FAQ: What are my chances?

[Ole_Toe]

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School: Top 40 US MD
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 256
Pre-clinical: Pass
Clinical grades: HP in FM, IM, OBGYN, Peds; P in Surgery and Peds; no honors
Class ranking: 3rd quartile
AOA: No
Awards: 2x merit scholarships

Research:
- 4 Publications: 1 first author, all in unrelated fields
- One case accepted to Case in Point and one case accepted to SPR Unknown Cases
- 1 Poster in unrelated field (first author and presented at national conference)
- 1 Oral presentation in unrelated field (presented at national conference)

EC's:
Started a radiology class, strong leadership (president of several orgs)
Lots of volunteering through clubs and free clinics
Tutored lowerclassmen medical students

LORs:
1 inpatient IM, 1 outpatient IM, 1 Rad (all reportedly strong letters)

Goal: anywhere in California, I'm from there
What are my chances as a male URM, and advice if I don't match?

Thanks!

Are you applying for next year? If so, I would definitely recommend doing some away rotations just given your interest in staying in California, which as you know is very competitive.. Two weeks is probably fine if you can swing it. Think about programs like UCD, Irvine, maybe even do an away at a less highly rated program if you have good ties to that particular area. Also, apply broadly, and be really smart with your signals. The geographic regions are super important imo, so think about what you want your other two geo regions to be, and probably apply to almost every program in those other regions; you're unlikely to get interviews outside your geo preferences and signals. What are you doing for the next year until you apply?

 

[SweetBurger]

Are you applying for next year? If so, I would definitely recommend doing some away rotations just given your interest in staying in California, which as you know is very competitive.. Two weeks is probably fine if you can swing it. Think about programs like UCD, Irvine, maybe even do an away at a less highly rated program if you have good ties to that particular area. Also, apply broadly, and be really smart with your signals. The geographic regions are super important imo, so think about what you want your other two geo regions to be, and probably apply to almost every program in those other regions; you're unlikely to get interviews outside your geo preferences and signals. What are you doing for the next year until you apply?

n=1 experience, but I received 7 interviews outside of my geo preference last season, so yes they matter (as i received more inside my geo) but its not impossible

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

Unmatched after applying 50+ DR programs and 1 IR program this cycle. Will be reapplying in September. I haven't wanted to go into any other specialty since I came into med school and I almost would rather leave medicine than go into something aside from radiology.
I waffled about IR vs DR over the whole 4 yrs and decided last minute to go almost solely DR. Think it bit me in the ass as I had an app that leaned more IR than DR so I only got 5 DR interviews and 1 IR interview and only matched a TY.
Anyways:
School: Solid state MD school.
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 252
Pre-clinical: All pass and 1 high pass
Clinical grades: H in Obgyn, PC in psych & IM, the rest pass
Class ranking: no ranking
AOA: No
Awards: Small scholarship from school.

Research:
- 2 textbook chapters in pharmacology (random but I was told it was high reward so I applied for the team)
- 1 review article I wrote (3rd author) in college that got published when I was an M2
- 4 DR poster presentations from 1 long project (where I was anywhere from 1st to 4th author)
- 2 posters for DR case studies
- 1 poster from IR research
- I included a podium presentation I gave in college in humanities research because it was a plenary. idk it was cool.

EC's:
- VP of IR club
- Lots of sports and some niche hobbies that all the interviewers loved to hear about


LORs:
This might be where I messed up. 2 LORs from peds and 1 from IM, purportedly strong letters.
This time when I reapply, I will get one from my med school's IR PD and one from my TY's DR dept and only send the IR letter to the IR programs when I reapply.

I believe my PS was strong. It was reviewed by my school's IR PD and DR APD and they said it was good.

Goal: matched
What are my odds for round 2.

 

[bobjonesbob]

Unmatched after applying 50+ DR programs and 1 IR program this cycle. Will be reapplying in September. I haven't wanted to go into any other specialty since I came into med school and I almost would rather leave medicine than go into something aside from radiology.
I waffled about IR vs DR over the whole 4 yrs and decided last minute to go almost solely DR. Think it bit me in the ass as I had an app that leaned more IR than DR so I only got 5 DR interviews and 1 IR interview and only matched a TY.
Anyways:
School: Solid state MD school.
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 252
Pre-clinical: All pass and 1 high pass
Clinical grades: H in Obgyn, PC in psych & IM, the rest pass
Class ranking: no ranking
AOA: No
Awards: Small scholarship from school.

Research:
- 2 textbook chapters in pharmacology (random but I was told it was high reward so I applied for the team)
- 1 review article I wrote (3rd author) in college that got published when I was an M2
- 4 DR poster presentations from 1 long project (where I was anywhere from 1st to 4th author)
- 2 posters for DR case studies
- 1 poster from IR research
- I included a podium presentation I gave in college in humanities research because it was a plenary. idk it was cool.

EC's:
- VP of IR club
- Lots of sports and some niche hobbies that all the interviewers loved to hear about


LORs:
This might be where I messed up. 2 LORs from peds and 1 from IM, purportedly strong letters.
This time when I reapply, I will get one from my med school's IR PD and one from my TY's DR dept and only send the IR letter to the IR programs when I reapply.

I believe my PS was strong. It was reviewed by my school's IR PD and DR APD and they said it was good.

Goal: matched
What are my odds for round 2.

What advisor told you it was ok to apply to radiology without any radiology LOR? That's a big red flag.

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

What advisor told you it was ok to apply to radiology without any radiology LOR? That's a big red flag.

2 Pd/Apd's + at least 1 dean? What do you think of my application otherwise?

 

[SeisK]

I’m gonna disagree with the absence of a DR LOR being a red flag in and of itself. Very common.

