MD Does applying to residency feel better or worse than applying to med school?

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Hello, current MD applicant here. My app cycle experience has been quite stressful psychologically, and seeing my M4 friends losing their minds over match right now had me questioning if the match process is any better or worse than this. How has your experience been?

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For most people whose only worry is about matching at their #1 or 2 vs. #7 or #8, I think residency applications are about 50 times less stressful than medical school applications. Unlike medical school which has a 40% acceptance rate, the vast majority of U.S. graduates match. For those whose apps are less competitive and are overreaching in a competitive specialty with no backup plan or couples matching with less competitive apps, there can definitely be stress.

The prospect of going unmatched and having $300K worth of a loans with a useless degree is way more high stakes than having maybe only college loans and having to change your career plans and/or reapply the next year (as in medical school). This is why going to a Caribbean school is discouraged. It displaces the stress of medical school applications to residency applications, but the stakes are much higher due to the loan burden.
 
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Hello, current MD applicant here. My app cycle experience has been quite stressful psychologically, and seeing my M4 friends losing their minds over match right now had me questioning if the match process is any better or worse than this. How has your experience been?
Definitely worse stress wise for me.
 
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Applying for residency was way worse. I didnt have 350k on the line applying to med school. If i didnt get into med school, i could always reapply or find something else. Not the same situation here
 
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Med school and residency applications were pretty much the same level of stress for me. Only difference was I didn't prepare for med school interviews because I had no idea what I was doing at that time with my life and had no motivation to do anything besides play videogames.

Fellowship interviews were a lot less stressful and were actually enjoyable.
 
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Literally about 1000 times more stressed applying to residency. The stakes are SO much higher....especially if you’re applying for something competitive. Apart from the stakes, it’s super hard to plan for your future not knowing where you’re spending the next 3-7 years of your life....
 
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Here's why residency can be considered worse: while the formation of your application is generally simpler (no one cares about extracurriculars that aren't research), the stakes for each thing you have to do are very high and there's basically no do-overs. You can't re-take a mediocre Step score, you can't retake any classes or rotations, and if you fail to match it's a pretty tough blow and re-applying is way more stressful than having to re-apply for med school. In many instances you look like damaged goods and many avenues are closed.

Also, consider how the match makes the final decision for you. You don't to pick between acceptances. It's a done deal when you see that program's name. So that kinda stresses people out (for many it's not a question of "will I match" but "what if I fall really low on my list").
 
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Depends on your specialty, but definitely a lot more stressful overall. Although the majority of the applicants do match somewhere, not matching is detrimental.
 
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Both. Exciting but ultra high stakes. Feels like the prize at the end of medical school, but also its way more stressful waiting for interviews, interviewing, making your rank list, and then waiting for The Match. You have this 1 date you're waiting for all year, and while you submitted your preferences, you don't really know where you'll end up, and you're committed to that program. It's scary.
 
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Less stressful cause I actually have options this time (and ones I like) when I applied to medical school I didn't have that luxury!
 
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Residency is Better. You actually know what you are interested in and what you are talking about.

Lol at Medical School apps and the #Pediatricneurooncocardiologist meme
 
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A million times better
 
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Apps for residency are infinitely better. I’ve yet to write a secondary that no one will ever read for a program that will never interview me.
 
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More stressful in the sense that you don’t know if you are “accepted” anywhere until the very end. With med school you can get an acceptance as early as September, and that takes a huge load of stress off the rest of the season knowing you’re at least able to go somewhere. The only indication of how “safe” you are to match for residency is the number of interviews you get, and even that isn’t perfect.

Less stressful in the sense that the apps take a lot less work. Hardly any secondaries required and there’s generally less attention paid to all the EC’s you had to do for med school.
 
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Here's why residency can be considered worse: while the formation of your application is generally simpler (no one cares about extracurriculars that aren't research), the stakes for each thing you have to do are very high and there's basically no do-overs. You can't re-take a mediocre Step score, you can't retake any classes or rotations, and if you fail to match it's a pretty tough blow and re-applying is way more stressful than having to re-apply for med school. In many instances you look like damaged goods and many avenues are closed.

