are based in areas that medical students usually do not get a chance to learn. If you do well, you will still very likely be considered for a spot in the class. You will be at a medical school campus, with many opportunities to get involved in activities, research, and better yourself as an applicant. Don't pass up on opportunities such as this because there is no guarantee. Everyone has had to work hard and make sacrifices to get into medical school, with no guarantee that they would. Prove something to yourself and to the admissions committee.

I know a lot of APs who did not get in, like the previous post said one test can ruin you. I personally know someone where one question ruined him. The BMS program looks very promising, If you get in, I think you should seriously consider it. Good luck with your decisions everyone.

Dr. Will said:

As a former AP, I gotta get something off my chest...There was never a guarantee of admission! There have been cases over the years of individuals getting a 3.0 and not getting an acceptance to the medical school. Everyone in the AP program got an interview, but you needed to do well to get accepted, and believe me, it's not easy with the class load you have. There are many people who do not make it in the program...and all it took was one bad exam to erase a full year of hard work.

I must say it angers me that so many of you are bashing the program when you have absolutely no insight into how it will work. The med school courses are challenging, and the "graduate" courses are based in areas that medical students usually do not get a chance to learn. If you do well, you will still very likely be considered for a spot in the class. You will be at a medical school campus, with many opportunities to get involved in activities, research, and better yourself as an applicant. Don't pass up on opportunities such as this because there is no guarantee. Everyone has had to work hard and make sacrifices to get into medical school, with no guarantee that they would. Prove something to yourself and to the admissions committee.

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i agree...i think the program will still have the same perks, i.e. if you do well, you have a decent shot at admission to CMS. its obvious they simply got fed up with students calling them up and blatantly asking "so if i get a 3.0 i'm in?"
it probably got to the point where students who got a 3.0 and were denied just got all pissed and caused a fit. think of it from their POV, the program is the same as before, with the same med school courses. all they did was remove any association with CMS. actually, they re-established a connection with this new interview policy..what more could you ask for? walk into an interview with A's from that medical school? Again, think about it..if you get A's in courses offered by CMS, and you INTERVIEW there, they'll take a hard look at you. its a big risk, but then again so is any smp. just my two cents, fr the record i'm still gonna apply

benelswick said:

Frankly I think the bashing is not without grounds, not for the sacrafice and accomplishments of the former AP students but for the absolutely outrageous cost of the program both without the funding and support of a traditional science graduate program and without the wink-wink perk of med school admissions advantage.
They gotta be smokin some good **** if they think they can recruit a bunch of med school applicants to endure the sub-zero temperatures of Chicago winters to pay a couple hundred thousand dollars for a weak @ss master's degree without some type of assured med school admissions advantage.--Ben.

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I agree. How can they expect people to take a chance on a program that really does not give them that great of a shot at their own program.

define great shot...i think if getting A's in a medical school's curriculum AND a guarunteed interview at that SAME medical school is a great shot. it doesnt get better than that...sure getting a's is no easy task, but neither is medical school.
and i dont believe it is a 'useless' masters degree to any greater extent than other smp's...what masters degree does georgetown, evms, etc. give you that you can use outside of getting into medical school? anyways, like i said earlier, i believe theyre simply sick of people assuming theyll get in with a 3.0, so they put these statements out there to prevent lawsuits. just my two cents

even if the gpa pseudo-guarantee existed, i wouldnt go. the school is not so good imho. yea yea, match list this match list that. with a class of 175, your bound to have people end up at good residencies (work hard and ace the boards is what it takes). if i needed to do a masters to get in, id do it at a med school that 1. has decent research 2. has a hospital, 3. wasn't a last choice for most people except those from cali. flame away.

benelswick said:

Frankly I think the bashing is not without grounds, not for the sacrafice and accomplishments of the former AP students but for the absolutely outrageous cost of the program both without the funding and support of a traditional science graduate program and without the wink-wink perk of med school admissions advantage.
They gotta be smokin some good **** if they think they can recruit a bunch of med school applicants to endure the sub-zero temperatures of Chicago winters to pay a couple hundred thousand dollars for a weak @ss master's degree without some type of assured med school admissions advantage.--Ben.

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Some very misguided information. Since when does any post-bac/smp program guarantee admission into their own program? You are still taking the first year medical school courses along with the medical students. If you excel, you will be considered for admission into the following class. What better way can you tell if someone is suited for the actual MD program than actually doing well in MD classes? This will surely give you an advantage over other candidates, mark my word.

