Application help

[mazda]

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Hi guys, I'm new here. I'm an American med student in Canada, since I'm the only one in my school to apply to the States, I'm kinda out of the loop in terms of everything almost! So, I apologize for any questions that you may think are obvious. I've been using this site for awhile now due to the aforementioned reasons, so thanks for all the advice so far! By the way, I'm applying for internal medicine.

Regarding ERAS, do you include ALL volunteer/work/research experience...even stuff before med school?

If a program mentions the minimum LOR they require, and don't mention a maximum...is it ok to give more? or is there an unsaid rule to that?

Do you guys know if their is cut-off for USMLE scores for more competitive programs like UCLA and Stanford (i'm only applying to California categoricals)

Is there a maximum page limit on the Personal statement? I go over by a paragraph (so 1 and 1/4 pages).

Are you at a disadvantage if you come from a completely pass/fail school? (no AOA, rankings, etc)...

And, for you Canadians or those in-the-know, does it help coming from Canada?

Thanks,
Mazda

 

[ckent]

1. I would just include all of your pertinent stuff before med school. Besides including all teaching/research/medical experience, I would be sure to include any full time jobs that you held, or any part time jobs that took up a lot of time, or anything else that you think helps show what type of charector you were or what strong leadership skills you have. I would just recc trying to paint a picture of who you are in ERAS, and then being sure to include all of your experience that proves that in your CV.

2. Generally, I think that you are best served by only providing 3-4 letters regardless of how many letters is their maximum. Of course, some people think that you should use different letters for different programs as having a different letters will ensure that one bad letter won't get sent out to every program you applied to.

3. Most people recc 1 page max for the PS, but I think that if you go a little bit over, it's probably fine.

4. YOu are at a disadvantage if you go to a complete pass/fail school with no rank, no AOA, because those students with high grades and AOA status will be considered superior applicants then you even if it's not true. On the flip side, if you just barely passed throughout all 4 years, then it's good that it's all p/f with no rankings.

5. I've heard from attendings and other members of this board that there is a usmle cutoff for some of the competetive IM programs. I've heard that programs like Harvard are less likely to use the cutoff then a school like hopkins too, it all depends on the type of applicant the school wants. I've heard cutoffs for top places are anywhere from 230-240.

 

[mazda]

Thanks, that was awesome...
mazda

 

[Docteur J]

About the cut-off... Is it true that you shouldn't send your ERAS early if your step 1 scores are below the mean (which is around 215 or so) and your application has nothing to show for? Doesn't it depend on your school also (i.e top tier)?

 

[ckent]

Originally posted by Docteur J
About the cut-off... Is it true that you shouldn't send your ERAS early if your step 1 scores are below the mean (which is around 215 or so) and your application has nothing to show for? Doesn't it depend on your school also (i.e top tier)?

Don't know the answer to your question, as I'm certain the answer differs from school to school. I'd recc applying everywhere you want to go regardless of how far out of reach you think that it is as the application pool changes every year, and the number of applicants applying for IM has been decreasing every year suggesting decreasing levels of competetiveness for top programs. Who knows, maybe this 80 hr work week thing will swing more people into surgery too. It's only $15 to apply to programs after 20, which is a small price to pay for peace of mind (wondering whether you could have gotten in after your friends get in) in my opinion. I wouldn't go crazy and apply to every program out there, but I don't see anything wrong with everybody applying to mass general and just seeing what happens. It's only money.

 

[madcadaver]

Mazda,

You should definitely do a Pulmonary consult rotation at UC Davis, they are very kind to Canadians.

MadC