How competitive are away rotations?

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DrizzyDrake

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Hey guys,

So I am currently a second year medical student. I have average grades, no fails, no honors, just average. I go to an average medical school. I am 22, and I expect to do average on my Step 1s. Maybe a little above average, but not some ridiculously high score. I did research the summer before entering MS1 and the summer between MS1 and MS2, but didn't get published.

At my school, 4th years can do away rotations and it is something that I am very interested in. I have been in the same city now for many years and have grown tired of it. I really would like to do an away rotation in NYC or Boston or even LA. All my friends went to colleges there and I want a little taste of that life. In fact, it'd be a dream come true if I could spend most of my 4th year NOT at my medical school. But as I have mentioned, I am average in almost all respects. So will I not get into any?

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Field would be nice. Native location as well. Some are super competitive and some are not. I would guess though that BMC, MGH, CHoB, BID, etc are competitive in most fields. Plus the COL there is ridiculous!
 
Hey guys,

So I am currently a second year medical student. I have average grades, no fails, no honors, just average. I go to an average medical school. I am 22, and I expect to do average on my Step 1s. Maybe a little above average, but not some ridiculously high score. I did research the summer before entering MS1 and the summer between MS1 and MS2, but didn't get published.

At my school, 4th years can do away rotations and it is something that I am very interested in. I have been in the same city now for many years and have grown tired of it. I really would like to do an away rotation in NYC or Boston or even LA. All my friends went to colleges there and I want a little taste of that life. In fact, it'd be a dream come true if I could spend most of my 4th year NOT at my medical school. But as I have mentioned, I am average in almost all respects. So will I not get into any?


What specialty are you looking into if you don't mind me asking? A lot of times the competitiveness will depend on the specialty/location/program reputation, but an away application process is not as cutthroat as an actual residency match. Many institutions will take applicants with less than stellar stats and I've seen a few instances where they open up extra spots to accommodate more students. So there is definitely more flexibility.

For most aways, you will apply through VSAS during March/April of your 3rd year, and therefore some of the 3rd year grades will count. Since you haven't taken your Step I, try to rock it if you can since many programs will pay close attention to that number. Don't fool yourself into thinking that you will do average just yet. I've seen a plenty of people who did OK in their first years and got 240-250s after a few weeks of power studying. So there's still some time for improvement.
 
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