When I signed up for the AP program, I did not have a "wink-wink" guarantee of admission. I was told so from day 1 and expected that I would have to work my a$$ off. I knew if I failed I wouldn't even have the degree. Today I sit in the top 1/4 of my class and am looking forward to my 4th year. I have an MS by my name (and that's all people will see and care about). I didn't need a "wink-wink" to be accepted. I did it on my own by smashing the minimum 3.0 and improving my application in many other ways while I was at CMS.

If you really want to be an MD, you'll make it happen any way you can. You'll gladly sacrifice 5 years of your life in Chicago (which is a beautiful city). So I'm an extra $50K in debt. I'm going to be a Dr. and will easily pay that debt off. None of these programs are handouts. Bite the bullet, work hard, and get yourself in.

The program does not cost "a couple hundred thousand" by the way. Get your facts straight. Quit bitching about wanting a free handout into medical school...it's no cake walk. Be proactive and make things happen for yourself. If you fail, you have no one to blaim except for yourself.

ShaggyHair said:

even if the gpa pseudo-guarantee existed, i wouldnt go. the school is not so good imho. yea yea, match list this match list that. with a class of 175, your bound to have people end up at good residencies (work hard and ace the boards is what it takes). if i needed to do a masters to get in, id do it at a med school that 1. has decent research 2. has a hospital, 3. wasn't a last choice for most people except those from cali. flame away.

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Not good?

Research...the school has dedicated itself to improving this. So much has changed over the last two years. Do you think improvements happen over night? They just finished and opened up a newly constructed lab center for research purposes. It's one of the goals of the new President, to increase the amount of research. It's not all their yet, but improving.

Hospital...We are on the cusp of having an official affiliation with the Advocate system in Chicago, a very strong system with great teaching and opportunities. Even without the "official" affiliation, we have great sites we rotate through, including Cook County.

Match list...A match list is a match list. People matched at great programs, and my class will surely do the same. As long as these residency programs take our students and see what we can do, it will benefit all in the long run. The first two years of medical school are geared toward training you to take Step 1...we've consistently been above the national average. There are plenty of other schools with class sizes greater than ours...who cares. If people are happy with where they match, that's all that matters.

Many doctors I've talked to over the years, be it in Cali or Illinois, have always had positive things to say about CMS and it's grads. This piss poor reputation you speak of only exists in pre-med circles. Residency directors, actual physicians, don't really feel this way. You'll learn quickly.

preach on dr. will, lets just hope i get accepted into the program now!
i got a 2.67, 33 on the mcat, teach the mcat for the princeton review, published author in alzheimers research..the only thing really dragging me down is the GPA..hard to believe its an improvement, but i had a 2.4 last year. have you heard of people gaining admission to the program with sub 3.0's? thanks man

So did past students of this program find success in admissions to med schools others than RFU? Or is this program purely for the Chicago Med School?

palmtree said:

preach on dr. will, lets just hope i get accepted into the program now!
i got a 2.67, 33 on the mcat, teach the mcat for the princeton review, published author in alzheimers research..the only thing really dragging me down is the GPA..hard to believe its an improvement, but i had a 2.4 last year. have you heard of people gaining admission to the program with sub 3.0's? thanks man

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Palmtree...

Yes, many people have gotten in GPA's of less than 3.0 and even MCAT's below 30. The good thing about these programs is that they are geared to let you make up for any deficiency in your applications. They understand that there are many applicants out there who are very deserving and that would make excellent doctors, but for whatever reason, where not given a chance during the application process. Just keep your head up and keep striving. PM me if you have any questions.

silkworm said:

So did past students of this program find success in admissions to med schools others than RFU? Or is this program purely for the Chicago Med School?

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Yes there have been. I can speak for my year at least...

About 110 started the program
60 finished the program
50 got the degree and where ultimately accepted
40 matriculated (the other 10 got acceptances to other schools they applied to)

chaeymaey said:

So those ppl who didn't finish, did they drop out or are they still working the MS?

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Those people ended up dropping the program or failing out early in the process. They got nothing. This is part of the reason they changed the program around. They don't want people who do not get accepted or do well to walk away with nothing but a bitter taste in their mouth. This is why the program will actually turn out to be better. It may not change for those who do well, but for those who don't, they may find other avenues of opportunity.