Also, consider how the match makes the final decision for you. You don't to pick between acceptances. It's a done deal when you see that program's name. So that kinda stresses people out (for many it's not a question of "will I match" but "what if I fall really low on my list").
The statement "no one cares about extracurriculars that aren't research" is very very specialty dependent, if not just flat out not true. I applied EM and my EC's came up ad nauseum every single interview. Not once did any of my pubs, posters, presentations come up. Literally nobody cared about my research.
 
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They are both stressful in different ways. As others mentioned you're applying to a specialty that you're actually interested in. I remember in some of my med school interviews blatantly lying saying I want to primary care because that fits their mission. On residency interviews faculty is excited about YOU entering their specialty. It's a pretty awesome feeling. I do have random thoughts throughout the day when I think " what if i don't match" and that's a ****ty feeling lol
 
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The statement "no one cares about extracurriculars that aren't research" is very very specialty dependent, if not just flat out not true. I applied EM and my EC's came up ad nauseum every single interview. Not once did any of my pubs, posters, presentations come up. Literally nobody cared about my research.
What kind of EC’s other than research did you have?
 
What kind of EC’s other than research did you have?
Student gov, student leadership positions in EM specialty organizations, attended a national EM conference. They were significant ECs all "Leadership" roles pretty much. None of my volunteering really came up so i definitely agree not all ECs are equal. But literally the netflix shows I listed on my Hobbies/interests came up more than research did lol.
 
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You have this 1 date you're waiting for all four years
FTFY
Apps for residency are infinitely better. I’ve yet to write a secondary that no one will ever read for a program that will never interview me.

Yes. And the few secondaries I did fill out were essentially, "We don't want to give interviews to people who won't actually come so why did you apply here?" and I felt like if you could literally write two sentences about it they were good with it lol
 
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Is say different, but overall less.

Med school: below average applicant. lots of secondaries, stressful interviews and MMI BS, and really had my heart set on a specific place. Very stressful, especially considering I had a failed cycle with NO interviews.

Residency: non competitive specialty with well rounded, competitive app (ie proof of fit, above average scores, diverse activities that came up like committees and a research project, etc). Personal statement writing still sucks, but other activity descriptions were real minimalistic. Less geographic restriction. High yield of interviews to apps. Now waiting is... stressful.
 
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Applying to residency was exponentially less stressful. As others have said above matching is generally more of a sure thing v. being accepted to med school. I wasn’t geographically limited, the app process was less of a pain in the ass, and the interview process is actually kind of enjoyable compared to med school interviews (especially pre-COVID). Had I applied to a more competitive specialty or had an attitude of matching into program X or specialty X or bust it probably would’ve been more stressful. It all depends on your perspective and priorities.
 
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Less stressful with regards to application building. I.e. if you do the bare minimums and pass step 1/2 with decent scores, you'll still match as a USMD. Stress increases as your goals increase (i.e. competitive specialty, top programs etc.). For medical school applications you really had to work your ass off and compete to be in the upper percentiles of academics, and to build an application, with a much lower chance of acceptance.


In terms of stakes it's just as "stressful" as it determines your career path just like medical school did.
 
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The statement "no one cares about extracurriculars that aren't research" is very very specialty dependent, if not just flat out not true. I applied EM and my EC's came up ad nauseum every single interview. Not once did any of my pubs, posters, presentations come up. Literally nobody cared about my research.

Your extracurriculars are ice breakers for interviews certainly, but "research" is a box that must be checked at a lot of competitive programs and especially in competitive fields. Yeah I didn't talk about my research either, because that's boring to discuss an interview. But the PDs do care. At the tippy top tier of programs, they gotta make cuts somewhere when there is an ocean of 260+ Steps and AOA candidates, and research is often a tiebreaker.

