Can we start a thread for people who got under 240 and still applied for derm

[IzzyMD09]

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I am curious, since no PD's will admit to cutoff's I would like to see how many people, average overally, or partially over average partially average applicants fared...

I mean not everyone who applied had a 240 plus, AOA, 10 publications, and a PhD

can we keep this real please....

Nothing specific, just score how many places applied too and how many interviews given

 

[bananamed]

If you scored lower than 240, I hope you are AOA, or a PhD, or have significant research background. If not all 3.

My PD has stated derm is one of the fields that highly values Step 1 scores because in many ways, it can foretell how an applicant will fare on the challenging dermatology board exam.

For those younger students, ace Step 1. It's important.

 

[scumbagderm]

personally I wouldn't have applied if I didn't have over 240. Its just too risky. Perhaps with a back-up as well it would be okay.

 

[dermie09]

Under 240 def isn't the end all be-all, I know plenty of folks with sub 240 who matched..granted they got in the 230s..which is still plenty sufficient IMO..of course they came from a brand name school so I'm sure that helped.

 

[bananamed]

Under 240 def isn't the end all be-all, I know plenty of folks with sub 240 who matched..granted they got in the 230s..which is still plenty sufficient IMO..of course they came from a brand name school so I'm sure that helped.

not the end all be all but it's a real bad start

 

[DermPeepRCr8z]

Step 1 is NOT the end of the world. I got less than a 240 and got more than the "magic 10" interviews.

Programs are looking for well-rounded people.

I know at least five people who got greater than 250 and only got 2-4 interviews this year, so I wouldn't discourage people to not apply. Who knows how the cards will fall.

Regardless of your score or other accolades, there's definitely a luck card involved in getting interviews.

 

[oracle07]

http://www.nrmp.org/data/matchoutcomes2006.pdf

Page 22 has some good info on USMLE scores of matched and unmatched applicants. This data is a few years old but I can't seem to find similar graphs in the newer versions. I can't imagine it's changed much.

 

[IzzyMD09]

look I know everyone holds the NRMP as something that is more valuable then say oh I dont know the ten commandments from moses himself,

but look at what it says

58 people with above a 240 did NOT match

55 people with a 239 or less DID match

68 people with less than a 239 did NOT match

181 people with 240+ DID MATCH

so yes while the majority of people matched with a 240+

there is still 55 people with a 239 or less that matched out of 236

thats almost 25% percent which is pretty significant

I am just interested in seeing how many interviews were given to people with 220-229, 230-239 in the past cycle

😀

Lets give some hope out there

 

[oracle07]

I think you calculated wrong. (that is, the bars on the graph are <=240, not >=240)

127 US Seniors who matched had a score of 240 or below.
43 of "Other" applicants who matched had a score of 240 or below.

170/~300 spots means more than half of the successfully matched applicants were at 240 or below.

So, the numbers are actually more optimistic for lower scores 🙂

 

[IzzyMD09]

Right ...then
so where are all these people who now make up greater than 50% of those who matched with less than a 240

and how many interviews did they get?

 

[Dermguy]

Someone correct me if you think I'm wrong, but my feeling is people attracted to boards like this tend to be people who scored well, have really good grades, like to obsess over matching, etc. A lot of people I know will have nothing to do with this board or any other similar board because they feel a little intimidated. In other words, my feeling is boards like this select for people who tend to be the mega-overachievers and not by the more realistic slice of derm applicants. Therefore, I think everything said at a place like this needs to be viewed through those lenses.

 

[IzzyMD09]

I am an average Derm app with scores that fall in the 230-240 range I am doing everything in my power to male up for that and to demonstrate I am academically oriented. I may seem like an over achiever but I am just working as hard as I can to match into a field I am passionate about rather then one I have to settle for. I am not obssesed with matching I am worried about not matching ...like most of us!

I started this thread because I know that a lot I people with a 239 or less got a decent amount of interviews and many past appliants matched, I would just like to see how they did because the forum of people who got interviews are like 5 people who of 250 plus.

 

[DermPeepRCr8z]

I got in the 230s and got 15 interviews.
Not PhD, not big name school, yes AOA, not a research person, NOT crazy/obsessive about this like so many people on here - I just started looking at this sdn stuff. Pretty normal person.

 

[bananamed]

I got in the 230s and got 15 interviews.
Not PhD, not big name school, yes AOA, not a research person, NOT crazy/obsessive about this like so many people on here - I just started looking at this sdn stuff. Pretty normal person.

