how important is it to attend a top med school to get into competitive residency

[Mona Lisa]

I got into SUNY stony brook medical school. My gpa is good 3.7, MCAT 32, research experince and many other extra curricular activites.

The problem was that my essay was not good (esl student), and i applied very late (sent my secondaries in nov and dec.)

I got an interviews to Duke and Ucla (waitlisted at both)
I want to do my residency at one of the UC's (Davis or ucsf) so I can stay close to my family after med school.

Should I apply again next year or should I attend Stony Brook.

Do stony brook students have a good chance of getting into UC residencies. (i want to go into pediatrics)

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[Colbert]

I don't know anything about UC residencies, but pediatrics isn't really considered a competitive residency. Unless your application improved dramatically over the past year I don't see why you'd pass up attending medical school.

If you do well on the boards and get good marks your third your and fourth year, you decide where you go, not the school you attend.

 

[Law2Doc]

I got into SUNY stony brook medical school. My gpa is good 3.7, MCAT 32, research experince and many other extra curricular activites.

The problem was that my essay was not good (esl student), and i applied very late (sent my secondaries in nov and dec.)

I got an interviews to Duke and Ucla (waitlisted at both)
I want to do my residency at one of the UC's (Davis or ucsf) so I can stay close to my family after med school.

Should I apply again next year or should I attend Stony Brook.

Do stony brook students have a good chance of getting into UC residencies. (i want to go into pediatrics)

I don't know that this belongs in allo, as it relates to the application process. Getting a good residency depends more on the individual student than the school. You can be at a UC and not get a good residency, and you can be at Stony Brook and get a residency anywhere. It largely depends on what field you plan to go into, and your evaluations and clerkship grades, your Step scores, your research, etc. Honestly, peds is NOT a particularly competitive residency path. If you do great in any allo med school and on the USMLE, you should match well in peds.

The folks who dump a med school acceptance and reapply tend to not do better the second time around. Schools that rejected you will want to see pretty substantial improvement from the prior cycle, and the stats of your competition tend to go up each year. So you will have to make yourself a much better applicant before you apply again, and given that it's already June, I don't see that happening without burning a cycle. Not to mention that a number of schools will outright ask about your prior application efforts and some may take a dim view of someone who applied someplace they had no intent to attend. So the likelihood that you will turn around and get into a UC school with no real improvement to your credentials (other than timing or a revamped essay) isn't really that good. And you will likely not get into Stony Brook a second time around. I've heard of folks who took your tack and outsmarted themselves right out of a med school acceptance. But I'm sure someone on the SB waitlist will thank you for such a gambit.

 

[Ginzo]

Why would you want to reapply if you don't have to? I can think of a few things I'd rather do than apply again:

-Self amputate a few of my fingers.
-Throw $5,000 cash into a camp fire.
-Challenge Kimbo Slice to a fight.
-Sell my wife to gypsies.

Etc.

 

[mglavin]

What is more important to you, going to medical school or going to a certain medical school? If its the later then why did you apply anywhere else in the first place? If you reject your acceptance you will never get back into that school and it may be a huge black flag on your application next year. So think long and hard before you do something stupid like throwing away a very good career as an MD just because of some (imho) superficial reason.

 

[Mona Lisa]

What is more important to you, going to medical school or going to a certain medical school? If its the later then why did you apply anywhere else in the first place? If you reject your acceptance you will never get back into that school and it may be a huge black flag on your application next year. So think long and hard before you do something stupid like throwing away a very good career as an MD just because of some (imho) superficial reason.

i do not want to go to a med school for its name. I am just worried of not coming back home ( bay area, california) for residency. I am planning on getting married after med school so it is more important for me to be at UCSF or UC Davis, or some where close for residency than attend a competitive med school. I hope you all understand my problem here. I would gladly attend Stony Brook med school if it was located in Cali .

thanks. All the replies for my post is helping....

 

[bcat85]

I don't know that this belongs in allo, as it relates to the application process. Getting a good residency depends more on the individual student than the school. You can be at a UC and not get a good residency, and you can be at Stony Brook and get a residency anywhere. It largely depends on what field you plan to go into, and your evaluations and clerkship grades, your Step scores, your research, etc. Honestly, peds is NOT a particularly competitive residency path. If you do great in any allo med school and on the USMLE, you should match well in peds.

The folks who dump a med school acceptance and reapply tend to not do better the second time around. Schools that rejected you will want to see pretty substantial improvement from the prior cycle, and the stats of your competition tend to go up each year. So you will have to make yourself a much better applicant before you apply again, and given that it's already June, I don't see that happening without burning a cycle. Not to mention that a number of schools will outright ask about your prior application efforts and some may take a dim view of someone who applied someplace they had no intent to attend. So the likelihood that you will turn around and get into a UC school with no real improvement to your credentials (other than timing or a revamped essay) isn't really that good. And you will likely not get into Stony Brook a second time around. I've heard of folks who took your tack and outsmarted themselves right out of a med school acceptance. But I'm sure someone on the SB waitlist will thank you for such a gambit.

