Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
I'm in the middle of my Surgery clerkship, and trying to decide what is practical and what is redundant when selecting away electives. I am missing the point or over-thinking as I am prone to do, so I need someone outside of my own head to discuss the pros and cons of what I am thinking. My background: Grew up in So. Cal, went to school in San Francisco, attending med school in Chicago, and looking at residencies mostly in Cali, Chicago and Boston. My step 1 is 99%, top 25% of my class, A's/B's in 3rd year clerkships, good research and a nice balance of extracurriculars to round out my application. With respect to selecting schools, I started with So Cal, because I have strong family ties there. My school has a good match list with USC, so I started by applying for an away elective there in Colorectal Surgery. Here is where things get complicated: I have permission to do 3 away electives in Surgery plus 1 surgery research elective. I want to know if it is redundant or risky to do an away elective at UCLA-Harbor and UCI in addition to USC? Risky in terms of not diversifying. I am an above average surgery applicant IMHO, but my focus on Cali schools has never failed to elicit a remark that suggests I would be wise to have backup plans. My surgery advisor said UCSF, UCSD and UCLA proper would be reach schools. It sorta pissed me off at first, but I know their job is also to ensure no one is left scrambling for match, so I want to get some outside opinions on the subject. To summarize, is it redundant to do 3 away electives at USC, UCLA-Harbor and UCI? Should I diversify and do away electives in Boston if I am also interested in attending BU? As for Chicago, would doing an elective at Rush be wise too? See, this is where I get stuck.. I want to go to Cali, but I don't if it means I have to end up at a back up school.. Please advise! 