Also, there is a vast spectrum of what "extracurriculars" means and I should clarify. For med school, all that dumb shadowing, "clinical experience", clubs/leadership positions, and volunteering that people do to pad their resume...that crap ain't worth a thing for residency applications. But if you have legitimately interesting hobbies or are a normal human being, that is an asset in interviews and when the committees discuss your application. That should be a no-brainer. At the end of the day, though, you having an interest in brewing your own beer may make for a chill and engaging interview but it won't get you ranked to match if your Step 1 score is in the toilet.
 
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It was worse for me, but that was only because I was in a combined BS/MD program where applying was essentially a formality. I had fulfilled the requirements of the program (mainly a certain overall/science GPA and a certain MCAT score), so I was guaranteed a spot. I applied early decision to the one school and that was that.

For residency, I had a very competitive application for psychiatry but I also applied to very competitive places. I wasn’t worried about matching, but I definitely had strong favorites and would have been disappointed if I had matched low on my list. This was much more stressful.

If I had done the traditional med school application route, though, I think I probably would have been more stressed by applying to med school. For me, there just was not as much on the line applying to residency. The chances I would just not match at all were realistically very low. Med school is just so competitive that you could honestly never get the opportunity to be a doctor for even relatively arbitrary reasons.
 
Your extracurriculars are ice breakers for interviews certainly, but "research" is a box that must be checked at a lot of competitive programs and especially in competitive fields. Yeah I didn't talk about my research either, because that's boring to discuss an interview. But the PDs do care. At the tippy top tier of programs, they gotta make cuts somewhere when there is an ocean of 260+ Steps and AOA candidates, and research is often a tiebreaker.

Also, there is a vast spectrum of what "extracurriculars" means and I should clarify. For med school, all that dumb shadowing, "clinical experience", clubs/leadership positions, and volunteering that people do to pad their resume...that crap ain't worth a thing for residency applications. But if you have legitimately interesting hobbies or are a normal human being, that is an asset in interviews and when the committees discuss your application. That should be a no-brainer. At the end of the day, though, you having an interest in brewing your own beer may make for a chill and engaging interview but it won't get you ranked to match if your Step 1 score is in the toilet.
Yeah it’s a box that should be checked but if you’re not going into a research dominated competitive specialty (ie most med students) then research shouldn’t consume all your time to where you can’t do other ECs you’re passionate about (unless research is your passion).

I’d slightly disagree with your last statement about having fun and interesting hobbies (brewing beer in your example). Look at the PD survey for factors that determine rank. For MOST specialties the top factors for determining rank are personality/interview based aspects. Not step score. So you hitting it off with the PD about brewing beer is actually more likely to move your ranking than having a 260 and being dreadful to talk too. If you have an intervirw then more often than not your step score isn’t gunna be the thing that keeps you from matching. It’s gunna be fit and vibes the program has about you
 
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The statement "no one cares about extracurriculars that aren't research" is very very specialty dependent, if not just flat out not true. I applied EM and my EC's came up ad nauseum every single interview. Not once did any of my pubs, posters, presentations come up. Literally nobody cared about my research.
They don’t care about your research bc it’s EM and those pit monkeys do what they want no matter what the papers say
 
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They don’t care about your research bc it’s EM and those pit monkeys do what they want no matter what the papers say
That or the fact that 99% of the research medical students are doing is boring and uninteresting to 99% of other people. I’d rather a program want me based on my personality that view me as a pawn to generate grants.
 
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That or the fact that 99% of the research medical students are doing is boring and uninteresting to 99% of other people. I’d rather a program want me based on my personality that view me as a pawn to generate grants.
Correct. This is the crucial point that most research supporters miss. It's very very hard to get good research out and most med student research is a load of crap
 
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That or the fact that 99% of the research medical students are doing is boring and uninteresting to 99% of other people. I’d rather a program want me based on my personality that view me as a pawn to generate grants.
Relax, it was a joke. Ha ha. You’re totally right tho, and I’m not looking to churn out papers either
 
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Yeah it’s a box that should be checked but if you’re not going into a research dominated competitive specialty (ie most med students) then research shouldn’t consume all your time to where you can’t do other ECs you’re passionate about (unless research is your passion).