Bingo

 

[LadyWolverine]

I don't go to a "top med school," but I plan on most likely moving back to the west coast for residency. Historically, seniors from my school have matched all over, including programs in California. This is probably true of just about any medical school in the country. Go to whatever school is the cheapest/gives you the most money. Work hard, do well on exams/rotations, and you'll end up with plenty of options. You're an idiot if you turn down an acceptance under the assumption that you will get in to Duke or UCLA "next time around." There are no guarantees in this process - go with the sure thing.

 

[Danbo1957]

If you are from California, that will work to your advantage of getting a residency in that state. You should not turn down an acceptance from Stony Brook, it's a good school, and their grads match everywhere.

 

[DoctorPardi]

Moved to Pre-Allo because this kind of thing comes up here all the time and is more in the theme of questions of in PA.

 

[TrojanHorse]

I'm a Cali boy who set my sights on attending medical school in the So Cal region. I am currently on the waitlist for a few So Cal school, but if those waitlists do not come through I will be attending GW. I loved the school but I was just worried about the move away from family and my gf. My top priority now has become to ensure that I match in So Cal for residency. After talking to medical students, residents, and physicians in all sorts of fields at local hospitals, they all let me know that matching is more about the student, and less about the school. Some residency programs will definitely consider what medical school you attended, but the Nor Cal area that you are interested in, has multiple opportunities to match into pediatrics. I'm sure that if you work hard during your four years and motivate yourself to work hard for your dream, you will acheive it. Do not give up your chance at a US medical school (the consequences have already been identified by other posters). Good luck with your medical career.

 

[Mona Lisa]

thanks for all the amazng replies. I am glad I posted my stupid question otherwise i would have made a huge mistake.

 

[172858]

go to stoney brook. blow out the boards. all will be fine.

 

[08applicant]

Why would you want to reapply if you don't have to? I can think of a few things I'd rather do than apply again:

-Self amputate a few of my fingers.
-Throw $5,000 cash into a camp fire.
-Challenge Kimbo Slice to a fight.
-Sell my wife to gypsies.

Etc.

Q...F...T. Amen.

 

[ParvatiP]

In 2008, SB matched several people in CA (including peds):
UCSF - anesthesiology
UCLA- EM, peds
USCD- Internal med

So I'd say it's definitely possible to match into CA from Stony Brook. Obviously, most people at SB are from NY, so many do not have a desire to match in CA. You can also set up away rotations in CA during 4th year.

 

[TheRealMD]

99% of med students would probably say:

Step 1 score > Reputation of medical school

when trying to get into a competitive residency.

 

[Mona Lisa]

Why would you want to reapply if you don't have to? I can think of a few things I'd rather do than apply again:

-Self amputate a few of my fingers.
-Throw $5,000 cash into a camp fire.
-Challenge Kimbo Slice to a fight.
-Sell my wife to gypsies.

Etc.

hahaHA

 

[patekpremed]

Why would you want to reapply if you don't have to? I can think of a few things I'd rather do than apply again:

-Self amputate a few of my fingers.
-Throw $5,000 cash into a camp fire.
-Challenge Kimbo Slice to a fight.
-Sell my wife to gypsies.

Etc.

Hahaha. Very well said.

 

[DrJosephKim]

You need to have a VERY valid reason to refuse acceptance to a medical school. That's something that will come up over and over.

Your application process the following year may be even more difficult if you have that on your record (that you were accepted but that you did not go).

 

[doomknight]

kimbo slice sucks

 

[cpants]

You probably won't have a problem getting a residency in CA. There are many other less prestigious residencies than UCSF and UCLA. Go to Stony Brook. Apply broadly to CA residencies. You'll be fine.

 

[moyoshix2o]

I got into SUNY stony brook medical school. My gpa is good 3.7, MCAT 32, research experince and many other extra curricular activites.

The problem was that my essay was not good (esl student), and i applied very late (sent my secondaries in nov and dec.)

I got an interviews to Duke and Ucla (waitlisted at both)
I want to do my residency at one of the UC's (Davis or ucsf) so I can stay close to my family after med school.

Should I apply again next year or should I attend Stony Brook.

Do stony brook students have a good chance of getting into UC residencies. (i want to go into pediatrics)

I think you should go to Stony Brook. Rankings in med school mean very little, its only something to brag about. Take for example neurosurgery, its one of the most competitive residencies. This year, UMDNJ-Newark matched 4 people into Neurosurgery residencies. Thats 4 times the national average.