That sounds great but PDs don't invite people based on "normalcy". That's not an objective measure in your application profile.

Yes, it's not the end of the world to have <240.

But I'd make sure you have something else spectacular when applying. AOA status is impressive. Hey, I wasn't AOA 🙁

 

[scumbagderm]

I got in the 230s and got 15 interviews.
Not PhD, not big name school, yes AOA, not a research person, NOT crazy/obsessive about this like so many people on here - I just started looking at this sdn stuff. Pretty normal person.

I call BS on this one unless something else remarkable is in the application (famous family member, former child-star, one-leg). I guess anything is possible.

 

[OntheRoof55]

i agree with scum...its almost unbelievable

 

[DermPeepRCr8z]

You can believe what you want.
I was surprised I got so many too - like I said in a post above, there's a big luck factor involved. I think I had a good Personal Stmt that maybe helped get my application out of the huge pile - many people commented on it - but who the heck really knows. I'm not complaining!

Also, many PD's said that once you make the cutoff, everyone is on the same playing field. Thus, if the cutoff is 230, whether you got a 230 or 250 doesn't matter anymore. (Some schools do it this way...)

 

[oracle07]

I second DermPeepRCr8z.

I had similarly "mediocre" stats if I were to judge myself by what people claim they have on boards like this. I was so scared when I applied. I thought I'd be lucky to get 1-2 interviews in addition to the home program and place I rotated. I ended up attending 15 interviews and was pleasantly surprised with the number of interviews I got. Granted they weren't all at top big name programs... so maybe I seemed like a good candidate who was "attainable?" Maybe it helps to have a minor blemish or two on your app.... makes you seem more human?

I was told my letters were excellent and that my personal statement was very good as well. "Dr. X had such nice things to say about you, we just had to meet you!"

Maybe we both got lucky... but I agree you don't have to be a "walk on water" applicant to get a ton of interviews.

Sometimes your application has to fall in the right hands. At at least 2 of my interviews I remember, one of the interviewers at each place told me they picked my application to invite for interview from their pile they had to evaluate.

 

[gimmederm]

Didn't Long Dong say people in his class the year he applied matched with 230s-240s?

 

[Dermguy]

Conversely, I would say I know several people with STELLAR stats (ie, 260+, AOA, top 15 med schools, many publications) who got less than 10 interviews. I think some people appear to have very strong ties to a home program, which hurts their chances elsewhere because people ask on the interview trail, "So, are you really going to leave your home program? It seems like you have a lot of ties there."

 

[opencomedo]

yeah, i got tons of questions like that (not that I had wicked numbers like you quoted).... maybe that is another excuse I can use in my head as to why I never hit the "magic 10"😕

 

[Long Dong]

Didn't Long Dong say people in his class the year he applied matched with 230s-240s?

Yes 11 people in my class matched a few of them in the 230's, AOA got more then 2-3 times the number of interviews I got. So board score is not the end all be all. I've said before many times boards are what makes one intially attractive just like good looks, but beyond that you're going to need more then just good looks to keep a girl (program) interested.

 

[PoisonIvy50]

Once you make the cutoff, the playing field is level. The year I applied, the one applicant from my school with 260+ scores got 20+ interviews, including ALL the top programs. But the person didn't interview well (read: arrogant), and matched at the very bottom of their match list. On the other hand, my scores were low-mediocre for derm, but I had other strengths, got 10+ interviews and matched at my #1. Have faith!

 

[discontinuebed]

Once you make the cutoff, the playing field is level. The year I applied, the one applicant from my school with 260+ scores got 20+ interviews, including ALL the top programs. But the person didn't interview well (read: arrogant), and matched at the very bottom of their match list. On the other hand, my scores were low-mediocre for derm, but I had other strengths, got 10+ interviews and matched at my #1. Have faith!

A bad combo, then, would be low scores and mediocre attitude.

 

[goodies]

.

 

[Derm1210]

It's all about the whole package....I know several people that didn't match 4th year and then went on to match in their intern year without significant improvements to their CVs only because they formed strong bonds with the derm programs at the institutions they attended for intern year.

Which means that if you don't match, you have to give it your best shot intern year as well (even though it's tough to do derm projects/schmooze with the department after pulling Q3-Q4 call), it can and has worked out for others.

 

[Derm1210]

Oh, forgot to mention that they were all non-AOA and definitely <240 on step 1, with some even lower. It can and does happen. It's all about the connection you make with the department.