Interviews and USMLE I scores

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tgt

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Can you please post what your USMLE step 1 and 2 scores and how many interviews you received. I am applying next year and would like to get an idea of score cut offs and how many interviews are possible based on scores.

Thank you.

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yea i will be applying to. I know some like to keep this info private, but its not like we're asking for names or anything. For those willing to reply, thank you very much. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.


p.s. can you also telll us how man programs you applied to?
 
Board scores are not even close to the most imprtant stat to program directors. About 1/3 of programs do have cut offs (from the paper on EM selection criteria on the SAEM webpage), but scores in EM rotations, your LORS and your 3rd year grades are more important. It also varies between programs. Having said that I am sure you still want to know peoples scores.

Here they are:
Step 1: 233
Step 2: 249
Interviews: 21/21

-P
 
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Here's my contribution:

Applied to 26
Haven't heard from 2 (both in Akron, Ohio):laugh:
Invited to interview at 23
Rejected from 1 (Maine):rolleyes: but got interviews with great programs (U Pittsburgh, UVA, UNC, etc)

Step 1: 234
Step 2: Waiting on results
EM grade: Honors
 
I agree with what the others have said...in addition to the three things Pelivar mentioned, I think that overall "fit"/your personality plays a large role, moreso in EM than in other specialties. That being said, here ya go:

Step 1: 220
Step 2: 214
EM grades: High pass (home), High honors (away)

Applied: 23
Interviews: 18 (plan to go to 12 or so)
Rejections: 2
Unknown: 3

Hope that helps...:)
SkiDog
 
thanks very much guys

anyone else?
 
Lets see. I will represent the lower score demographic today.

Step I: 192
Step II: 226

Since I had only a 192 on step I, and no step II scores yet:
Applied to 55
Interviews: 9
Rejected: 25
On hold at several programs, including UVA
No definite word yet from 21 EM

Of course, my step II scores just came in about 3 wks ago, and most interviews were handed out by then. My suggestion: if you dont like your step I scores, take step II by the end of Sept. at the latest.

Despite my step I score, I felt like I probably applied to the right # of programs and got the right # of interviews.

BS
 
could more people with lower end scores let me kow how many interviews are possible...thanks
 
What I?ve learned from some of my interviews is that some of the more popular programs will receive somewhere around 800 applications. Most programs will screen for AOA and invite those applicants for interviews. Then they will screen based on board scores (don?t know what the min is but some rumors of >200). I did hear from one program that they screen based on schools first (so if you go to one of the top med schools you might have a better chance).

Anyway, I think the best strategy is to apply to EM if you want to go into EM?if your step 1 isn?t the best then take step II early and hope for the best. If you do get low board scores then you might have to e-mail, call, mail programs asking them to look at your application. Last year there was a girl at my school who didn?t do so well on her boards and wasn?t getting many interviews. She e-mailed programs and asked our program director to call some programs asking them to look at her application?she ended up going to her top choice program.

For those who are interested:
Step I: 237
Step II: Will take soon.
Applied to 24 Offered 23 interviews
Going on 10-12 interviews (will be canceling some)
 
Im gonna be applying soon. I was wondering has anyone gotten in with "below average" scores. like in the 195-205 range? What if you apply to as many as 60 programs? or is that overkill?
 
Step I: 242
Step II: just took

Applied 29
Interviews 15
Rejections 9 (+ 1 waitlist)
Haven't heard from 4
 
Step I-195
Step II-227(took on Sept 4th, got my first interview offer early October 2weeks after my score came back).

Applied to 42, got 35 interview offers, accepted 15

In retropect I applied to way to many programs, but I submitted my ERAS before my Step II score came back. However even though its a lot of money, I would always apply to too many then the other way around. You can always decline offers, but you will be stuck if you over estimate you competitiveness. Also boards are just one part of the application. Its hard to know how competitive you are by just looking at test scores.I would recommend taking you whole file to the EM PD at your own school and ask them for advice about how competitive they think you are and how many programs you should apply to-this was very helpful for me since I had know idea what they were looking for.
 