I’d slightly disagree with your last statement about having fun and interesting hobbies (brewing beer in your example). Look at the PD survey for factors that determine rank. For MOST specialties the top factors for determining rank are personality/interview based aspects. Not step score. So you hitting it off with the PD about brewing beer is actually more likely to move your ranking than having a 260 and being dreadful to talk too. If you have an intervirw then more often than not your step score isn’t gunna be the thing that keeps you from matching. It’s gunna be fit and vibes the program has about you

I completely agree about spending your free time doing the things you like. My complete and total point is that if you're going to sacrifice some free time to do something purely for the sake of improving your application outside of normal school facilitated things (boards, grades, rotations, letters) -- then research is the only one that's probably worth it. The extracurriculars that premeds pretend to enjoy but are really only doing to enhance their applications (clubs/pretend leadership, pointless volunteering, humanitarian tourism, etc) is not worth anyone's time.

If you have a passion like beer brewing, athletics, music production, competitive pogostick racing, extreme wilderness survival challenges, etc and that really gets you going -- keep doing your passions but also list them so if you find a competitive pogostick racing program director out there, you can have a fun convo.

If research gets between you and your beer making and you're not shooting for top tier programs in your specialty or a competitive specialty overall, don't do the research and do your beer instead.
 
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I can say residency is far more pleasant even with the recency bias as well as a overall labor/timeline standpoint. The secondaries really create a lot of unneeded work. The season is also spread out longer so you can expect interviews from September to February. Once you're in medical school applying for residency it's usually a matter of "which?" whereas for medical school it's a matter of "if?". That said, for those applying to competitive fields where there's fewer chances to reapply than medical school, I'm sure their experience differs and it is a matter of "if" for them as well, but I'm speaking to the general trends.
 
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I can say residency is far more pleasant even with the recency bias as well as a overall labor/timeline standpoint. The secondaries really create a lot of unneeded work. The season is also spread out longer so you can expect interviews from September to February. Once you're in medical school applying for residency it's usually a matter of "which?" whereas for medical school it's a matter of "if?". That said, for those applying to competitive fields where there's fewer chances to reapply than medical school, I'm sure their experience differs and it is a matter of "if" for them as well, but I'm speaking to the general trends.
Yes but if you have *an* acceptance in the med school cycle during the interview season, you know you have a guaranteed spot and where as you continued. No such thing for residency (except with out-of-match programs which are the minority and sketchy).
 
Yes but if you have *an* acceptance in the med school cycle during the interview season, you know you have a guaranteed spot and where as you continued. No such thing for residency (except with out-of-match programs which are the minority and sketchy).

True, true. As to the bolded...agreed. I think the sketchiest bit is that is that we have a primary care physician shortage in this country with AMG applicants going unmatched when applying to PC fields (obviously with red flags, etc.) but rather than creating more spots for them, programs in areas of NYC, etc. are targeting highly qualified IMGs who also deserve better spots. Add in what happens before match day...it's sketchy all-around.
 
I will agree with those that have said it's much better if you're going for a normal field, and can be quite stressful if you're going for a competitive one. I found out on Monday I did not match into ophtho, so that's been hell. But 80% or so did match. For most people, 4th year is a good. For the rest of us, it's much worse than any med school denial.
 
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I will agree with those that have said it's much better if you're going for a normal field, and can be quite stressful if you're going for a competitive one. I found out on Monday I did not match into ophtho, so that's been hell. But 80% or so did match. For most people, 4th year is a good. For the rest of us, it's much worse than any med school denial.
I’m so sorry you didn’t match! That sounds very stressful after all you’ve been through. :( what options are there for people who don’t match?
 
