Competitive stats?

[chemgirl]

Does anyone know what average vs. competitive stats are for psychiatry?
I know that this would differ between the higher tier and regular residencies, but any input would be helpful. 🙂

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[MDgonnabe]

Does anyone know what average vs. competitive stats are for psychiatry?
I know that this would differ between the higher tier and regular residencies, but any input would be helpful. 🙂

like you said, it depends on the program. psych in general isn't as numbers driven as the other specialties, but some institutions no doubt have cutoffs. look at the various programs' web sites. sometimes they tell you. but even then the cut-offs seem flexible. i've gotten invites from places where, according to the web site, i shouldn't have since i've done abysmally on step 1. i've even gotten interviews at name brand institutions. but i also have a strong history of liking psychology and doing well in it, as well as research blahblahblah. while i'm no expert, i'd say just do really well in your behavioral science classes your first two years, much the same for your third year psych clerkship, and top it off with a great letter from your psych sub-i. i think those are by far the most important.

 

[willow212]

Stats are definitely not as important in psych as it may be in other specialties. Of course, they are part of the larger picture of the application, so it's more the consistency with the rest of your application that matters.

I've read a few applications on a review committee, and we generally look at everything a person has in their file, from which one can determine a certain proportion that will likely fit in well with the residency. Good letters and interesting personal statements really make an application stand out in my mind.

After you determine generally who you think would fit in with the program, the pool is narrowed down much further with the interview process. So I would say that interviews count much more in psych than they may in other fields. That's why there are so many more interviews (average 3-4, sometimes up to 5-6!) at psych places than, for example, medicine (where some of my friends had an average of 1-2).

Overall, though, it's much more of a "gut feel" than a scientific process, so my advice would be to apply to a range of places and not to rule any program out just because of stats.

 

[Poety]

I think as willow said, once you have the interview, you should shine - 🙂

I've definitely been flat in some, and they weren't all that impressed - but when I let my true personality show - it worked out for the best. Just be yourself and you'll be fine.

Willow: Would you please bump that thread you put the books in for review or send them in a PM to me? thanks! 🙂