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Originally posted by tgt
could more people with lower end scores let me kow how many interviews are possible...thanks

Read the article in this link:
http://www.saem.org/download/54_60.pdf

and check out what everyone else has said. If you want to do EM, apply and you will get your interviews. If you are hovering around the 200 board score range, be sure to have excellent letters of recommendation and a well-written, revised X 5 personal statement. Apply to 30+ programs if you have doubts, and do your research on where to apply. I also suggest 2 away rotations if you feel your app is weak. Do your first in August at a well-known, strong program and do well there. Include your evaluation from this rotation in your app to every other program you apply to (EM rotation evaluation is looked at the most at most programs). Do your second rotation where you want to go in November or December (that way you can interview there while you are there and they can get a good sense of whether they can work with you).

Don't get too caught up with numbers. In a field such as EM, your work ethic and team attitude go MUCH farther than any number on a piece of paper. ;)
 
Step 1 204
Step 2 (took in July) 214
Em grade HP (home) H (away)-- they always love you more away from home!
3rd yr grades - few HP no H
Applied 49 (of 60 that my PD said I would have a chance at)
Invites ~18
I will attend 14 which is prob too many.

Times posted this--2
 
Thanks again guys.

anyone else wanna post their stats?
 
It seems like only yesterday that I was wanting to know the answer to the same question. I remember getting back my step I score (191)
 
sorry...punched the wrong key and posted a premature message...a common complaint from my girlfriend. Anyway--191 on step I, have more interviews than I can accept. There is hope. I have yet to take step II. My grade point average is 3.0. My recommendation is to make yourself stand out. I have lots of activity and experience outside of the classroom. No one wants to interview a one demensional dork. Remember how to have a beer and talk to people...because those people will be your patients!
 
MORE MORE!!

This is really great info. anyone else out there willing to share?
 
STEP 1 223
STEP 2 244

Applied-33
Interviews-16 (declined 2)
Rejections-10 (note I am from the East Coast and applied to Cali. programs, not a great reception)

Still waiting to hear from quite a few programs.

Best of luck guys!

B
 
Is EM less competitive than it used to be?? I thought it used to be the most sought after residency and needed ultra-high boards...of course rads, derm, and the like seem to have taken the place of it. Even I could possibly apply...
 
Alright kids, here's mine:

Step I: 229
Step II: 243
EM grade: E, H (at a very strong program)

Applied to 22 programs, got 2 rejections (both at West Coast programs), interviewing at 14 or 15 at the most.

I also highly recommend getting a very good LOR from somebody who's well-known in the field... I got lucky in picking my advisor, I didn't know at the time that he was one of the "pioneers" in EM, and at almost every interview I've been at my interviewers have commented on his LOR and have told me how much they really respected him.
 
Step 1 - 200
Step 2 - 216
EM Grades - H in both away rotations
Great letters, but no big names

Applied to 38
Interviews - 12
Declined - 8
Rejects - 12
Waitlist - 2

waiting to hear from - 4

Boards were very underwhelming. Over-applied even with lousy scores. But hey, what's a couple hundred more bucks at this point.
 
Step I: 235
Step II: 216
EM Grades: H (home), HP (away)
Fantastic Letters

Applied to 19
Interviews at 18, going on 12
Edit - Got Carolinas, cancelled, so I got interviews at all the places I applied.

I really think that your board scores will get them to look at your application but the letters are the key to getting an interview. Several of my friends have better scores than me but didn't get interviews and I suspect it was because they didn't have good letters. I only got asked about my step II twice, It's low because I had to take it right after my MICU month.

Casey
 
what rotations are the most important for getting letters?
 
Originally posted by GiJoe
what rotations are the most important for getting letters?

Without meaning to sound sarcastic - which ever ones say the best about you. Most schools want two SLORs from EM faculty and three letters total. The thrid letter should be from whoever can honestly and articulately write nice things about you. Obviously, if they are so well known in their field as to be known to EM folks, great. But I got several positive comments on my letter from an IM doc, relatively unknown, who apparently wrote several pages of positive stories / thoughts about me.