Trust me, it only takes one test to mess everything up. This program is only suited for those SERIOUS about getting in to med school. I had a friend who coasted by last year, only to get a C on a final because he decided to go out with us M2's to celebrate the end of finals. He ended up with a C in a largely weighted course, and he did not get the degree.

Dr. Will said:

Yes there have been. I can speak for my year at least...

About 110 started the program
60 finished the program
50 got the degree and where ultimately accepted
40 matriculated (the other 10 got acceptances to other schools they applied to)

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Wow, 40 (!). How big is the Chicago Med class? It seems a huge portion their annual intake would be from this program.

silkworm said:

Wow, 40 (!). How big is the Chicago Med class? It seems a huge portion their annual intake would be from this program.

So what happened to that ~50 who didn't finish the program? Couldn't hack it?

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Our class size has traditionally been about 185 or so. So yeah, we do make up a quarter or so of the class. And we've all been more than capable of holding our own and excelling over the last two years.

As for the 50 that didn't make it, many left for different reasons. Some left because they were unhappy and decided being a doc wasn't what they wanted, others failed out throughout the year. There were some who were very borderline until the end, and just tanked finals.

relatively speaking, the reputation of RFU is still below average. yea things will change im sure in 10 years+ but until then, it remains near the bottom as far as US med schools are concerned (and not just in premed circles). as far as research, build as many labs as they want....they wont be able to attract many top scientists for decades. their 2004 nih funding ($ 6.5 million) placed them in 112 place out of 123 ranked schools...right below ponce med school in PR. to top it all, i know a student who ten years ago got into cms by making a hefty "donation." and another student who had a 22 on her mcat and got into the AP program and subsequently got into cms. she was rejected from every md, do, and the one carribbean school she applied to but its ok cuz she got into cms. yea she might have got that magic 3.0, but how hard is it really to get straight Bs with the A here on there. no, its not that hard. good thing that program doesnt exist.

Dr. Will said:

Not good?

Research...the school has dedicated itself to improving this. So much has changed over the last two years. Do you think improvements happen over night? They just finished and opened up a newly constructed lab center for research purposes. It's one of the goals of the new President, to increase the amount of research. It's not all their yet, but improving.

Hospital...We are on the cusp of having an official affiliation with the Advocate system in Chicago, a very strong system with great teaching and opportunities. Even without the "official" affiliation, we have great sites we rotate through, including Cook County.

Match list...A match list is a match list. People matched at great programs, and my class will surely do the same. As long as these residency programs take our students and see what we can do, it will benefit all in the long run. The first two years of medical school are geared toward training you to take Step 1...we've consistently been above the national average. There are plenty of other schools with class sizes greater than ours...who cares. If people are happy with where they match, that's all that matters.

Many doctors I've talked to over the years, be it in Cali or Illinois, have always had positive things to say about CMS and it's grads. This piss poor reputation you speak of only exists in pre-med circles. Residency directors, actual physicians, don't really feel this way. You'll learn quickly.

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Man I forgot how funny premeds can be. Anyways to the ***** who stated that the match list doesnt matter, all I ask is what does?

IMO nothing matters besides that because it shows where you can end up regardless of school. To those of you who are bashing CMS I sure hope each and every one of you fools has a degree from a top 25 undergrad. I know I do UPenn baby. Well my Penn degree got me into the AP and then my work sent me to the MD program. My hard work there got me my #1 choice in my residency. Bottom line is you can diss the school heck even I think a ton of improvements can be made but in the end our match list is better than most MD,DO and Carribean schools. So before you go on bashing it why dont you get yourself into somewhere better.

ShaggyHair said:

relatively speaking, the reputation of RFU is still below average. yea things will change im sure in 10 years+ but until then, it remains near the bottom as far as US med schools are concerned (and not just in premed circles). as far as research, build as many labs as they want....they wont be able to attract many top scientists for decades. their 2004 nih funding ($ 6.5 million) placed them in 112 place out of 123 ranked schools...right below ponce med school in PR. to top it all, i know a student who ten years ago got into cms by making a hefty "donation." and another student who had a 22 on her mcat and got into the AP program and subsequently got into cms. she was rejected from every md, do, and the one carribbean school she applied to but its ok cuz she got into cms. yea she might have got that magic 3.0, but how hard is it really to get straight Bs with the A here on there. no, its not that hard. good thing that program doesnt exist.

