Anyone else feel this way about their rank list?

[boyington!]

My top 3 are all pretty competitive academic IM programs (auditioned at all 3, honors at all 3). Got an LoR from my number 1 program (which is probably why I got the IV) and had several attendings and residents vouch for me at my number 2 (which I know for a fact is why I got the IV).

The rest of my rank list is made up of mostly lower-mid tier academic programs and solid community programs. Just seems like a really dramatic drop off in quality of programs for me and I'm worried that my top programs were flukes or courtesy IVs. Anyone else feel this way?

If I'm being honest, I just needed someone to please ease my anxiety and give me stories of people matching to programs they thought were out of their league!!

235/245. Good LoRs. Graduate degree and 3+ pubs. Pretty compelling/memorable personal story, all interviews went well.

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[FutureDoctor5000]

My top 4 are all pretty competitive academic IM programs (auditioned at all 3, honors at all 3). Got an LoR from my number 1 program (which is probably why I got the IV) and had several attendings and residents vouch for me at my number 2 (which I know for a fact is why I got the IV).

The rest of my rank list is made up of mostly lower-mid tier academic programs and solid community programs. Just seems like a really dramatic drop off in quality of programs for me and I'm worried that my top programs were flukes or courtesy IVs. Anyone else feel this way?

If I'm being honest, I just needed someone to please ease my anxiety and give me stories of people matching to programs they thought were out of their league!!

235/245. Good LoRs. Graduate degree and 3+ pubs. Pretty compelling/memorable personal story, all interviews went well.

What are these places? Your top 3? I know that in IM.. away rotations don't mean much at all... it all comes down to your stats/overall app... but your stats/app are good/decent.. mid tier/upper mid tier IM would be achievable for you even without away rotations... if those top 3 places are like top 20-30 programs then the away won't help.. they will rank people just on the basis of their apps... so you doing an away won't give you leg up over a random USMD/DO with 250's on step for example, no matter how much the residents vouch for you, this is what I've heard for in IM. It just depends on what caliber your top programs are... just my 2 cents...

For example, I didn't do any away IM rotations at mid tier/upper mid tier places and I am fortunate enough to get a few of those caliber programs even without aways with stats simmilar to yours..... I was told an away won't help if you aren't already competitive enough on paper to match there to begin with(I.e get an interview without an away).... you might get a courtesy interview but that's all... and if your already competitive enough on paper to match there then the away could potentially hurt if you don't perform up to par. But if you want a specific program and your good enough on paper for them then an away could potentially help you move up on their rank list...

 

[boyington!]

I would characterize the programs I'm referring to as barely/borderline top 30..? Not really sure what constitutes these ranks honestly lol. According to residency explorer, I fall in the middle 50% of their average matched applicants across the board and these programs are all relatively DO friendly.

But I take your point, I have heard that auditions don't do much to help your cause in IM (though I'm kind of wishing they did). I guess I'm wondering if anyone else feels like their rank lists are...weirdly heterogenous?

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

I would characterize the programs I'm referring to as barely/borderline top 30..? Not really sure what constitutes these ranks honestly lol. According to residency explorer, I fall in the middle 50% of their average matched applicants across the board and these programs are all relatively DO friendly.

But I take your point, I have heard that auditions don't do much to help your cause in IM (though I'm kind of wishing they did). I guess I'm wondering if anyone else feels like their rank lists are...weirdly heterogenous?

In which case the away will definitely help... your competitive on paper to begin with... I felt like mine was simmilar to yours.. a couple(2-3) upper mid tier borderline top 30-40 programs, followed by lower mid tier programs and decent community programs... I don't think your aways got you any artificial interviews... those sound like places you might have gotten IV's to begin with...

 

[xjustcuious]

My top 3 are all pretty competitive academic IM programs (auditioned at all 3, honors at all 3). Got an LoR from my number 1 program (which is probably why I got the IV) and had several attendings and residents vouch for me at my number 2 (which I know for a fact is why I got the IV).