Just my $0.02 worth (actual cash value $0.005)

- H
 
Does having a PhD mean much, or is it just window dressing? Some fields look well on in, while others don't much care. Any thoughts on where it falls in EM?

P

(You can tell when the kids are napping and I'm not in clinic by the number of consecutive posts!)
 
Step 1 - 210
Step 2 - pending

Preclinical Grades - all Pass with one Honors
Clinical Grades - Honors in IM, Surg, Psych and Anes./Critical Care (M4); High Pass in FP, Peds, and two away EM rotations; Pass in OB/GYN.

My letters are supposedly "strong", with one SLOR from a well known PD.

I hold an MPH degree (during which I was on full academic scholarship). I have done some research including an EMS paper which won "best clinical paper" at an international conference. I spent 8 years before medical school as a firefighter/ EMT-P, and one year as a consultant to FEMA/US Fire Admin. I continued on the fire dept. until Feb. of M2. I was also the TA for the MPH program at my Med School and I lectured at the Med School on public health issues.

Applied: 31 (all Midwest)
Rejections: 2
No word from (asumed rejections): 4
Offers to interview: 25
Interviews: 10 (7 completed)

Nervousness level: 11 (on 10 scale)

- H
 
A PhD for EM is probably not worth the time spent getting the PhD. You can certainly match at a competitive program without one. That being said, it always adds to the "total package." (i.e. if I had two applicants who were exactly the same and one had a PhD and one didn't........)
 
Step 1 252
Step 2 244

Applied to 21
Interviews 16
Rejections 3
Others still pending.
 
I have a dilemma I am looking for advice on. I am a DO student and took both the USMLE and COMLEX. I scored well on COMLEX (597/87th percentile) and below average on USMLE (211/86). Am applying to allopathic residencies. Should I submit both board scores even though USMLE lower?

Any advice would be helpful! Thank you.
 
I'll add mine from last year.

Step 1 - 242
Step 2 - 249
Class Rank - 23/86 (all A's in 3rd/4th years)
EM Grades - A/Honors at home, A/Honors at East Carolina
Letters of Rec - included one from Stapczynski (one of the editors of Tintinalli, name's on the front of the book)

Applied - 35
Received - 26
Rejected From (if I can do this from memory) - Christiana, Wisconsin, Maine, Virginia, Carolinas, UNC, Duke (yes, this was the year they scrambled everybody, so if their applicant pool was too small and they rejected people with 240+ boards outright, my own personal sympathy level was very small), Emory, and...somebody else, who was it? It eludes me now.

Ranked Orlando and Palmetto Richland as one and two respectively. They weren't interested. So I'm at #3, East Carolina, where I did my away rotation and showed what I was capable (or incapable) of doing. My list continued Vanderbilt, West Virginia, Jacksonville, Wake Forest, Ohio State, Louisville, and Kentucky.

Am I happy? I'm doing okay. Not spectacularly, but okay. If I had it to do over again, would I have done things differently? Maybe. (Especially had I known about the new program in Tampa while filling out my ERAS.) I theorize that being from a public school with no reputation (Kentucky) hurt me more than any of the positives on my application helped me in getting either of my top two choices.

Regardless, what happened happened and couldn't have happened any other way, as Morpheus would tell you. I should add that in no way do I mean to cast my current program in a negative light, as it has many virtues, and I certainly am not in any way dissatisfied with my result.
 
Originally posted by joaquin13
I have a dilemma I am looking for advice on. I am a DO student and took both the USMLE and COMLEX. I scored well on COMLEX (597/87th percentile) and below average on USMLE (211/86). Am applying to allopathic residencies. Should I submit both board scores even though USMLE lower?

Any advice would be helpful! Thank you.

Iffy. Depends on where you want to go. You will match somewhere with just the COMLEX score, but perhaps not at the places you are interested in. If you are flexible and plan on applying to 25+ programs, then IMHO I would just use the COMLEX. If you are nit picky about where you want, I would probably submit the USMLE and hope for the best (i.e. beg for an interview).