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As Dr Will said the only opinions that matter are those of the PDs. Of the nine places I interviewed 7 PDs were kissing my butt. They look at my school and say ok whatever lets look at the guy. Im not gonna bad mouth the Carib or DOs but I assure you there are more programs that wont even look at these guys than programs who wont look at CMSers. Honestly most PDs dont even know what the MS is about. They just say "oh you must be interested in research". So you know some anectdotal story of someone with a 22? Well One of my fellow APers had a 3.8 and a 32 on the MCAT. Whats your point? I can look through the match list and prob over 1/2 of the "competetive" matches were from the AP class. All this while we make up less than 1/3 of the class. Bottom line when I start my residency no one will care about my MCAT, my undergrad GPA, my masters, my USMLE scores, my preclinical or clinical grades, my LORs or where I went to med school. Ill be like everyone else.

IMO, the match list isn't better than most MD schools. Its average at best. After the top 25-30 schools, the match lists are comparable. The class size is large so of course people are going to match in good places. Having 25 people match into good residencies out of a class of 175 is not amazing. However, having 25 people match into good residencies out of a class of 100 is solid. There aren't many MD schools with *bad* match lists. For the 5-6 schools that have such bad match lists, sure CMS is better. Doesn't mean its better than most though. Also, I'm not a pre-med. I go to a top 25 med school and at a recent internal medicine residency panal, the PD mentioned inherent biases when ranking M4s at my school for residency - he mentioned CMS as one of the schools he and others don't look at on equal footing as others.

EctopicFetus said:

Man I forgot how funny premeds can be. Anyways to the ***** who stated that the match list doesnt matter, all I ask is what does?

IMO nothing matters besides that because it shows where you can end up regardless of school. To those of you who are bashing CMS I sure hope each and every one of you fools has a degree from a top 25 undergrad. I know I do UPenn baby. Well my Penn degree got me into the AP and then my work sent me to the MD program. My hard work there got me my #1 choice in my residency. Bottom line is you can diss the school heck even I think a ton of improvements can be made but in the end our match list is better than most MD,DO and Carribean schools. So before you go on bashing it why dont you get yourself into somewhere better.

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As far as having similar match lists I think you might be wrong. I looked at the UofC list and it wasnt that great IMO, it was similar to CMSs. Now I am def not saying the rep of CMS is equal to UofC (im not crazy). But the end game is the same and thats what matters.

Also we had maybe 50-60 match into top notch residencies. Obviously this is really hard to figure out because matching at Christ for EM is super competetive but most people dont know that. But ill give this a quick shot.

Hopkins and UCLA for Gas (2)
4 for Derm (all competetive right?)
8 "competetive" EM programs
I could go on but im way too lazy since im a 4th yr. Bottom line is this is the advice I give to all pre-meds. if you can go to a top 15 med school go, if not go to where the cheapest place is. There is little to no advantage between the rest.
I highly doubt any PD would have the stones to name ANY school. If the PD at your top 25 place said so good for him. I dont know tons about IM programs but I do know Cedars Sinai is competetive we got a few in there. We also sent one to Mayo.

Gosh I guess I am just happy that most PDs arent like IM guy at your school.

ShaggyHair said:

IMO, the match list isn't better than most MD schools. Its average at best. After the top 25-30 schools, the match lists are comparable. The class size is large so of course people are going to match in good places. Having 25 people match into good residencies out of a class of 175 is not amazing. However, having 25 people match into good residencies out of a class of 100 is solid. There aren't many MD schools with *bad* match lists. For the 5-6 schools that have such bad match lists, sure CMS is better. Doesn't mean its better than most though. Also, I'm not a pre-med. I go to a top 25 med school and at a recent internal medicine residency panal, the PD mentioned inherent biases when ranking M4s at my school for residency - he mentioned CMS as one of the schools he and others don't look at on equal footing as others.

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If you're at a top 25 medical school, why do you care about CMS? No body in this world cares about where you went to medical school, they seem to care more about where you trained. The school is putting out quality docs going into strong programs and that's all that matters. And as I said, if these people are getting their top choices, what does it matter?!

Do you feel threatened by those of us that attend this school? If not, who cares. As far as this PD...that's one out of how many programs, in how many specialties that have something negative to say. This person probably doesn't have their facts straight anyways, just like most people who were so worried about the probabtion incident from the year prior (it was a bunch of BS due to an old administration from years ago). Point is, for every negative comment I've heard, I've heard even more positives.

