General Surgery Match Chances and Strategy

[articulate mango]

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MD student applying this fall looking for guidance on application strategy. I'm hoping for an academic program on the east coast/Southwest/ South Atlantic as I find those states the most desirable and want the option to be competitive for any fellowship.

School: Midwest MD, unranked
Step 1: P
Step 2: between 236-240
Clerkshhips. one HP, the rest are P, HP is not surgery. I had some personal life difficulties that prevented me from studying or sleeping so its a wonder I survived M3 at all, much less passed my classes and sat for step 2. I will not be discussing these difficulties in my application.
Research: 3 pubs, 6-9 total experiences
Extracirriculars: plentiful, tons of leadership experience, won a school wide award, and created new partnerships.
Personality: Easy going, and reserved, which can come off as shy, but not awkward or rude.

I plan on doing a subI or 3, but the places I really like tend to only take students from the big brand name schools. I am not applying in my school's geographic area, so no home field advantage. What match advice/signal strategy/ last minute maneuvers do you all recommend?

 

[pazzer2]

I matched into a general surgery residency more than 25+ years ago, so things have changed a lot. Your situation was similar to mine. I matched into an academic program in a big city. What I think helped tip me over the edge was a letter from my research mentor. He was an academic surgeon and well respected in the field. I didn't see the letter until many years later. It turns out the program I matched into had a research lab working on the same thing. So the fit also helped.

Personal connections matter a lot in general surgery. Surgeons want to be around people they can work with for 5 years. If you can get someone on your side to make a phone call, that really helps. Good luck!@