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I’m so sorry you didn’t match! That sounds very stressful after all you’ve been through. :( what options are there for people who don’t match?
Research fellowship, non-fellowship research year, or pgy1 position and reapply, and/or try to SOAP that year into the same specialty or another one. If you're not overreaching in your initial application, a research year of one form or another can be very helpful for trying your hand in the next year, but it very much depends on he field and your particular situation. Sometimes it really screws you over, even if it was somewhat bad luck the first time around. I mean, if you spend enough years trying, you can probably eventually get in if you're not just a super long shot applicant, but at some point you may be better off cutting your losses. These are the sorts of decisions I'm working through right now, unfortunately.
 
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Zero stress for residency if you are a US student who did not fail a class and did not have to repeat a step while gunning for FM, IM, Path, Peds, Neurology, Peds neurology, or preventive medicine. At least, that how I felt.

On the other hand, 7-8 years ago I was praying God every day to even get an interview invite for med school with 3.5 c/sGPA and 27 MCAT
 
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Residency for sure...

I lucked out and got an acceptance early in the cycle. Residency was long and drawn out. Everyone way over applies to programs (sometimes going on 20 interviews). Most people end up having to apply very broadly. And well, there’s the match...
 
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Residency. I was kinda clueless a bit with med school. I thought it was like college apps version 2.0.

Hind sight is 20/20 and I didn’t match right away for residency, so that could play a big role, but I didn’t remember checking my email obsessively back when I was applying to med school (nothing like walking out of an intern year interview and checking my email in the parking lot as I’m leaving and getting a second rejection (for some reason) from the advanced program I applied to at the place. smh)
 
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Applied three times to medical school, took the MCAT three times too. Matriculated to the school that sent me my very first rejection in the first cycle. Compared to that, residency applications are fantastic. It is nice to feel wanted, and interviewing with other applicants who are down to earth is great. It helps that my field mostly self selects those types of personalities. I think thats the difference between med school and residency; a lot less neuroticism. I do not miss the "3.9 and 34 MCAT, do I have to caribbean???!"
 
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Zero stress for residency if you are a US student who did not fail a class and did not have to repeat a step while gunning for FM, IM, Path, Peds, Neurology, Peds neurology, or preventive medicine. At least, that how I felt.

On the other hand, 7-8 years ago I was praying God every day to even get an interview invite for med school with 3.5 c/sGPA and 27 MCAT
I had similar experience. 3.5 GPA, 514 MCAT, 5 interviews, 5 waitlists, got off the waitlist at my current med school ~2 months before M1 started.

Picked myself up by the bootstraps, learned the game of residency matching and worked my butt off. Currently sitting on a comfortable number of IVs in Radiology, eagerly waiting for match day.
 
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Applying for residency was way worse. I didnt have 350k on the line applying to med school. If i didnt get into med school, i could always reapply or find something else. Not the same situation here
why can't you just reapply for residency like you can with med school?
 
Applied three times to medical school, took the MCAT three times too. Matriculated to the school that sent me my very first rejection in the first cycle. Compared to that, residency applications are fantastic. It is nice to feel wanted, and interviewing with other applicants who are down to earth is great. It helps that my field mostly self selects those types of personalities. I think thats the difference between med school and residency; a lot less neuroticism. I do not miss the "3.9 and 34 MCAT, do I have to caribbean???!"
what is your field?
 
why can't you just reapply for residency like you can with med school?
Because it is so much harder to match the further you are from graduation.
 
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Because it is so much harder to match the further you are from graduation.
This. The stigma is insane. I have to take a research year and reapply to residency (competitive fields, man...), and it's ****ing terrifying. If I end up not being able to get into my first choice, what am I supposed to do? How do you convince a second field you're interested enough to be able to successfully dual apply? They're clearly your second choice at that point. Even if you eventually give up on your first field and do a full year preparing for your backup, at that point you're thay weird applicant a few years from graduating without anything to show for it.

It's not impossible. There are options. But the chances of any of them working out are so much lower than getting in the first time around.
 
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I'm beginning to realize as much both processes suck, residency is more fun and less stressful than med admissions because for residency apps, the school wants you to match well and there's more career certainty at residency app levels given the Match system than with med admissions where like 40% get in with often no support from undergrad schools
 
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