Step score is average. Clinical grades slightly below average. Pretty good DR research, and one IR leadership position.

I don’t necessarily see any red flags. It does make me wonder a little why you didn’t grab a research LOR or two from the DR faculty you worked with. I also wonder why you didn’t apply more IR programs. I’d say overall you have a bread and butter middle of the road application. If you applied too too heavy / too few, and if you don’t interview well, each component by itself won’t do you in, but the combination of factors may make your application not stand out enough so that you fall through the cracks.

I’d say continue doing rads research. Grab a few IR LORs, reapply next year to many more IR and DR programs. Evaluate what may have gone wrong with the interviews, is possible. I think you stand a good shot reapplying with that strategy.

 

[bobjonesbob]

I'm not a pd, but I think you need at least one letter from a radiologist. No one applies to other specialties without a letter of rec in that field. If you had rads research and rotations on your app, I would wonder why you didn't ask any of those people to write you a letter. People get that they're not evaluating your skills at interpreting imaging. All medical students' ability to do that is minimal to non-existent. They're just endorsing you as an applicant to the specialty and someone you worked with should be willing to do that as long as you're a pretty normal person and had normal interactions with them on your rotations.

Otherwise, agree with @SeisK. App is average but that means you should match based on your stats. Keep an eye out for any pgy-2 rads spots that open up over the next year. There are usually a few from people dropping out or programs expanding.

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

Keep an eye out for any pgy-2 rads spots that open up over the next year.

How do you do that? Are they posted on NRMP or ERAS or do you have to look at individual program sites?
Also, why does it matter? Won't I just apply to them through ERAS again next cycle or do you mean that new spots that open could give agreements outside of the match?

 

[bobjonesbob]

How do you do that? Are they posted on NRMP or ERAS or do you have to look at individual program sites?
Also, why does it matter? Won't I just apply to them through ERAS again next cycle or do you mean that new spots that open could give agreements outside of the match?

Most spots in the match are advanced positions. If you match one of those spots next spring, you’d have a year gap after your TY year.

Some of the spots that come open fill outside the match.

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[Detective SnowBucket]

I’m gonna disagree with the absence of a DR LOR being a red flag in and of itself. Very common.

^I'm going to get a lor from my med school IR PD & 1 from my TY's DR faculty (no residency program so no PD to ask)

It does make me wonder a little why you didn’t grab a research LOR or two from the DR faculty you worked with.

Because I hardly worked with the DR faculty. It was almost exclusively through their residents. I did research under one DR PI for like 8 months and he didn't even know my name when I did my AI with him.

I also wonder why you didn’t apply more IR programs.

Honestly, I decided at the last minute that I'd rather go into DR than IR, but this time I'll apply as broadly in DR & IR as I can. I'd 100% rather be in IR than unmatched or SOAP again.

I think you stand a good shot reapplying with that strategy.

How much of a disadvantage are you at simply by being a reapplicant? The thing I see being questionable is if PD's think I'd rather match at a program that has a PGY2/R1 opening so I don't have a year off after my TY, so how do I convince them that I don't care (and doing a year as a wound care physician would go a long way towards paying off my loans) before I start as a PGY2.

 

[Yhwach]

School: US MD ( bottom 1/3)
Step 1: 226
Step 2: 235
Pre-clinical: Pass/fail, All passes
Clinical: 1H, rest high passes
Class rank: top half
Research: 4-5 abstracts/presentation (random, basic science, radiology), 2 papers in DR, working on a paper in IR
EC's: professional society membership.


Chances?
What programs should I shoot for?

How'd you do?

 

[Psychlord]

Do I have a good chances at matching? Should I dual apply?

Low tier USMD
No red flags

Step 2: 256

Research: one or two 1st author manuscripts + bunch of posters like total 10ish research items
Letters should be strong
No AOA or any awards
Grades: 3H 4P grade system is only H of P.
Bunch of leadership positions including National organization involvement in radiology.

I don't have geo preference, I just want to match and will probably apply to every program in the country.

Thank you for your input and sorry if this neurotic, really need some advice because I need to know now if I should dual apply.

 

[SlickMDS]

Do I have a good chances at matching? Should I dual apply?

Low tier USMD
No red flags

Step 2: 256

Research: one or two 1st author manuscripts + bunch of posters like total 10ish research items
Letters should be strong
No AOA or any awards
Grades: 3H 4P grade system is only H of P.
Bunch of leadership positions including National organization involvement in radiology.

I don't have geo preference, I just want to match and will probably apply to every program in the country.

Thank you for your input and sorry if this neurotic, really need some advice because I need to know now if I should dual apply.

Your app looks good! Don't think you need to dual apply. Best of luck in the match this cycle!

 

[jambro]

Do I have a good chances at matching? Should I dual apply?

Low tier USMD
No red flags

Step 2: 256

Research: one or two 1st author manuscripts + bunch of posters like total 10ish research items
Letters should be strong
No AOA or any awards
Grades: 3H 4P grade system is only H of P.
Bunch of leadership positions including National organization involvement in radiology.

I don't have geo preference, I just want to match and will probably apply to every program in the country.

Thank you for your input and sorry if this neurotic, really need some advice because I need to know now if I should dual apply.

Your app looks better than mine and I got >20 interviews with about 140 apps. I'm sure you're good!

 

[SeisK]

Do I have a good chances at matching? Should I dual apply?

Low tier USMD
No red flags

Step 2: 256

Research: one or two 1st author manuscripts + bunch of posters like total 10ish research items
Letters should be strong
No AOA or any awards
Grades: 3H 4P grade system is only H of P.
Bunch of leadership positions including National organization involvement in radiology.

