--Board Scores: step 1 239/97, step 2 not taken yet
--AOA and class rank: no AOA at my school
--Reputation of medical school: top 25
--Research: 1 non-ophtho pub in good neuro journal, 1 pending ophtho pub (submitted by the time I applied), 2 ARVO abstracts, Neuroscience abstract, lots of research experience in undergrad and med school
--Honors in clerkships: no honors at our school
--# and where you did away rotations: none
--# of programs you applied to: 32
--Where invited for interviews: Wilmer, Baylor, UTSW, UPenn/Scheie, WashU, Vanderbilt, Stanford, UCSD, Casey/OHSU, U of Chicago, Cleveland Clinic, Yale, Colorado, Pittsburgh. Invited but did not attend: UNC, UFlorida, UT-San Antonio, UT-Houston
--Where matched: UC-San Diego/Shiley!!! (#3 choice)
--Anything that helped your app: extra degree (not phd), extra research year, big-wig letters, community activities related to ophtho, being well rounded, interesting hobbies
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Board Scores: Step 1: 238/99, Step 2: continuing to avoid!
--AOA and class rank: AOK (i.e. not AOA)
--Reputation of medical school: (top 10, top 25, etc) top 50?
--Research: (none, some ophtho with no publications, ophtho publications) 1 ARVO Poster Presentation, 1 recently submitted abstract to ARVO... No publications as of yet.
--Honors in clerkships: (especially surgery and medicine): Honors: Neurology, OB/GYN, Psychiatry; High Pass: Everything else!
--# and where you did away rotations: UC Irvine
--# of programs you applied to: 43
--Where invited for interviews: UT Houston, St. Louis U, Oklahoma, UI Chicago, UC Irvine, UT Memphis, LSU Shreveport, LSU Ochsner, Tulane, Texas Tech, UT Galveston
--Where matched: UT HOUSTON
--Anything that helped your app: (ie: a phone call from your advisor to another program, big-wig letter of recs, MD/PhD, other degree, SDN Forum, etc) START EARLY! Get to know the faculty at your school, do research (anything... just to show you're interested), work on getting good letters of recommendation (the Chairman, Program Director, big wig in Surgery), had a Masters degree (but for sure an MD/PhD will help tons)... Be friendly and enthusiastic on interviews!!! Sorry, my head is racing... I JUST MATCHED!!! WAH HOOO!!!
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Board Scores:249/99,
--AOA and class rank: Not
--Reputation of medical school: Prob not top 20
--Research:Some ophtho, three publications, one first author ophtho
--Honors in clerkships: Surg, psych, neuro
--# and where you did away rotations: 4 aways==>no interviews there!
--# of programs you applied to:30
--Where invited for interviews: Casey, Yale, CPMC, U of VA, U of AZ, St. Lukes/Roosevelt, U of Syracuse
--Where matched:
U of Arizona/UPHK!!
--Anything that helped your app:
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--Board Scores: Step 1: 255 Step 2: 276
--AOA and class rank: NOT AOA; Rank 24/230ish
--Reputation of medical school: Top 25
--Research: 2 small projects with no publications
--Honors in clerkships: Honors in everything(including medicine and surgery) except pediatrics
--# and where you did away rotations: 0
--# of programs you applied to: 50
--Where invited for interviews: UCLA, Baylor, UTSW, U Florida, U S. Florida, Colorado, UAB, U Arizona, UMDNJ U Louisville, Loma Linda, Wayne State, Mizzou, SLUEI, U Miz KC, Kansas, LSU Shreveport MC Wisconsin
--Where matched: UTSW
--Anything that helped your app: 1 big wig letter
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--Board Scores: Step 1, 247 (99) Step 2 not yet
--AOA yes; class rank unknown
--Reputation of medical school: top 25 I think
--Research: 1 ophtho pub not first author, 1 ARVO poster 1st author, 1 ARVO pub not first author
--Honors in clerkships: surgery, medicine, ob-gyn, peds
--# and where you did away rotations: 1, and matched there
--# of programs you applied to: 38
--Where invited for interviews: Emory, Yale, UPenn, Columbia, NYU, Cornell, Cleveland Clinic, Boston U, UMDNJ, SUNY Downstate, Northshore LIJ, NYMC, Temple
--Where matched: @ top choice
--Anything that helped your app: AWAY ROTATION, letter of rec from well known ophthal (non-full time academic but knew me very well), interesting path to medicine (ie. a prior life before med school)
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--Board Scores: Step I: 244/99 Step II: 249/99
--AOA and class rank: AOA as senior
--Reputation of medical school: Top 50
--Research: Ophtho research with 2 pending ophtho pubs (one first author, one second author), 2 ARVO presentations, other presentations.
--Honors in clerkships: Surgery, Medicine, Peds, Ophtho. Letters: OB/Gyn
--# and where you did away rotations: None
--# of programs you applied to: 36
--Where invited for interviews: 20. Interviewed at: Dean McGee (Oklahoma), Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio State, Mass Eye and Ear, Wash U, UCLA, UCSF, UC Davis, Mayo Clinic, Wills
--Where matched: Wills!!! (my #1)
--Anything that helped your app: Strong letters from people I had worked with extensively.
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--Board Scores: step 1: >250
--AOA and class rank: Junior AOA
--Reputation of medical school: Middle Tier
--Research: One published ophtho manuscript, several publications in different field,
--Honors in clerkships: Ophtho x2, Peds, Medicine, Surgery, Family med, Neuro, Psych,
--# and where you did away rotations: 1
--# of programs you applied to: 40
--Where invited for interviews: Interviewed at Wilmer, BPEI, Wills, Iowa, Baylor, Oregon, MEEI, Wisconsin, UIC, UTSW, Colorado, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Wash U. Did not receive interviews at: Emory, Duke, Michigan, UCSF, UCLA, USC, Stanford, Cal Pacific.