The rest of my rank list is made up of mostly lower-mid tier academic programs and solid community programs. Just seems like a really dramatic drop off in quality of programs for me and I'm worried that my top programs were flukes or courtesy IVs. Anyone else feel this way?

If I'm being honest, I just needed someone to please ease my anxiety and give me stories of people matching to programs they thought were out of their league!!

235/245. Good LoRs. Graduate degree and 3+ pubs. Pretty compelling/memorable personal story, all interviews went well.

I have the same concern about having courtesy interviews. I am couples matching and got majority of my interviews after my SO and I reached out to our respective programs. My step 1 score is low 230s and I think thats my biggest concern especially at the upper-mid tier academic programs. I’ve talked to a lot of people about the places I’ve interviewed at and they have been so happy for me so definitely would be devestating if I dont match or match to the bottom of my list.

 

[boyington!]

I have the same concern about having courtesy interviews. I am couples matching and got majority of my interviews after my SO and I reached out to our respective programs. My step 1 score is low 230s and I think thats my biggest concern especially at the upper-mid tier academic programs. I’ve talked to a lot of people about the places I’ve interviewed at and they have been so happy for me so definitely would be devestating if I dont match or match to the bottom of my list.

Not couples matching but I think I can definitely relate to some of the anxiety you're having. I'm so proud of the IVs I got at my top programs and friends/family are really excited for me, which would make it that much more disappointing to fall lower on my rank list.

And I suck at taking my own advice lol, but you never know why a program sent out an IV. Could've been anything from your picture to one of your hobbies, we should try to think positive!

Best of luck to you and your SO, hope yall end up somewhere you can be excited about!

 

[deleted1129181]

Have you already found out whether you got a residency spot somewhere? When does that happen?

PS: Boggles my mind that auditions don't give you the upper hand in getting into a particular program. Totally crazy.

 

[boyington!]

Have you already found out whether you got a residency spot somewhere? When does that happen?

PS: Boggles my mind that auditions don't give you the upper hand in getting into a particular program. Totally crazy.

Monday we find out if we got a spot, and Friday we find out where lol. And auditions do matter for certain specialties, mainly surgical. But yeah, for IM, generally no unless you get an LOR from program leadership or something

 

[DO2015CA]

What’s done is done. Don’t worry. Even if you end up in your last spot then you will become a good physician if you continue to apply yourself. Which you will

 

[hallowmann]

What’s done is done. Don’t worry. Even if you end up in your last spot then you will become a good physician if you continue to apply yourself. Which you will

All this right here.

Whether your ROL looks like that or not doesn't matter, and it's hard to predict what's going to happen, but I'd say it's very unlikely that you will SOAP with those stats if you ranked an average amount of programs. Don't worry about it now, just relax and be happy on Friday, because you will continue to succeed if you work hard.

I will say that with your ROL like that I suspect doing those 3 auditions were very much in your best interest, whether you match at one of the 3 or not. Getting LORs from a good program likely helped, and honestly if you do well on auditions and people like you, it can only help, because above all PDs and residents prefer a known product than an unknown one, especially in the setting of virtual interviews. The trouble people have with auditions is that it's hard to tell if they will help (i.e. if they'll do well) ahead of time.

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

It's the last part... no one knows if a program truly considers audtions in the overall picture, sure they help if you perform well but if your stats on paper aren't up to par then it truly doesn't help from what I have been told.. if they are then it would help, how much though no one knows.. this is also very specialty dependent too, in IM and FM it prbly doesn't matter, but surgical subs and EM? Away rotations are a huge deal as are SLOE's..

 

[boyington!]

Appreciate all the responses and yes, what's done is done. I really feel like I did all I could to land a decent spot so I can feel proud even if I end up lower on my ROL than I'd like.

Looking forward to putting this anxiety-inducing process behind me and hopefully gaining some insight to pass on to future M4s lol