I don't have geo preference, I just want to match and will probably apply to every program in the country.

Thank you for your input and sorry if this neurotic, really need some advice because I need to know now if I should dual apply.

Looks good. Good app for a mid tier academic program. If you decide not to apply to every program in the country, apply to a bell curve of competitive programs centered at mid tier academic.

 

[discomonkey123]

School: low tier MD state school.
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 267
Pre-clinical: all pass (not factored into rankings)
Clinical grades: All passes, H/P/F system
Class ranking: Low 2nd quartile/high 3rd quartile
AOA: No
Awards: none
Aways: Will do 2 aways

Research:
12 publications (all primary research) across a variety of fields
15 posters and abstracts (1 in rads)

EC's:
some volunteering at free clinic


LORs:
will be getting one from Rads PD and one IM APD and one IM fellowship PD

I know my step score is good, but other than research the rest of my application is kind of weak. My MSPE has some good comments from IM, FM, and Psych and I believe my LORs will be good. How good of a shot do I have of matching a solid program in the mid-west or the south? Will I be able to be picky with location? How broadly should I apply?

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

School: low tier MD state school.
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 267
Pre-clinical: all pass (not factored into rankings)
Clinical grades: All passes, H/P/F system
Class ranking: Low 2nd quartile/high 3rd quartile
AOA: No
Awards: none
Aways: Will do 2 aways

Research:
12 publications (all primary research) across a variety of fields
15 posters and abstracts (1 in rads)

EC's:
some volunteering at free clinic


LORs:
will be getting one from Rads PD and one IM APD and one IM fellowship PD

I know my step score is good, but other than research the rest of my application is kind of weak. My MSPE has some good comments from IM, FM, and Psych and I believe my LORs will be good. How good of a shot do I have of matching a solid program in the mid-west or the south? Will I be able to be picky with location? How broadly should I apply?

Easily match imo

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

School: low tier MD state school.
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 267
Pre-clinical: all pass (not factored into rankings)
Clinical grades: All passes, H/P/F system
Class ranking: Low 2nd quartile/high 3rd quartile
AOA: No
Awards: none
Aways: Will do 2 aways

Research:
12 publications (all primary research) across a variety of fields
15 posters and abstracts (1 in rads)

EC's:
some volunteering at free clinic


LORs:
will be getting one from Rads PD and one IM APD and one IM fellowship PD

I know my step score is good, but other than research the rest of my application is kind of weak. My MSPE has some good comments from IM, FM, and Psych and I believe my LORs will be good. How good of a shot do I have of matching a solid program in the mid-west or the south? Will I be able to be picky with location? How broadly should I apply?

I just reread this. Could you try to get one more rads letter? Feel like two would be better

 

[discomonkey123]

I just reread this. Could you try to get one more rads letter? Feel like two would be better

Yeah, I can do that. I'll try and get another one from my home department or one from the away rotation I will do in July. Why do you feel 2 rads letter would help more? Programs only want 3 letters right? I worry that the rads letters may be weaker than the IM letter. Thanks for your help!

 

[Dante Alighieri]

decided on DR very late so my app doesn't reflect it at all

School: mid to low tier MD state school
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 275
Pre-clinical: all passes
Clinical grades: All Honors (7/7), H/HP/P/F system
Class ranking: school doesn't do class ranking
AOA: don't know yet, but my school is "holistic" about it
Awards: none

Research:
8 abstract publications (two first author), mostly in surgery/anesthesia. not sure how ERAS counts stuff but there are posters/presentations attached to all of those
five manuscripts in submission, not hopeful they'll be published before ERAS lol
i'm working on a couple of rads case reports right now, which i'll probably be able to submit before ERAS (again not hopeful on being published lol)

EC's:
cookie cutter leadership and volunteering stuff

LORs:
hopefully one from rads PD, will try to get one or two from upcoming IM sub-I, another IM subspecialty one, I can get an FM one if I need to



i think i can match somewhere but i'm not interested in somewhere. i'm wondering what the chances are of matching in coastal california (where i'm from and where all my ties are; i'm a refugee and my school is OOS) or at least a nice city somewhere lol (nyc, boston, chicago, etc.). NOT interested in matching in the south or midwest.


can someone let me know my chances because if i don't have a shot in those regions (especially cali) then imma just apply IM

 

[SeisK]

decided on DR very late so my app doesn't reflect it at all

School: mid to low tier MD state school
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 275
Pre-clinical: all passes
Clinical grades: All Honors (7/7), H/HP/P/F system
Class ranking: school doesn't do class ranking
AOA: don't know yet, but my school is "holistic" about it
Awards: none

Research:
8 abstract publications (two first author), mostly in surgery/anesthesia. not sure how ERAS counts stuff but there are posters/presentations attached to all of those
five manuscripts in submission, not hopeful they'll be published before ERAS lol
i'm working on a couple of rads case reports right now, which i'll probably be able to submit before ERAS (again not hopeful on being published lol)

EC's:
cookie cutter leadership and volunteering stuff

LORs:
hopefully one from rads PD, will try to get one or two from upcoming IM sub-I, another IM subspecialty one, I can get an FM one if I need to



i think i can match somewhere but i'm not interested in somewhere. i'm wondering what the chances are of matching in coastal california (where i'm from and where all my ties are; i'm a refugee and my school is OOS) or at least a nice city somewhere lol (nyc, boston, chicago, etc.). NOT interested in matching in the south or midwest.


can someone let me know my chances because if i don't have a shot in those regions (especially cali) then imma just apply IM

You will definitely match and you will get high tier interviews. I wouldn’t necessarily hang your hat on Stanford or UCSF, but you’ll get into a Cali, west coast, or major municipal program for sure.