A school is only top tier if you consider it as such.

 

[MeowMix]

At this point, I agree that you should take your acceptance and go to school. Work hard, do your best, and go on from there. Like many med students, there is a good chance that you will change your mind and not go into peds, ultimately. I would disagree that peds is not competitive; it all depends where you want to go.

 

[thesauce]

I think you should go to Stony Brook. Rankings in med school mean very little, its only something to brag about. Take for example neurosurgery, its one of the most competitive residencies. This year, UMDNJ-Newark matched 4 people into Neurosurgery residencies. Thats 4 times the national average.

A school is only top tier if you consider it as such.

Not only that, they went to Duke, Drexel, Albert Einstein, and UCSF. Wow.

 

[Law2Doc]

Not only that, they went to Duke, Drexel, Albert Einstein, and UCSF. Wow.

Bear in mind that each specialty has its own hierarchy of programs and they frequently don't track US News med school rankings. So programs you never heard of could be the best, and some with big names can actually have the reputation of being malignant. Not saying any of these are, but posts like this suggest you know which programs are best in neurosurg, and few premeds do.

You also don't want to pick a school based on match lists, because as a premed you tend to have to make too many unwarranted assumptions in interpreting the lists. But you simply don't know why people applied where they did, what else they could have gotten, and even what matches are good ones versus malignant. This has been hashed out on SDN many times and most med school and residency level folks repeatedly tell the premeds not to rely on this. Yet premeds continue to seek some sort of magic algorithm that will allow them to make the "right" decision. The right decision is the place where you will thrive and do well, because your own efforts and successes are what is going to make the difference in going to the next level.

 

[frikarika]

Why would you want to reapply if you don't have to? I can think of a few things I'd rather do than apply again:

-Self amputate a few of my fingers.
-Throw $5,000 cash into a camp fire.
-Challenge Kimbo Slice to a fight.
-Sell my wife to gypsies.

Etc.

I think you belong in the "Cage Fighting Pre-meds" thread

 

[Mona Lisa]

thanks everyone for all the suggestions and support. I have decided to go to stony brook if i don't get off the waitlist at ucla. Yay...now i don't have to worry about re-applying

 

[Ginzo]

thanks everyone for all the suggestions and support. I have decided to go to stony brook if i don't get off the waitlist at ucla. Yay...now i don't have to worry about re-applying

Smart move. Good luck with UCLA.

 

[Character]

not very, just kick but on board, get great letters and you r set!

 

[Raisins]

Bear in mind that each specialty has its own hierarchy of programs and they frequently don't track US News med school rankings. So programs you never heard of could be the best, and some with big names can actually have the reputation of being malignant. Not saying any of these are, but posts like this suggest you know which programs are best in neurosurg, and few premeds do.

You also don't want to pick a school based on match lists, because as a premed you tend to have to make too many unwarranted assumptions in interpreting the lists. But you simply don't know why people applied where they did, what else they could have gotten, and even what matches are good ones versus malignant. This has been hashed out on SDN many times and most med school and residency level folks repeatedly tell the premeds not to rely on this. Yet premeds continue to seek some sort of magic algorithm that will allow them to make the "right" decision. The right decision is the place where you will thrive and do well, because your own efforts and successes are what is going to make the difference in going to the next level.

Well UCSF is top notch and Duke just did Ted Kennedy's surgery.

 

[thesauce]

Bear in mind that each specialty has its own hierarchy of programs and they frequently don't track US News med school rankings. So programs you never heard of could be the best, and some with big names can actually have the reputation of being malignant. Not saying any of these are, but posts like this suggest you know which programs are best in neurosurg, and few premeds do.

You also don't want to pick a school based on match lists, because as a premed you tend to have to make too many unwarranted assumptions in interpreting the lists. But you simply don't know why people applied where they did, what else they could have gotten, and even what matches are good ones versus malignant. This has been hashed out on SDN many times and most med school and residency level folks repeatedly tell the premeds not to rely on this. Yet premeds continue to seek some sort of magic algorithm that will allow them to make the "right" decision. The right decision is the place where you will thrive and do well, because your own efforts and successes are what is going to make the difference in going to the next level.

I see where you're coming from. Just FYI, I'm a 4th year, not a premed (doesn't it say that right next to my avatar?), and I DO have a good idea what the great programs for neurosurgery are being that I was considering NS for a while. And I know they don't track USNAWW.

I think you give solid advice about match lists, though. I would say that NJMS's match list was mediocre at best this year. They highlighted a few people such as the above that matched in NS at great programs, but a large faction of the class went to random community based programs. It's funny because half the people thought the match list was great and half thought it was terrible. You see what you want to see I guess.

Still it's fun to see my classmates going to great programs and being happy. That's all that post was about...