I want to be a doctor, and I've worked hard enough that I will get a residency in what I choose. I don't need a "big name" to be happy. If the program suits my needs and wants, that's all that matters to me. Too many people put too much importance on name alone. Work hard, it pays off.

And your friend with a 22 MCAT...the only thing that matters is how she faired in the match. If she worked hard and made up for any undergrad deficiencies, good for her. Then the program worked and found someone deserving that may have had a bad day.

benelswick said:

But just as a suggestion you shouldn't attach so much of your ego to that piece of paper it makes you overly sensitive.--Ben.

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You have absolutely no clue as to who I am.

We all have our opinions, but are you kidding me about UofC? Their match list smokes CMS!!!

gas - uofc (2)
derm
medicine - uofc (13), mayo (2), mgh (3), hopkins, columbia, cornell, ucla (2), yale, penn, duke
med-peds - mgh
neurology - hopkins
peds neuro - harvard
ent
rad onc (2)
rads - ucsf, harvard
surg - harvard
neuro surg
plastics (3)
urology - hopkins, columbia

these are just the highlights...and their class size is smaller than CMS. this match list is amazing

EctopicFetus said:

As far as having similar match lists I think you might be wrong. I looked at the UofC list and it wasnt that great IMO, it was similar to CMSs. Now I am def not saying the rep of CMS is equal to UofC (im not crazy). But the end game is the same and thats what matters.

Also we had maybe 50-60 match into top notch residencies. Obviously this is really hard to figure out because matching at Christ for EM is super competetive but most people dont know that. But ill give this a quick shot.

Hopkins and UCLA for Gas (2)
4 for Derm (all competetive right?)
8 "competetive" EM programs
I could go on but im way too lazy since im a 4th yr. Bottom line is this is the advice I give to all pre-meds. if you can go to a top 15 med school go, if not go to where the cheapest place is. There is little to no advantage between the rest.
I highly doubt any PD would have the stones to name ANY school. If the PD at your top 25 place said so good for him. I dont know tons about IM programs but I do know Cedars Sinai is competetive we got a few in there. We also sent one to Mayo.

Gosh I guess I am just happy that most PDs arent like IM guy at your school.

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ShaggyHair said:

We all have our opinions, but are you kidding me about UofC? Their match list smokes CMS!!!

gas - uofc (2)
derm
medicine - uofc (13), mayo (2), mgh (3), hopkins, columbia, cornell, ucla (2), yale, penn, duke
med-peds - mgh
neurology - hopkins
peds neuro - harvard
ent
rad onc (2)
rads - ucsf, harvard
surg - harvard
neuro surg
plastics (3)
urology - hopkins, columbia

these are just the highlights...and their class size is smaller than CMS. this match list is amazing

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Dude, show some respect. The people that have or will attend are great students I am sure. So if you don't like CMS, leave.

ShaggyHair said:

We all have our opinions, but are you kidding me about UofC? Their match list smokes CMS!!!

gas - uofc (2)
derm
medicine - uofc (13), mayo (2), mgh (3), hopkins, columbia, cornell, ucla (2), yale, penn, duke
med-peds - mgh
neurology - hopkins
peds neuro - harvard
ent
rad onc (2)
rads - ucsf, harvard
surg - harvard
neuro surg
plastics (3)
urology - hopkins, columbia

these are just the highlights...and their class size is smaller than CMS. this match list is amazing

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Most people at CMS only care about returning to California, which is highly competitive in it's own right. Most people who wanted to return, did. As I said, if you're matching where you want to end up (like many did), then that's a pretty damn good match list.

prazmatic said:

Agreed. They get crap because their match list is not as good as U of Cs? Im sure most med schools dont have that caliber match lists. In any case, its alot better than most people give them credit for.

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Yep. You ask me their match list is just fine and dandy.