Q, DO
 
I like the Morpheus reference, JPGreer.

I think I did this before but I"ll do it again.

DO Student NSUCOM
31/188 in class
89% GPA
COMLEX I: 93%
COMLEX II: 99% (not in time for ERAS)

Applied: 41-42
Interview Offers: ~20
Interviewed at: ~10

ROL:

1 USF
2 Univ of MD
3 Univ of FL
4 CWRU/MetroHealth - Mikey's crib
5 Akron General
6 Allegheny General
7 York Hospital
8 St. Vincent's

did not accept interviews at: Indiana, OSU, MCW, Albany, Buffalo, Maimoinides, uh, MCG, Resurrection, UCONN, Univ of ILL Peoria
did not rank: Einstein in Philly, Geisinger
never heard from: UVA, Hopkins

Hope this info helps somebody.

Q, DO
 
My stats, which are unbelievable in several ways:

STEP I: 206
STEP II: 216
Grades: 2.4 GPA, ranked in BOTTOM 15% (not top) of med school class.

Applied to 120 programs:
73 rejections
47 invitations to interview

23 actual interviews done
22 programs ranked

Matched at my #1.

No one will believe my story, but remember, I am the HORNET.
 
A story more unbelievable than mine.


A friend of mine had these numbers:

Step I: 187
Step II: Failed first time
Step II: Failed second time
Step II: 200 on third try

GPA: 2.2, including 4 Failing grades:
F in Anatomy
F in Pathology
F in Internal Medicine Rotation (first try)
F in Internal Medicine Rotation (second try)
C in Internal Medicine Rotation (third try)

Class Rank: 161 out of 162

Kicked out of medical school for failing too many classes, applied for reinstatement a year later and - the first time this has happened in school history - was REINSTATED!

Applied to 42 EM programs
Interviewed at 4 programs
Matched at ... NONE

One of these programs assured him OVER and OVER that he would be ranked at or near the top of their list. He had done a rotation there and they told him that he was smarter and better than any of their interns. They called him a few days before ROLs were due to recruit him to their program.

He didn't match - but can you believe he even got as far as he did?

Now he's scrambled into a non-EM spot in the middle of nowhere.

Sorry, kid.
 
Wow, hornet, that story is even more unbelievable!

all jackass sarcasm aside, your story is still more unbelievable, in that it is a successful one. The other one I find borderline tragic.
 
Yep, Quinnie, I applied to 120 programs. I was paranoid beyond belief. My advisor said that with my lousy numbers and EM getting more competitive, I'd best not even apply. I spurned his advice, went crazy with applying (it's so easy: you just click click click and pretty soon you've got 120 programs selected), went overboard on the interviews (23 is a sh*tload), and took no prisoners.

Basically, I had one strong letter from the residency director of a mediocre EM program that carried me a long way, and a PS that one interviewer described as "the best I've ever read, and I've been doing this for 15 years".

It doesn't hurt that I look really good in a navy suit with Kenneth Cole shoes.

But I'm bragging now. Last year I was scared out of my wits.

No matter what medical students tell me now about not being able to match in EM, I say, "Keep hope alive."


HORNET

p.s. kungfufighting, you are right: my friend's story is borderline tragic. it's all the more painful because he seemed so close to realizing his dream. i kinda wish now that he'd never even got those 4 interviews. they gave him false hope. i was the one who told him to go for it based on my experience last year. oops.

(I know: it's really kungfufishing.)
 
Originally posted by Hornet871
A story more unbelievable than mine.

Class Rank: 161 out of 162


what amazes me is that there was still someone worse than him in your class!!!!!!

I would hate to become his patient if he is that inept.
 
its cool, people mistake kungfufishing for kung fu fighting all the time, but they are radically different. The fishing is way, way harder. Every time I try to explain it to a real live kung fu master, they just kick my ass again, close minded SOB's.
 
Well, jashanley, someone has to finish last in his class, right? That doesn't necessarily mean he'll be a bad doc.