 

[Dante Alighieri]

You will definitely match and you will get high tier interviews. I wouldn’t necessarily hang your hat on Stanford or UCSF, but you’ll get into a Cali, west coast, or major municipal program for sure.

damn forreal? i got the sense from reading the last couple pages that my app would be fairly unremarkable lol

and yeah well aware that ucsf and stanford are out of my league lol and i assume the same is true for ucsd and especially ucla. but usc or cedars would be a dream

 

[SeisK]

damn forreal? i got the sense from reading the last couple pages that my app would be fairly unremarkable lol

and yeah well aware that ucsf and stanford are out of my league lol and i assume the same is true for ucsd and especially ucla. but usc or cedars would be a dream

Don’t be arrogant with your application list, where you choose to interview, and how you interview. Understand that if you interview at 20 top tiers, that it’s more likely you’re not going to land in your top 5. Approach it with humility and reasonable expectations, and you will be more than fine.

 

[SleepingPillow]

School: T40 US MD
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 264
Pre-clinical: P/F (ranked 2nd quartile)
Clinical grades: (H/HP/P/F) 5 H (Surg, OB, Psych, FM, Neuro), 2 HP (IM, peds aka my first 2 rotations)
Class ranking: 2nd quartile (my classmates are insane...)
AOA: Nope
Awards: merit scholarship count?

Research:
1 mid-author publication in high-impact journal from college
6 Posters/abstracts in non-rads specialty
2 Oral presentations
1 Rad case report in the works

EC's:
Leadership positions in clubs, involvement in school admin, nothing crazy

LORs:
1 IM 1 Surg 1 DR, maybe IR as well

Hoping to target west coast, large midwest cities (i.e. chicago), and NY/PA/CT area, although pretty open as long as I like the program.

 

[discomonkey123]

School: low tier MD state school.
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 267
Pre-clinical: all pass (not factored into rankings)
Clinical grades: All passes, H/P/F system
Class ranking: Low 2nd quartile/high 3rd quartile
AOA: No
Awards: none
Aways: Will do 2 aways

Research:
12 publications (all primary research) across a variety of fields
15 posters and abstracts (1 in rads)

EC's:
some volunteering at free clinic


LORs:
will be getting one from Rads PD and one IM APD and one IM fellowship PD

I know my step score is good, but other than research the rest of my application is kind of weak. My MSPE has some good comments from IM, FM, and Psych and I believe my LORs will be good. How good of a shot do I have of matching a solid program in the mid-west or the south? Will I be able to be picky with location? How broadly should I apply?

I just found out that i am in the 3rd quartile. How badly will this hurt me?

 

[Dante Alighieri]

decided on DR very late so my app doesn't reflect it at all

School: mid to low tier MD state school
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 275
Pre-clinical: all passes
Clinical grades: All Honors (7/7), H/HP/P/F system
Class ranking: school doesn't do class ranking
AOA: don't know yet, but my school is "holistic" about it
Awards: none

Research:
8 abstract publications (two first author), mostly in surgery/anesthesia. not sure how ERAS counts stuff but there are posters/presentations attached to all of those
five manuscripts in submission, not hopeful they'll be published before ERAS lol
i'm working on a couple of rads case reports right now, which i'll probably be able to submit before ERAS (again not hopeful on being published lol)

EC's:
cookie cutter leadership and volunteering stuff

LORs:
hopefully one from rads PD, will try to get one or two from upcoming IM sub-I, another IM subspecialty one, I can get an FM one if I need to



i think i can match somewhere but i'm not interested in somewhere. i'm wondering what the chances are of matching in coastal california (where i'm from and where all my ties are; i'm a refugee and my school is OOS) or at least a nice city somewhere lol (nyc, boston, chicago, etc.). NOT interested in matching in the south or midwest.


can someone let me know my chances because if i don't have a shot in those regions (especially cali) then imma just apply IM

didn't get aoa despite honoring everything lol

how badly will this hurt my chances?

i was hoping to signal UCSD, UCLA, and UW, but with the residency explorer data showing that no signal = no interview, i'm wondering if these signals are gonna be down the drain and would be better spent elsewhere :\

 

[imatarheel]

Realized I didn't like the surgical subspecialty I had lined up 4 audition rotation at, switching to radiology most likely. Geographical preference is New England, Middle Atlantic, and East North Central.

School: DO
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 256
Level 2: 652
Pre-clinical: 3.6x
Clinical grades: 5 P, 1 H (also honored radiology, GI, and Cardiology but did not include in my core rotation clinical grades; surgery was the lone honors pass of the 6 core rotations I had)
Class ranking: top quartile

Research:
3 pubs 0 first author (surgical subspecialty), 5 other research projects in that subspecialty
1 poster presentation (not radiology related), 3 radiology related longitudinal research projects (one to do with machine learning/AI detection of strokes)

EC's: nothing significant; mixed volunteering throughout M1 and M2, tutor/peer mentor, sports club involvement, etc.


LORs:
1 IM 1 GI 2 Rad

I have 2 elective radiology rotations at some northeast programs coming up.

Would love any community/academic hospital that isn't a grindhouse, really want to focus on targeted learning in a friendly team setting, anywhere in the geographical preferences I have.

 

[TheHappySisyphus]

School: T25 MD in the South
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 265
Pre-clinical: P/F
Clinical grades: (H/HP/P/F) 4 H, 3 HP, 1 P (IM)
Class ranking: Middle of 2nd quartile
AOA: No
Awards: None

Research:
12 Publications: 3 first author, 4 second author. Mostly radiology papers, 2 papers from before med school in an unrelated field.
7 posters, all first-author presentations
2 oral presentations at national conferences

EC's:
Cookie cutter clinic volunteering, officer in radiology org, paid job as a tutor, etc.