--Where matched: Top 5 program (where I did an away)
--Anything that helped your app: The single most helpful thing I did was to do an away rotation. The away rotation allowed me to get a nice LOR from a well-known ophthalmologist, which opened up some doors for me that otherwise might have been shut. If you do an away rotation, work hard but also be yourself.
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Board Scores:Step 1 259, step 2 268
--AOA and class rank: if known; not known
--Reputation of medical school: (top 10, top 25, etc); top 20?
--Research: (none, some ophtho with no publications, ophtho publications); couple ophtho pubs
--Honors in clerkships: (especially surgery and medicine); honors in all
--# and where you did away rotations: one away
--# of programs you applied to: about 50
--Where invited for interviews: >30; meei, wilmer, iowa, ucsf, jsei, stanford, davis, cpmc, uci, ucsd, loma linda, baylor, utsw, univ of wisc, mayo, univ of chicago, uic, columbia, nyeei, mt sinai, tufts, yale, wash u, univ of wash and some others
--Where matched: jsei
--Anything that helped your app: (ie: a phone call from your advisor to another program, big-wig letter of recs, MD/PhD, other degree, SDN Forum, etc) supportive faculty, board scores, lots of research in ophtho
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board scores: Step 1 = 253/99; Step 2 = not yet taken
AOA/class rank: AOA, class rank unk
rep of med school: top 10
research: ophtho with pending pubs
honors in clerkships: all except peds (HP)
aways: none
no of programs applied to: 30
no invited to: 24
no went on: 14 (penn, wills, wilmer, emory, bpei, mich, iowa, wash u, stanford, ucsf, ucla, usc, cpmc, ohsu)
matched: wilmer
things that helped app: research with a well known faculty member, going to a school with a good ophtho dept whose faculty are known and respected - letters from them helped, luck, being pleasant on interview days.
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--Board Scores: Step 1 227/95 Step 2 253/99
--AOA and class rank: Top 25-50%
--Reputation of medical school: Not sure, top 50?
--Research: Pending publication, multiple pending abstracts, few abstracts/presentations
--Honors in clerkships: OB-GYN, family med, psych, all ophtho rotations and other electives, rest high pass
--# and where you did away rotations: 3
--# of programs you applied to: 60 (too much – stick to a mix of appropriate programs – especially within your region – interviews seem very regional)
--Where invited for interviews: Offered 18, Attended 13. Yale, UC Davis, Albany, Bronx-leb, Cornell, Einstein, U Maryland, St. Vincent's, SUNY Stony Brook, SUNY Downstate, SUNY Upstate, Sinai/Krieger, Wilmer, Temple, Howard, LSU Oschner, Tulane, Nassau University
--Where matched: #2
--Anything that helped your app: Get involved as early as you can. LOR's from people who know you. I had my chairman write a letter thinking you need a "big-wig" letter but I feel that my other letters from less well known people were spoken about more on interviews since they were strong and personal. Speak to people…many people. Ophtho is a small world and the more Dr's/residents/students you speak with about the field and the application process the more prepared you will be.
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--Board Scores: Step I: 231/96, Step II: 261/99
--AOA and class rank: not AOA, top 20% of class
--Reputation of medical school: ???, state school
--Research: some ongoing ophtho research, no publications
--Honors in clerkships: school doesn't use honors
--# and where you did away rotations: 0
--# of programs you applied to: 27
--Where invited for interviews: Wake Forest, USouth Carolina, Florida-Gainesville, UAB, Mississippi, Arkansas, LSU-Shreveport, LSU-New Orleans, UT-Southwestern, UT-San Antonio, UT-Houston
--Where matched: #1 choice
--Anything that helped your app: Having work experience in the field prior to med school and I was told on interviews that my LOR were good. I am proof that you don't have to have tons of research and do 5 away rotations to match successfully.
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--Board Scores: Step 1: 264 (99), Step 2: unknown
--AOA and class rank: Senior AOA, exact rank unknown, top 1/3
--Reputation of medical school: Middle tier private school
--Research: ARVO poster (not first author), some other case reports/posters in progress, nothing published
--Honors in clerkships: Medicine, Surgery, Peds, Psych, OB - only high pass in Ophtho at home institution
--# and where you did away rotations: None
--# of programs you applied to: 32
--Where invited for interviews: 8 (UCLA, Colorado, Wash U, Rush, Loyola, BU, U Washington, Vanderbilt)
--Where matched: Colorado
--Anything that helped your app: nothing in particular. overall well-rounded person that is able to talk normally in interviews. No big-wig letters, no aways, no special extra degrees or research.
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--Board Scores: Step 1: 263, Step 2: 264
--AOA and class rank: Junior AOA
--Reputation of medical school: top 25
--Research: extensive but not ophtho
--Honors in clerkships: all except Neuro and OB/Gyn
--# and where you did away rotations: none
--# of programs you applied to: 19
--Where invited for interviews: Bascom, UTSW, UT Houston, Baylor, UCLA, USC, Stanford, UCSF, MEEI, U Michigan, Wills, Casey, Wash U
--Not invited to: Wilmer, Emory, OU, Pittsburgh, Duke, U Penn
--Where matched: #3
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SUNY Downstate- q4 call. No call room, residents use to sleep in pt chairs, but now they sleep on a gurnee. Each resident signs a contract with a different hospital, thus your fellow resident will have the same schedule but will have different pay/benefits. One pgy2 gets paid 47,000 and another pgy2 will get paid 60,000!!