 

[Excelsius]

I see where you're coming from. Just FYI, I'm a 4th year, not a premed (doesn't it say that right next to my avatar?), and I DO have a good idea what the great programs for neurosurgery are being that I was considering NS for a while. And I know they don't track USNAWW.

I think you give solid advice about match lists, though. I would say that NJMS's match list was mediocre at best this year. They highlighted a few people such as the above that matched in NS at great programs, but a large faction of the class went to random community based programs. It's funny because half the people thought the match list was great and half thought it was terrible. You see what you want to see I guess.

Still it's fun to see my classmates going to great programs and being happy. That's all that post was about...

If you have that information, could you elucidate what schools/programs are considered to be good for neurosurgery?

There is all this conversation about how match lists do not represent the given school's merit for any given specialty. I can see the logic in that because it depends on where the students from that school choose to apply, among other variables. But the real question still goes unanswered. How do you find out what schools are favorable for your specialty? I am not even sure if this can be answered in pre-allo because it is the med student or the resident who might know the answer to this. Maybe the number of NS matches from a particular school at least can give some idea that the school has some NS integration. There was another great post by a med student who said that if you end up going to a school that is geared towards family medicine, you will have to do that for a few weeks even if you don't care for it. So I know that there are advantages to going to particular schools but not others. The trick is how do you find out all this information.

I realize that sometimes it is possible to change your mind about a specialty while in med school, but it still doesn't hurt to have the option of selecting schools based on your passion. I can't imagine someone shooting for NS and preferring family medicine in the end. The lifestyles are too different. Actually, that maybe possible for someone who has no idea about a given specialty and just chooses it based on interesting name. There are tests you can take for this.

 

[ACSurgeon]

I got into SUNY stony brook medical school. My gpa is good 3.7, MCAT 32, research experince and many other extra curricular activites.

The problem was that my essay was not good (esl student), and i applied very late (sent my secondaries in nov and dec.)

I got an interviews to Duke and Ucla (waitlisted at both)
I want to do my residency at one of the UC's (Davis or ucsf) so I can stay close to my family after med school.

Should I apply again next year or should I attend Stony Brook.

Do stony brook students have a good chance of getting into UC residencies. (i want to go into pediatrics)

1- you would have to be an idiot not to attend after being accepted. If you apply again next year, schools won't take you as srious.

2- Ped's is easy to get into.

3- If you do well on the boards, regardless which school you attended, you should be fine.

4- You can do away rotations during 4th year at programs that you are interested in. That way you can get LORs and have an edge there.

5- You would really have to be an idiot to give up that acceptance!

 

[thesauce]

If you have that information, could you elucidate what schools/programs are considered to be good for neurosurgery?...How do you find out what schools are favorable for your specialty? I am not even sure if this can be answered in pre-allo because it is the med student or the resident who might know the answer to this. Maybe the number of NS matches from a particular school at least can give some idea that the school has some NS integration. There was another great post by a med student who said that if you end up going to a school that is geared towards family medicine, you will have to do that for a few weeks even if you don't care for it. So I know that there are advantages to going to particular schools but not others. The trick is how do you find out all this information.

The specialty-specific forums are good for a lot of this information, being that they are frequented by residents and attendings (maybe 'frequented' is a poor choice of words considering NS don't have a lot of free time). From what I've seen, they are pretty much ranked by their level of funding, same way as most rankings.

 

[Excelsius]

The specialty-specific forums are good for a lot of this information, being that they are frequented by residents and attendings (maybe 'frequented' is a poor choice of words considering NS don't have a lot of free time). From what I've seen, they are pretty much ranked by their level of funding, same way as most rankings.

I have been reading the NS forum, but it doesn't have a lot of traffic. Some posts are several years old. Maybe general residency and allo forums would do.

I wish there was a function that would allow us to post the link to the same thread in two or three forums, like pre-allo, allo, and residencies. I don't know if I'm the only one who thinks this is a good idea, but at this point it doesn't seem likely to happen. Maybe those guys wouldn't want any premeds in their forum, but maybe could be worth a try.

 

[Dedikated2liftn]

kimbo slice sucks

Everyone's a tough ass on the internet, haha. Bro, Kimbo could whoop you in a ****in' straightjacket.

 

[Mona Lisa]

thanks everyone for putting some sense in me and helping me make the right decision.

 

[Raisins]

I have been reading the NS forum, but it doesn't have a lot of traffic. Some posts are several years old. Maybe general residency and allo forums would do.

I wish there was a function that would allow us to post the link to the same thread in two or three forums, like pre-allo, allo, and residencies. I don't know if I'm the only one who thinks this is a good idea, but at this point it doesn't seem likely to happen. Maybe those guys wouldn't want any premeds in their forum, but maybe could be worth a try.

try uncleharvery.com