Chance of matching

[Nelk6]

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I am a male MS4 at a bottom 50 med school, have four (hopefully five) research publications in association with a top 3 radiation oncology academic institution, excellent LORs from this same institution, honors in int. med and a couple misc. rotations, mid 230s on step1 (awaiting step 2 results), but recently found out that I received satisfactory pass in a private practice rad onc rotation several months ago. Will this one blemish (plain old pass) affect my chance of matching?

I am worried that this will hurt my chances, but I am doing two away rotations starting next month at academic institutions that I hope (along with my other attributes) will overshadow this grade. Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[Gfunk6]

You're kidding right?

You'll be just fine, don't spend one more second worrying about it.

 

[deleted4401]

Jeez. I don't even know what to say to a person that has 4-5 publications that is worrying about matching.

I do know people that matched at places like UPenn 8 years ago without a publication. Now, we hear about people worrying about matching with the amount of publications a junior attending may (or may not) have.

I had no publications and got 7 interviews out of 70 applications and went unmatched (with similar scores and school). I attained one publication and the next year got 18 interviews out of 55 applications and matched (and got two other offers that year). So ... you are a published author ... extrapolate. My interpretation: you'll match, if you apply to many and rank all programs you interview at.

-S

 

[Nelk6]

Thanks for dealing with my insecurity at the moment guys, didn't know if a mediocre grade in the field I love would hold me back. thanks for the honest feedback.

 

[achybrachy]

I'm glad this forum has started to pick up steam again re:application. I was almost starting to relax and stop stressing about matching.

 

[blueMD]

i think you'll do just fine and your stats on paper are likely above average, good luck!

 

[mudshadow]

Hey Nelk6, what are your publications on? Are they all RadOnc related?

 

[Nelk6]

Yeah, they're all rad onc related- a couple of papers published multiple times, plus some abstracts and a poster. I know that research is key for rad onc and I've tried to apply myself in that area. I just want to make sure the rest of my application is up to par.