LORs:
2 IM, 2 rads

Goal: Academic program in the Pacific region, Midwest, or NYC. No family ties to any of the geographic regions, just want a strong program and to get out of my state. Was wondering how competitive I am for the top programs in the country (UCSF, MIR, NYU, Stanford, etc.) and whether or not it's worth it to signal these top programs vs "target" lower/mid academic programs.

Thanks!

 

[SeisK]

School: T25 MD in the South
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 265
Pre-clinical: P/F
Clinical grades: (H/HP/P/F) 4 H, 3 HP, 1 P (IM)
Class ranking: Middle of 2nd quartile
AOA: No
Awards: None

Research:
12 Publications: 3 first author, 4 second author. Mostly radiology papers, 2 papers from before med school in an unrelated field.
7 posters, all first-author presentations
2 oral presentations at national conferences

EC's:
Cookie cutter clinic volunteering, officer in radiology org, paid job as a tutor, etc.

LORs:
2 IM, 2 rads

Goal: Academic program in the Pacific region, Midwest, or NYC. No family ties to any of the geographic regions, just want a strong program and to get out of my state. Was wondering how competitive I am for the top programs in the country (UCSF, MIR, NYU, Stanford, etc.) and whether or not it's worth it to signal these top programs vs "target" lower/mid academic programs.

Thanks!

I’m presuming T25 in the south means UTSW, WashU, Emory, Duke, or Vandy. With that pedigree, step score, and research portfolio, despite the P in IM, there’s no program that’s out of reach for you. You’ll be fine. Just don’t put ALL your eggs in the T20 basket.

 

[poijum2]

School: T25 MD in the South
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 259
Pre-clinical: all passes
Clinical grades: Mostly honors (4/6), H/HP/P/F system
Class ranking: not sure? shouldn't be bottom quartile
AOA: no, no ghhs either 🙁
Awards: merit scholarship; not URM

Research:
2 RSNA first author abstract oral presentation
1 ARRS first author abstract submitted, 1 ARRS second author abstract submitted (prob not published/accepted)
2 second author oncology manuscripts
1 case report should be submitted (prob not published)
several posters at school radiology

EC's:
student government, volunteering leadership, nothing crazy like an olympic medal

LORs:
- one from research mentor/well respected radiologist with multiple R1 grants
- one from division chief of IR
- two from internal medicine acting internship (assistant professors)

Goal: What are my odds for a T20 DR, especially popular ones like Sinai, Vandy, Nwestern? No family ties to any region except the South/Texas

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

School: T25 MD in the South
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 259
Pre-clinical: all passes
Clinical grades: Mostly honors (4/6), H/HP/P/F system
Class ranking: not sure? shouldn't be bottom quartile
AOA: no, no ghhs either 🙁
Awards: merit scholarship; not URM

Research:
2 RSNA first author abstract oral presentation
1 ARRS first author abstract submitted, 1 ARRS second author abstract submitted (prob not published/accepted)
2 second author oncology manuscripts
1 case report should be submitted (prob not published)
several posters at school radiology

EC's:
student government, volunteering leadership, nothing crazy like an olympic medal

LORs:
- one from research mentor/well respected radiologist with multiple R1 grants
- one from division chief of IR
- two from internal medicine acting internship (assistant professors)

Goal: What are my odds for a T20 DR, especially popular ones like Sinai, Vandy, Nwestern? No family ties to any region except the South/Texas

Very good

 

[HereForTheRads]

Late switch to DR

School: T50 MD in California
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 252
Pre-clinical: all passes
Clinical grades: 2/6 H, 4/6 HP
Class ranking: 2nd quartile
AOA/GHHS: No
Awards: None

Research:
5 publications (middle author on all) in basic science and unrelated specialty. 1 first author manuscript will be submitted before ERAS.
10 abstracts and poster presentations in unrelated specialty, 2 first author and rest are middle author.
Working on a few rads projects but nothing that will be submitted by ERAS.

EC's:
Good but nothing spectacular. Some small rads stuff once I confirmed my switch.

LORs:
DR, IR, IM, and Surg. All should be pretty strong.

Hoping to match somewhere with good training and strong reputation, ideally in California. But I recognize that my Step 2 score, clinical grades, and lack of significant radiology items on my CV will probably hold me back from the best places.

Thank you!

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Med School: Mid Tier USMD
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: 5/7 honors (honors in IM), 2 high pass
M4 grades: Honors
Class rank: 1st quartile
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: Low 260s
AOA: No
GHHS: Yes
Demographics: White
Research: Not much. 1 pub from before med school, worked on stuff for awhile but hasn't made it to publication
Extracurriculars: A lot of service to community-type stuff
LORs: IM chair, Research Lab Attending, Hospitalist, Pulmonary Division director
Geographic Signaling: Will overlap with my Silver/Gold's
Red flags: None
Career goals: Academic IM -> Pulm/Crit Care or GI
Golds: NYU, Sinai, Penn
Silvers: RWJ-NB, Temple, Jefferson, Montefiore, Maryland, Brown, UPMC, BU, Cornell, Georgetown, Wake Forest, Tufts
Others: Prob another 15 in the NYC/NJ/Philly region.

Thanks!

