Chances at California Residency Programs

[Distraught]

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Recently got my Step 1 score of 230, which seems to be around the average for gas. I would like to do my residency in California (born and raised) where I would be close to family. With California programs being more competitive, I'm wondering how much my Step 1 score will hold me back. I'm currently at a top 50 MD school on the East Coast. Fourth quartile class rank. Three basic science pubs from undergrad and a review paper from M2 but basically no other extracurriculars. What should I do from here on out to maximize my chances of going back to California for residency?

 

[BLADEMDA]

Recently got my Step 1 score of 230, which seems to be around the average for gas. I would like to do my residency in California (born and raised) where I would be close to family. With California programs being more competitive, I'm wondering how much my Step 1 score will hold me back. I'm currently at a top 50 MD school on the East Coast. Fourth quartile class rank. Three basic science pubs from undergrad and a review paper from M2 but basically no other extracurriculars. What should I do from here on out to maximize my chances of going back to California for residency?

A 260+ on Step 2 would be a good place to start.

 

[coffeebythelake]

Recently got my Step 1 score of 230, which seems to be around the average for gas. I would like to do my residency in California (born and raised) where I would be close to family. With California programs being more competitive, I'm wondering how much my Step 1 score will hold me back. I'm currently at a top 50 MD school on the East Coast. Fourth quartile class rank. Three basic science pubs from undergrad and a review paper from M2 but basically no other extracurriculars. What should I do from here on out to maximize my chances of going back to California for residency?

There are 143 MD schools in the USA. Being in a "top 50" MD school doesn't mean much.

 

[AdmiralChz]

Your app needs help for California. It’s going to be even harder since regionalism will probably play a role. Get some research and strongly consider an away at a program which is realistic for you.

 

[deleted87051]

It’s going to be even harder since regionalism will probably play a role.

That’s an undying SDN myth. It’s simply not true. At my old program the applicants’ med schools were given a simple numerical rank 1, 2, or 3. Most schools were 2. The top 30ish schools were 1. Where the applicants grew up was not even a consideration. There were people from every part of the country. I had been to California exactly once for 7 days before my residency interviews.

 

[AdmiralChz]

That’s an undying SDN myth. It’s simply not true. At my old program the applicants’ med schools were given a simple numerical rank 1, 2, or 3. Most schools were 2. The top 30ish schools were 1. Where the applicants grew up was not even a consideration. There were people from every part of the country. I had been to California exactly once for 7 days before my residency interviews.

I’m sure each program does it differently - once you GET the interview geography means less for sure.

I was on our selection committee my last 2 years. For interviews overall we treated everyone the same... but if we had two equal applicants we would usually err towards the closer student (assuming similar med school caliber). Plus the last month or so we would always have cancellations - if it’s short notice (2-3 days), we would reach out to waitlisted people in like a 3 state radius. It’s not easy or cheap to travel a long distance on the fly. We also had far more (competitive) applicants from nearby states than distant states.

I encourage everyone who has a compelling reason (from there/want to settle in the area, not I like the weather there) for an area applying from far away to put it in their PS or let the PC know, it lets us know you are serious and not just shot-gunning apps.

 

[Psai]

That’s an undying SDN myth. It’s simply not true. At my old program the applicants’ med schools were given a simple numerical rank 1, 2, or 3. Most schools were 2. The top 30ish schools were 1. Where the applicants grew up was not even a consideration. There were people from every part of the country. I had been to California exactly once for 7 days before my residency interviews.

Really? I got almost all the interviews I wanted in my region including places like Penn and Brigham but got no California love.

 

[MetaPhysicianBlog]

Really? I got almost all the interviews I wanted in my region including places like Penn and Brigham but got no California love.

Californiiiiiiaaaaaa loooove....

 

[deleted87051]

Really? I got almost all the interviews I wanted in my region including places like Penn and Brigham but got no California love.

Yes really. Not sure why you would doubt my first hand experience. Many of my co residents and I had interview offers from every single program that we applied to. At the time we had a very warm, charismatic program director. The program was first choice for most of us. Off the top of my head we were from Texas, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and California. My only connection to California before applying to residency was a Disney vacation.

 

[Psai]

Yes really. Not sure why you would doubt my first hand experience. Many of my co residents and I had interview offers from every single program that we applied to. At the time we had a very warm, charismatic program director. The program was first choice for most of us. Off the top of my head we were from Texas, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and California. My only connection to California before applying to residency was a Disney vacation.

You matching a California program doesn't mean there's no regional bias. It means that your program grabbed a bunch of great people from around the country.

 

[deleted87051]

You matching a California program doesn't mean there's no regional bias. It means that your program grabbed a bunch of great people from around the country.

They grab people from all over the country every year. The schools are numerically rated. Columbia and UCLA are both 1. UCLA is not 1+ because it is in the region.

 

[deleted87051]

Really? I got almost all the interviews I wanted in my region including places like Penn and Brigham but got no California love.

A perusal of FREIDA may explain that. Seems like most of the top East Coast programs interview 200-250 applicants/year while the Ca programs interview around 150. On the East Coast Duke and Mt Sinai send out relatively fewer interviews.

Examples

UCLA interviews 140 for 25 positions
Stanford 155 for 24 positions
Brigham 200 for 32 positions
Penn 200 for 24 positions
BID 240 for 18 positions
Duke 150 for 15 positions
Mt Sinai (NYC) 160 for 24 positions
Cornell 250 for 20 positions
NYU 250 for 20 positions

 

[Psai]

A perusal of FREIDA may explain that. Seems like most of the top East Coast programs interview 200-250 applicants/year while the Ca programs interview around 150. On the East Coast Duke and Mt Sinai send out relatively fewer interviews.

Examples

UCLA interviews 140 for 25 positions
Stanford 155 for 24 positions
Brigham 200 for 32 positions
Penn 200 for 24 positions
BID 240 for 18 positions
Duke 150 for 15 positions
Mt Sinai (NYC) 160 for 24 positions
Cornell 250 for 20 positions
NYU 250 for 20 positions

It looks like brigham has 27 spots, cornell has 18 spots and nyu has 22 spots from counting on their residency pages so that makes me wonder how accurate those numbers are.

 

[AdmiralChz]

Rule of thumb is almost all programs interview between 5-10 people per spot.

 

[deleted87051]

It looks like brigham has 27 spots, cornell has 18 spots and nyu has 22 spots from counting on their residency pages so that makes me wonder how accurate those numbers are.

Those were numbers self reported to FREIDA by the the programs themselves. You can look on FREIDA yourself.

 

[Psai]

Those were numbers self reported to FREIDA by the the programs themselves. You can look on FREIDA yourself.

You really like to argue

 

[deleted87051]

You really like to argue

Thank you. I can’t argue by myself😉

I do enjoy data mining and looking for answers.