How Hard Is It to Match Into NY Cardiology Programs with Low Board Scores?

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Jlemd

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Hey everyone,

So I grew up in TX and attend a mid tier program in the south. Really interested in cardiology and hope to match to NY to be with significant other and family. Location is a huge factor for me. I was planning on only applying to programs near NYC/Long Island and would go to any of the programs below regardless of prestige.

Definitely concerned with not matching due to geography limitations and low board scores. However, just wanted to gauge how competitive the programs list is below. I tried to select more community and lower tier programs.

My background
USMD
STEP I: 220s
STEP II: 240
Research: 2 peer reviewed basic science papers from med school (not cardio related), 1 cardio pub in residency
Good LORs

List of programs:
New York-Presbyterian/Queens Program
Winthrop
Mount Sinai/St Luke’s-Roosevelt
Rutgers RWJ
Rutgers New Jersey
Stony Brook
SUNY Downstate
Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital
Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine Program
Montefiore
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Program
NYU

1) What are my chances of matching if I only apply to the programs above?
2) How competitive are the programs listed (esp the community ones like Winthrop, NYP Queens, St Luke)
3) Is there strong regional bias against applicants from the South?
4) How can I can start to network with the programs above?

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Nobody can predict whether you can match are not.
Your scores are decent----not a bomb to the extent that anybody can say you have zero chances. As u also know, it is not only about board scores--> how known your residency is, your mentors, and research that you have done all play a role
There tends to be some regional preference (am sure southern programs also interview more people from south than the north) but if there is a place you want to go to, you can send an email emphasizing why you want to move to Nyork and they will likely look up your application.
Geographically you could consider some programs in CT (Yale, Hartford hospital, UCONN Farmington, Bridgeport, ?Danbury) and maybe Delaware(am not sure about how far from NYC). These programs are reasonably close to NY....maybe 2 hours
 
As a USMD, you shouldn't have a problem at all matching into many of the NY cardiology programs with those stats. Outside of NYU, all probably easily attainable.
 
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I thought Monte, NYU and Sinai are very competitive even for AMG with solid app?
 
Hey everyone,

So I grew up in TX and attend a mid tier program in the south. Really interested in cardiology and hope to match to NY to be with significant other and family. Location is a huge factor for me. I was planning on only applying to programs near NYC/Long Island and would go to any of the programs below regardless of prestige.

Definitely concerned with not matching due to geography limitations and low board scores. However, just wanted to gauge how competitive the programs list is below. I tried to select more community and lower tier programs.

My background
USMD
STEP I: 220s
STEP II: 240
Research: 2 peer reviewed basic science papers from med school (not cardio related), 1 cardio pub in residency
Good LORs

List of programs:
New York-Presbyterian/Queens Program
Winthrop
Mount Sinai/St Luke’s-Roosevelt
Rutgers RWJ
Rutgers New Jersey
Stony Brook
SUNY Downstate
Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital
Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine Program
Montefiore
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Program
NYU

1) What are my chances of matching if I only apply to the programs above?
2) How competitive are the programs listed (esp the community ones like Winthrop, NYP Queens, St Luke)
3) Is there strong regional bias against applicants from the South?
4) How can I can start to network with the programs above?

1) Your chances of matching are good (>75%). You are competitive for the less-competitive fellowships on that list. -10% for low Step 1 score, -10% for being from the south, +5-10% for research (assuming you are first author on at least one of your papers)
2) I can't speak to the community programs, but I would imaging you'd get 2-3 IVs from Monte/Hofstra/Stonybrook/Rutgers and more from the community programs. You have 0 chance of getting an interview from NYU or Mt. Sinai.
3) There will be some bias, since you're a good applicant but not an outstanding one. I would tailor your PS/application somewhat to explain why you want to be in NY
4) If your mentors or LoR writers have connections to the area, you can ask them to reach out. Otherwise, there is very little "networking" that you can do to improve your chances

As a USMD, you shouldn't have a problem at all matching into many of the NY cardiology programs with those stats. Outside of NYU, all probably easily attainable.

Yes and no. Mt. Sinai is even more competitive than NYU with a much stronger academic reputation in cardiology. You'll have a shot at the other schools, as mentioned above. Montefiore is a clinically strong program with good research opportunities; however, it is more favorable to applicants because 1) it is in the Bronx even though >50% of their fellows live in Manhattan and 2) they have 11 spots so applicants have a better "odds", for what it's worth. Monte will be the ceiling of your application.
 
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