I’m a med student but you’ll definitely match at silver very least. Gold is a crap shoot

 

[Ok_Radio]

I’m a med student but you’ll definitely match at silver very least. Gold is a crap shoot

Thanks for the feedback! Yea at this point my main goal is to be more risk averse given we don't exactly know how the signals will play out and I think I would be pretty happy at all the silvers. Gold... might as well throw a few darts eh? Great Jimmy V quote in your footer btw.

 

[Maybedoc1]

Recently decided on rads after being very undecided. Not sure where I am competitive for and where I would be wasting signals on. Before signaling I would 100% shoot my shot at some T5-T10 programs just cause, but now with signals I'm not sure if that is a huge waste. My step 2 score and my clinical grades are overall really good/good, but I don't have much research. Not sure how much a high step 2 will carry me.

I was planning on geopreferencing pacific, mountain, and New England, but may switch mountain out for middle Atlantic since there are only 7 programs in the mountain region (I'm already signaling two of them) and there are 42 in the middle Atlantic.

School: T30 MD
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 272
Pre-clinical: P/F (Got academic distinction)
Clinical grades: 4/6 honors, 2/6 high pass
Class ranking: School doesn't rank
AOA: No
Awards: Academic distinction in preclinical years (top 30% of class)
Uniqueness?: first gen student, rough childhood (when I was 13 both of my parents had significant medical events that have left them disabled still today) which I am tactfully talking about in the impactful experience section. This mattered for med school, but I'm not sure if it matters for residency.

Research:
2 longitudinal research experiences with manuscripts in progress, but not submitted anywhere. Still being drafted. One imaging related (lung ultrasound), the other not.
0 Publications
2 posters, both first-author presentations. One at a regional IM conference the other at an international pulm/crit/sleep conference
6 oral presentations. Some at national conferences, some at regional conferences, and some at local medical school things.

EC's:
Selected among top 25% of class to be a paid tutor for first year students, started a critical care interest group, member of the radiology interest group, non elected med student government member.

LORs:
1 from pediatric radiology fellowship director at big children's hospital, 1 from peds radiologist, 1 from chief of emergency surgery, 1 from IM hospitalist from IM sub I.

Thanks!

 

[imatarheel]

Recently decided on rads after being very undecided. Not sure where I am competitive for and where I would be wasting signals on. Before signaling I would 100% shoot my shot at some T5-T10 programs just cause, but now with signals I'm not sure if that is a huge waste. My step 2 score and my clinical grades are overall really good/good, but I don't have much research. Not sure how much a high step 2 will carry me.

I was planning on geopreferencing pacific, mountain, and New England, but may switch mountain out for middle Atlantic since there are only 7 programs in the mountain region (I'm already signaling two of them) and there are 42 in the middle Atlantic.

School: T30 MD
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 272
Pre-clinical: P/F (Got academic distinction)
Clinical grades: 4/6 honors, 2/6 high pass
Class ranking: School doesn't rank
AOA: No
Awards: Academic distinction in preclinical years (top 30% of class)
Uniqueness?: first gen student, rough childhood (when I was 13 both of my parents had significant medical events that have left them disabled still today) which I am tactfully talking about in the impactful experience section. This mattered for med school, but I'm not sure if it matters for residency.

Research:
2 longitudinal research experiences with manuscripts in progress, but not submitted anywhere. Still being drafted. One imaging related (lung ultrasound), the other not.
0 Publications
2 posters, both first-author presentations. One at a regional IM conference the other at an international pulm/crit/sleep conference
6 oral presentations. Some at national conferences, some at regional conferences, and some at local medical school things.

EC's:
Selected among top 25% of class to be a paid tutor for first year students, started a critical care interest group, member of the radiology interest group, non elected med student government member.

LORs:
1 from pediatric radiology fellowship director at big children's hospital, 1 from peds radiologist, 1 from chief of emergency surgery, 1 from IM hospitalist from IM sub I.

Thanks!

pack your sunscreen buddy

 

[HereForTheRads]

Late switch to DR

School: T50 MD in California
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 252
Pre-clinical: all passes
Clinical grades: 2/6 H, 4/6 HP
Class ranking: 2nd quartile
AOA/GHHS: No
Awards: None

Research:
5 publications (middle author on all) in basic science and unrelated specialty. 1 first author manuscript will be submitted before ERAS.
10 abstracts and poster presentations in unrelated specialty, 2 first author and rest are middle author.
Working on a few rads projects but nothing that will be submitted by ERAS.

EC's:
Good but nothing spectacular. Some small rads stuff once I confirmed my switch.

LORs:
DR, IR, IM, and Surg. All should be pretty strong.

Hoping to match somewhere with good training and strong reputation, ideally in California. But I recognize that my Step 2 score, clinical grades, and lack of significant radiology items on my CV will probably hold me back from the best places.

Thank you!

Sorry to bump my own post, I couldn't find the edit button on my phone's browser.

I was thinking of a signaling strategy aimed almost exclusively at CA schools, with the Golds going to the UCs + USC, and the Silvers going to the community programs/lower "rank" programs like Santa Clara, Harbor, Cedars, Kaiser, etc. Is this too ambitious? Should I add signals to programs in other geo prefs, if my main goal is to stay in California?

 

[BirdPersonMD]

School: Unranked MD
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 269
Pre-clinical: Pass
Clinical grades: 6/8 honors, 2/8 high pass
Class ranking: School doesn't rank
AOA: Not available
Awards: None

Research:
1 Radiology pub, second author
2 EM case report pubs from undergrad
3 poster presentations
1 Radiology manuscript in the works
1 Additional radiology case report in the works

EC's:
Pretty generic volunteering, tutoring, etc. Nothing special here.

LORs:
IM, Rads, Surgery. I think these are pretty average quality letters, nothing special here again.

Trying to figure out what caliber of schools to use my signals on. Thanks!

