Hi there,
I'm just wondering psych training at Yale or Harvard, what does it take to get in? I'm an IMG but I'm american.
There is one program I'm really interested in. It's an advocacy training pathway which aligns with my future career goals. I'll be doing my USMLEs after graduating this June. What would be the cut off score? What do they look for in applicants?
Based on the way your post reads, you seem to be most interested in big name prestige. In which case you should really look into the Princeton psychiatry program, as no other psychiatry program beats it in prestige
Seriously though, while there is just one Yale psychiatry program (which is, indeed, fantastic and big on advocacy issues), there are five Harvard psychiatry programs that differ in their perceived prestige/competitiveness and somewhat different in focus. Unless you're extraordinary in some way (significant advocacy work you've already done, solid research with highly cited articles etc), Yale and 4/5 Harvard psychiatry programs are out of your reach. However, Harvard South Shore program has historically been open to IMGs/FMGs (though expect it to become more competitive in the coming years, as it's a solid program and there are more AMGs applying to psychiatry now).
More importantly, you really don't need to go into a big name program to get into advocacy; what you need is exposure to the patient population you want to advocate for, your personal effort/motivation and some support/flexibility from the program. It helps if the program already has an established track in advocacy - here I should mention Harvard-affiliated Cambridge Health Alliance and Boston University Medical Center, for example - but most of all you need the program to be supportive of your interests, whichever they are.
Finally, I'd like to caution you about harping on advocacy issues in your residency application. Based on your posts in your other thread, it seems like you haven't done much or any advocacy work so far. Remember that you'll be competing with people who established student-run clinics at their med schools, service organization, or have already been involved with advocacy organizations at the national level. The best way to express interest in something is to show evedince of your involvement in advocacy efforts. Your advocacy interest may not be taken seriously (especially by competitive programs, which, like I said, get applications from people with significant advocacy involvement) unless you show some proof of involvement.