ShaggyHair said:

Their match list smokes CMS!!!
gas - uofc (2)
derm
medicine - uofc (13), mayo (2), mgh (3), hopkins, columbia, cornell, ucla (2), yale, penn, duke
med-peds - mgh
neurology - hopkins
peds neuro - harvard
ent
rad onc (2)
rads - ucsf, harvard
surg - harvard
neuro surg
plastics (3)
urology - hopkins, columbia

these are just the highlights...and their class size is smaller than CMS. this match list is amazing

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Lets play the game..
Gas 9 - Including UCLA and Hopkins
Derm - 4
Medicine (not a competetive field BTW) - 40 including Yale, 2 Cedars-Sinai, 1 Cleveland Clinic, 1 Mayo Clinic, 1 NYU, 2 Harbor, 1 UCLA -OV, 2 to Scripps, 1 to Brown
Med/Peds 1 - MCW
NeuroSurg - 1
Neuro 3 (also not a competitive field)
Child Neuro - Mayo (1)
ENT - 3
Rad Onc - 3
Plastics - 2 including 1 to Stanford
Rads - 6
GSurg - 9

Also Emergency Medicine we had 19 including people getting into some of the top places in the US.

None into Urology

I think shaggy must have an inferiority complex.. IMO the above match list is not bad at all. I wont go on, ill just let everyone decide for themselves. All I can say is I only didnt get ONE interview I wanted. I was offered EM interviews at Harvard (both programs), Brown, Yale, Penn (my alma mater), NYU, Mayo, JHU, of course none of these are the big name EM programs.. but Denver, UCLA-HArbor, USC, Arizona , Indiana and a bunch of others did, those are the big dogs..

I never said RFU's match list was bad...it's average at best. I can't believe you are trying to compare U of C's match list to RFU. Very few people would think they are on the same tier. Sorry, there is no way these lists are even close to being similar. Btw, yea medicine and neurology aren't competitive, but at places like mgh, columbia, hopkins, etc they are uber competitive.

"sniff, sniff!" I smell troll! The funny thing about all this is, why yes, the places you list are competitive, but not everybody wants to go there even if they're qualified (and I assure you there are many in our class that are more than qualified for these places in medicine and other cometitives fields, but they are more interested in other venues). NOT EVERYONE CARES ABOUT A NAME! But it's obvious you do. Peace out!

ShaggyHair said:

I never said RFU's match list was bad...it's average at best. I can't believe you are trying to compare U of C's match list to RFU. Very few people would think they are on the same tier. Sorry, there is no way these lists are even close to being similar. Btw, yea medicine and neurology aren't competitive, but at places like mgh, columbia, hopkins, etc they are uber competitive.

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How about Stanford Plastics? Uber competetive?

EctopicFetus said:

As far as having similar match lists I think you might be wrong. I looked at the UofC list and it wasnt that great IMO, it was similar to CMSs. Now I am def not saying the rep of CMS is equal to UofC (im not crazy). But the end game is the same and thats what matters.

Also we had maybe 50-60 match into top notch residencies. Obviously this is really hard to figure out because matching at Christ for EM is super competetive but most people dont know that. But ill give this a quick shot.

Hopkins and UCLA for Gas (2)
4 for Derm (all competetive right?)
8 "competetive" EM programs
I could go on but im way too lazy since im a 4th yr. Bottom line is this is the advice I give to all pre-meds. if you can go to a top 15 med school go, if not go to where the cheapest place is. There is little to no advantage between the rest.
I highly doubt any PD would have the stones to name ANY school. If the PD at your top 25 place said so good for him. I dont know tons about IM programs but I do know Cedars Sinai is competetive we got a few in there. We also sent one to Mayo.

Gosh I guess I am just happy that most PDs arent like IM guy at your school.

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Shaggy the above is about 10 posts above this one.

Dr. Will said:

"sniff, sniff!" I smell troll! The funny thing about all this is, why yes, the places you list are competitive, but not everybody wants to go there even if they're qualified (and I assure you there are many in our class that are more than qualified for these places in medicine and other cometitives fields, but they are more interested in other venues). NOT EVERYONE CARES ABOUT A NAME! But it's obvious you do. Peace out!

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While I agree with Will most of the time I think this argument is weak. Much can be hashed out from looking at match lists regardless of where people come from. Obviously a lot of people from CMS want to either stay in Chicago or go to Cali (very competetive) but most people going into competetive fields know that they cant be too picky about their location. I personally know 2 people in my class who basically chose a less competetive field so they could go to Cali. Overall though our match list is what it is. And it is not too shabby.

I love RFU. I have many friends and family members who are thier or have graduated. Those who have graduated have done amazing. I for one am applying to RFU next year and definitely hope to see you all there next year