 

[MadRadLad]

Recently decided on rads after being very undecided. Not sure where I am competitive for and where I would be wasting signals on. Before signaling I would 100% shoot my shot at some T5-T10 programs just cause, but now with signals I'm not sure if that is a huge waste. My step 2 score and my clinical grades are overall really good/good, but I don't have much research. Not sure how much a high step 2 will carry me.

I was planning on geopreferencing pacific, mountain, and New England, but may switch mountain out for middle Atlantic since there are only 7 programs in the mountain region (I'm already signaling two of them) and there are 42 in the middle Atlantic.

School: T30 MD
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 272
Pre-clinical: P/F (Got academic distinction)
Clinical grades: 4/6 honors, 2/6 high pass
Class ranking: School doesn't rank
AOA: No
Awards: Academic distinction in preclinical years (top 30% of class)
Uniqueness?: first gen student, rough childhood (when I was 13 both of my parents had significant medical events that have left them disabled still today) which I am tactfully talking about in the impactful experience section. This mattered for med school, but I'm not sure if it matters for residency.

Research:
2 longitudinal research experiences with manuscripts in progress, but not submitted anywhere. Still being drafted. One imaging related (lung ultrasound), the other not.
0 Publications
2 posters, both first-author presentations. One at a regional IM conference the other at an international pulm/crit/sleep conference
6 oral presentations. Some at national conferences, some at regional conferences, and some at local medical school things.

EC's:
Selected among top 25% of class to be a paid tutor for first year students, started a critical care interest group, member of the radiology interest group, non elected med student government member.

LORs:
1 from pediatric radiology fellowship director at big children's hospital, 1 from peds radiologist, 1 from chief of emergency surgery, 1 from IM hospitalist from IM sub I.

Thanks!

Good app and scores, aim during interviews will be for you to look like a normal person not a socially maladaptive weirdo from a good school with a great score. Not saying you are - but there are a lot, and you need to show you'll be normal and get your work done and play nice with others.

 

[MadRadLad]

School: Unranked MD
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 269
Pre-clinical: Pass
Clinical grades: 6/8 honors, 2/8 high pass
Class ranking: School doesn't rank
AOA: Not available
Awards: None

Research:
1 Radiology pub, second author
2 EM case report pubs from undergrad
3 poster presentations
1 Radiology manuscript in the works
1 Additional radiology case report in the works

EC's:
Pretty generic volunteering, tutoring, etc. Nothing special here.

LORs:
IM, Rads, Surgery. I think these are pretty average quality letters, nothing special here again.

Trying to figure out what caliber of schools to use my signals on. Thanks!

Mid to high tier, ideally in your school's region. If you are aiming elsewhere consider aways. But you should probably match somewhere.

 

[outbuyingmilk]

School: Unranked MD
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 256
Pre-clinical: Pass
Clinical grades: 2/6 honors, 4/6 high pass
Class ranking: No rank
AOA: No
Awards: Professionalism award, Dean's Humanism Award

Research:
1 Radiology Case report
1 poster
1 ortho publication

EC's:
Regional director of an international nonprofit, class rep, Imam, calligrapher employed to do dimplomas for schools, tutoring

LORs:
1 IM core, very strong, 1 Rads with a mentor I've worked with for 4 years, 1 rads from 4th year elective (decent Im assuming), 1 IM subI pretty strong

I'm wondering where to aim in the NE. I don't have much research and I know my clinical grades aren't the best (I was 1 question away from honoring 3/4 of the high passes), but I think I have very strong leadership and volunteer activities. I'm planning on Gold signaling Columbia and the rest more midtier academics (Stonybrook, NSUH...) but wondering if I should throw another gold at Sinai or another top tier. Thanks!

 

[Maybedoc1]

Good app and scores, aim during interviews will be for you to look like a normal person not a socially maladaptive weirdo from a good school with a great score. Not saying you are - but there are a lot, and you need to show you'll be normal and get your work done and play nice with others.

Haha thank you for your reply! Luckily for me I’m a pretty normal dude who can hold a conversation well so hopefully that shouldn’t be a problem. I’m still trying to decide what tier I should aim for and where I would be wasting my time.

 

[HomologousHomologues]

School: T30
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 268
Pre-clinical: (P/F) P
Clinical grades: (H/HP/P/F) 7/7 H
Class ranking: Top of 2nd quartile/Bottom of 1st quartile
AOA: Unlikely
Awards: n/a

Research:
3 Publications (None rads related): 1 first author & 1 second author abstracts presented at national and local conferences, 1 middle author manuscript published in low impact journal
6 Posters (2 1st author, the rest middle author)
1 oral presentation

EC's:
Lots of volunteering. Executive board of 2 non-rads clubs.

LORs:
TBD, but will likely be strong.

Applying in the 2025 match. Planning to get involved in some rads research over the next few months. I had a few questions regarding applying. 1. What tier of programs would be considered "safeties", targets, & reaches for my application? Applying to mainly programs in South Atlantic and Mid-Atlantic. 2. Would it be worth doing an away rotation at a program I am targeting?

 

[MisterMukwa]

School: T30
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 268
Pre-clinical: (P/F) P
Clinical grades: (H/HP/P/F) 7/7 H
Class ranking: Top of 2nd quartile/Bottom of 1st quartile
AOA: Unlikely
Awards: n/a

Research:
3 Publications (None rads related): 1 first author & 1 second author abstracts presented at national and local conferences, 1 middle author manuscript published in low impact journal
6 Posters (2 1st author, the rest middle author)
1 oral presentation

EC's:
Lots of volunteering. Executive board of 2 non-rads clubs.