In fact, he was regarded as a good doc clinically. The attendings at his last EM audition rotation loved him. You would never guess from observing him in the ED that he'd failed Step II twice or that he ranked at the bottom of the class. He's a likable guy, too, which probably helped him get reinstated to med school after being kicked out - something which is totally unheard of.

Yeah, he failed Internal Medicine twice, but that seemed to be more a personal vendetta between one of the attendings and him. Sure, he musta done badly, but no one can FAIL a rotation, in my book, unless they never show up or just kill patients right and left. He did neither.

Anyway, this is a lot of discussion for a guy you'll never meet!


Kungfufishing: LOL!
 
Originally posted by Hornet871
Yep, Quinnie, I applied to 120 programs. I was paranoid beyond belief. My advisor said that with my lousy numbers and EM getting more competitive, I'd best not even apply. I spurned his advice, went crazy with applying (it's so easy: you just click click click and pretty soon you've got 120 programs selected), went overboard on the interviews (23 is a sh*tload), and took no prisoners.

Basically, I had one strong letter from the residency director of a mediocre EM program that carried me a long way, and a PS that one interviewer described as "the best I've ever read, and I've been doing this for 15 years".

It doesn't hurt that I look really good in a navy suit with Kenneth Cole shoes.

But I'm bragging now. Last year I was scared out of my wits.

No matter what medical students tell me now about not being able to match in EM, I say, "Keep hope alive."


HORNET

p.s. kungfufighting, you are right: my friend's story is borderline tragic. it's all the more painful because he seemed so close to realizing his dream. i kinda wish now that he'd never even got those 4 interviews. they gave him false hope. i was the one who told him to go for it based on my experience last year. oops.

(I know: it's really kungfufishing.)

Hornet,

I dont mean to be nosy but would you mind telling us where u interviewed and were accepted? what was your number one choice?

thanks
 
Originally posted by Hornet871
Well, jashanley, someone has to finish last in his class, right? That doesn't necessarily mean he'll be a bad doc.

Sure, he musta done badly, but no one can FAIL a rotation, in my book, unless they never show up or just kill patients right and left. He did neither.

I'm glad to hear he did well in the ED.
However, you can and should fail if you don't get the concepts behind a rotation or demonstrate an understanding of the material. A monkey could show up daily and on time. But to show proper care of a patient is important. After working with 3rd years directly for 2 years, most don't know how to focus on the important matters initially and I don't ever hold that against them but I do expect them to show atleast a glimmer of understanding by the end of the rotation. AS much as some people hate internal medicine it forms the foundation of patient care in nearly all the other fields.
 
jashanley, I agree with what you said. Some people certainly do deserve to fail; showing up every day is not enough by itself.

RealRuby - first of all, you have a beautiful name - um, second, I'll try to recall all the places I interviewed. Here goes:

Detroit Receiving
Sinai-Grace (Detroit)
Saginaw (Michigan)
St. Vinnie's (Toledo, OH)
Yale
Mayo Clinic
Hennepin County
St. Luke's-Roosevelt (NYC)
Tampa
U-Texas (Houston)
Resurrection (Chicago)
Lincoln (Bronx, NY)
Truman (Kansas City)
North Shore (Manhasset, NY)
St. Luke's (Bethlehem, West Bank - I mean, PA; sorry just saw that Mel Gibson film)
Thomas Jefferson (Philly)
MCP/Hahneman/Your Mama (Philly)
Boston U
LSU Baton Rouge
Maricopa (Arizona)
Stanford
Hopkins



















I think that's it. That's all I can remember, anyway.
 
As Hornet mentioned, it's so easy to click on a bunch of programs and hit "apply" Please, please,please, don't sell yourself short because you'll have to pay an extra seven dollars (or two hundred) Apply to all of the places you'd like to go, if you think your numbers or recs or grades aren't where you need them, apply broadly and go ahead and spend a little more money...when you match in EM you won't be sad your app cost a little more, but you might always wonder what would've happened if you'd just applied to a few more if you don't
 
To the person who applied to 120 prorgrams!!.... how much did it all cost? how much do they charge per program? you want to add? I dont have to have a few grand in the bank just from my app right?
 
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