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Help!? What programs am I competitive for?
- Thread starter djsbaseball2014
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As you know, peds is not competitive, so you will have no problems matching. I honestly don't think an away rotation is really necessary unless there is a specific program that you really want to go to and get yourself an "in." But with your research background which is better than average for a peds applicant, I suspect you would get a look from a few of the academic programs that traditionally would target applicants with higher Step 1 scores. Where is your current school and what is its general reputation?
Moreso than the NICU rotation, I would try to get a peds sub-I and step 2 done in the first few months of MS4. If you can honor your sub-I then I think that will go a long way to outweighing the pass in your clerkship, and obviously a bump in step 2 score would be nice. It's hard to recommend specific programs; other than true top-tier programs like CHLA, I honestly don't think the step 1 score is that big of a deal, and even with that score I think there is enough uniqueness in your research and story that you could get some interest. You just have to apply broadly because it's impossible to know which programs will get "hooked" by your story. If you apply to a range of programs I suspect you can wind up in CA.
Moreso than the NICU rotation, I would try to get a peds sub-I and step 2 done in the first few months of MS4. If you can honor your sub-I then I think that will go a long way to outweighing the pass in your clerkship, and obviously a bump in step 2 score would be nice. It's hard to recommend specific programs; other than true top-tier programs like CHLA, I honestly don't think the step 1 score is that big of a deal, and even with that score I think there is enough uniqueness in your research and story that you could get some interest. You just have to apply broadly because it's impossible to know which programs will get "hooked" by your story. If you apply to a range of programs I suspect you can wind up in CA.
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Thanks for the information! I go to a newer medical school in Central Florida, won't take much to figure out what school I am referring to lol. It is new so we don't have a huge pedigree but looking at our past match lists for peds, we match fairly well, all over the place.
Do you think that it would be worth it to apply for an away rotation at some of the pipe dream places in California (UCSF, Stanford, UCSD)? Or should I do an away at a program that is more within my "range"? Like you said, I don't know who is going to get "hooked" by my story so I don't know whether I should be trying to do an away at the most competitive place possible. I am definitely going to apply broadly and am going to try and get at least 1 more research project that is NICU specific with an attending in my area. (likely low hanging fruit)
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As I said, I don’t know that an away rotation is really necessary or even advisable in peds. If anything it may give you an “in” at a specific program, but there is no way to know in advance which programs will consider your app. So if you do an away at a program where ultimately you are never gonna have a chance do to your step 1 score, that is a very expensive waste of time. Plus I think that doing a sub I and step 2 would be more pressing.
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Agree with Spurs. No need to do an away, if you do one, do it at a place you are likely to match at.
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One tip is to look for programs with something like underrepresented visiting medical student program, etc. I know that Stanford has one, don't know about UCSF or UCSD. If you get it, it'll offset some of the cost for you to do an away rotation. And those programs either have a priority (or sometimes pressure from higher up) to recruit more URMs. Usually, much less people apply for these programs than the residency itself, if your strategy is to "hook" people with your story. Also, the ones who review the applications and award the scholarship are involved in residency recruitment as well.
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