LORs:
TBD, but will likely be strong.

Applying in the 2025 match. Planning to get involved in some rads research over the next few months. I had a few questions regarding applying. 1. What tier of programs would be considered "safeties", targets, & reaches for my application? Applying to mainly programs in South Atlantic and Mid-Atlantic. 2. Would it be worth doing an away rotation at a program I am targeting?

You will be a really strong applicant. I would say almost no program is a “reach” for you, however, don’t exclusively signal T20 programs. Try to spread them out to T20s, middle tier academics, and maybe even a community program or two.

Away is not necessary but if you want to learn more about a certain program you can.

 

[SeisK]

School: Midtier
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 277
Pre-clinical: all passes
Clinical: all passes (P/F curriculum)
Class ranking: N/a - school doesn’t do
AOA: none
Awards: none

Research:
11 pubs (4 first, 2 co-first) - 3 are imaging or radiology related, all others are other fields

EC's:
Nothing special

LORs:
hopefully one from rads PD, hopefully IM PD,
Maybe a research mentor from another field as well?

My thing is I am a reapplicant who is pivoting to rads . I originally applied a competitive Surg sub and did not match (not planning on reapplying to Surg sub)

I am wondering about my chances in light of being a reapplicant from another specialty and am having trouble finding guidance on what this means for my app.

Will be targeting mid tier and more community programs ? Maybe a handful of higher academic places

Stats are clearly fine. The story matters though, you need to convince people that you’re not changing directions because you failed to match, but because your passions have actually changed.

Bell curve centered around upper mid tier should be fine.

 

[HappySisyphus]

School: mid tier US MD
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: taking end of july
Pre-clinical: Pass
Clinical grades: HP in Neuro, P in the rest
AOA: No

Research:
- 1 book chapter, 4 publications, 8 posters, 3 in progress (all unrelated fields)

EC's:
Some volunteering through free clinics etc
President of one student organization

LORs:
1 letter from a surgeon, 1 from a pathologist, 1 from rads

Goal: anywhere

What step 2 score would i need to match?

Thanks!

 

[SeisK]

School: mid tier US MD
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: taking end of july
Pre-clinical: Pass
Clinical grades: HP in Neuro, P in the rest
AOA: No

Research:
- 1 book chapter, 4 publications, 8 posters, 3 in progress (all unrelated fields)

EC's:
Some volunteering through free clinics etc
President of one student organization

LORs:
1 letter from a surgeon, 1 from a pathologist, 1 from rads

Goal: anywhere

What step 2 score would i need to match?

Thanks!

There’s no threshold Step 2 that’ll get you to match. Charting the Outcomes 2024 categorizes odds of matching based on Step 2 scores, I’d review that document. Of course the higher the better.

But your clinical grades make me raise an eyebrow. Research would have been helpful if rads focused to demonstrate longitudinal interest, and while it is productive it’s not as strong rads leaning as I would like to see

 

[true_royal]

Med School: Mid-tier USMD
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail, all pass
M3 grades: 3/7 H, rest were P. (Grading scale is based on fixed curves so the top 30% of the rotation cohort get honors and bottom 30% get P regardless of percentage.)
M4 grades: Honored IM sub-I, rest of M4 grades are also honors. (M4 grades are not based on curves, so the final grade is what the attendings collectively assign).
Class rank: 3rd quartile
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 258
AOA: No
GHHS: No
Demographics: White male
Research: 2 pubs (both 1st author in high impact journals for their fields), 18 posters (half are from regional/national conferences), 9 research experiences overall.
Extracurriculars: Teaching and community service-related volunteering, 1 unique teaching/MedEd experience.
LORs: 2 deans (IM), 1 non-dean IM, 1 rads
Red flags: None

WAMC for DR? I've been planning on applying IM until now, but I'm split between that and DR. I'm just interested in getting a sense of whether or not I'd be competitive enough to realistically match DR to determine how worth it it'd be to continue pursuing.

 

[SeisK]

Med School: Mid-tier USMD
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail, all pass
M3 grades: 3/7 H, rest were P. (Grading scale is based on fixed curves so the top 30% of the rotation cohort get honors and bottom 30% get P regardless of percentage.)
M4 grades: Honored IM sub-I, rest of M4 grades are also honors. (M4 grades are not based on curves, so the final grade is what the attendings collectively assign).
Class rank: 3rd quartile
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 258
AOA: No
GHHS: No
Demographics: White male
Research: 2 pubs (both 1st author in high impact journals for their fields), 18 posters (half are from regional/national conferences), 9 research experiences overall.
Extracurriculars: Teaching and community service-related volunteering, 1 unique teaching/MedEd experience.
LORs: 2 deans (IM), 1 non-dean IM, 1 rads
Red flags: None

WAMC for DR? I've been planning on applying IM until now, but I'm split between that and DR. I'm just interested in getting a sense of whether or not I'd be competitive enough to realistically match DR to determine how worth it it'd be to continue pursuing.

Reasonably competitive for a mid tier academic institution.

 

[RadsMedStudent]

Med School: Mid-tier USMD
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail, all pass
M3 grades: 1/7 H, 1 High pass, rest were P.
Class rank: 4th quartile
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 245
AOA: No
GHHS: No
Demographics: Asian
Research: 20 published manuscripts (mix of orthopedics and musculoskeletal radiology), 22 total oral/poster presentations in mainly radiology and orthopedics
Extracurriculars: A few strong leadership positions and volunteer positions
LORs: 1 research letter of radiology research mentor (very strong), 1 from home radiology program PD (TBD), 1 IM attending (strong), 1 FM attending (strong)
Red flags: None

WAMC for DR?