Not trying to debate whether or not sub-i's are a good idea. I'm planning to do 2-3, but I'm uncertain how difficult they will be to obtain. Assuming I apply as soon as apps open, how many is the right number?
How many psych Sub-i's should I apply to?
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Depends.
Hoping to do sub-i's anywhere on west coast that isn't middle of nowhere (visalia), southwest or big cities on the east coast from boston to florida. Not sure if this helps any. DO student, 240s step 1, good letters and evals, like to think im a well-rounded applicant (if any of this matters for sub-i's)
Ideally I'd like to do residency in california>west coast>>>>big cities east coast>>>>>>>>>midwest
Ideally I'd like to do residency in california>west coast>>>>big cities east coast>>>>>>>>>midwest
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Some thoughts:
1) I not sure that you really need to do 3 sub-Is unless your goal was to get into UCLA, Standford, (or possibly one of the other big names out there).
2) As a PD, who is not located on the west coast, I would likely reject your application when I saw that you were doing 3 sub-Is on the west coast as it tells me that you want to be on the west coast (even one would give me pause; 3 would be a no brainer). I would use my valuable interview slot on somebody else who is more likely to rank me higher. I'm not telling you that doing 3 sub-Is is necessarily a bad thing but applicants need to also realize the negative consequences of such a choice.
3) As the person in charge of approving people from elsewhere, who want to do a sub-I here, I am becoming more strict in approving them as people are increasingly using them as an application tool by doing multiple sub-Is. It is a lot of work for faculty to teach students.
4) I also tend to downscore people who do a lot of psych rotations in their fourth year as it makes them less well rounded in other areas of medicine.
5) I would seek counsel from you advisor and trust his/her judgement as he/she will know your record and your school's record well.
1) I not sure that you really need to do 3 sub-Is unless your goal was to get into UCLA, Standford, (or possibly one of the other big names out there).
2) As a PD, who is not located on the west coast, I would likely reject your application when I saw that you were doing 3 sub-Is on the west coast as it tells me that you want to be on the west coast (even one would give me pause; 3 would be a no brainer). I would use my valuable interview slot on somebody else who is more likely to rank me higher. I'm not telling you that doing 3 sub-Is is necessarily a bad thing but applicants need to also realize the negative consequences of such a choice.
3) As the person in charge of approving people from elsewhere, who want to do a sub-I here, I am becoming more strict in approving them as people are increasingly using them as an application tool by doing multiple sub-Is. It is a lot of work for faculty to teach students.
4) I also tend to downscore people who do a lot of psych rotations in their fourth year as it makes them less well rounded in other areas of medicine.
5) I would seek counsel from you advisor and trust his/her judgement as he/she will know your record and your school's record well.
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I agree with psychattending. Do as many psych sub-Is as you need to be sure you want to do psych, after that, do derm or pulmonary, or anything that will be interesting, fun and possibly useful at a family reunion. You will be doing 4 years of psych so this is a chance to do something else.
Thanks so much for taking the time to write that. I was planning to do 1-2 on the west coast and 1 on the east coast. I'm totally open to the east coast, would just prefer the west coast. Was hoping a sub-i out east would show my willingness to go there for residency.
I've been told by someone within a California program that doing multiple sub-i's would make me much more competitive overall. I have also heard doing 3 may not be necessary. It's hard to determine what the best decision should be.
I'm 100% set on psych...have been for most of third year. I'd love to do different things I find exciting, as psych is not the only thing I enjoyed during my rotations. I was just really hoping to maximize my chances of matching (and matching at a good program on the west coast) and I saw multiple psych sub-i's as a way to do that...but maybe I'm wrong.
Do you think multiple sub-i's won't make me that much more competitive as an applicant?
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Along those lines... Is there a sense that doing a sub I or elective in a specific geographic region will "open up" that region for interviews?
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While doing a sub-I does get your face seen, you only get your face seen at that one particular place. Sometimes this can get you an interview when you otherwise may not have, but doing a sub-I doesn't mean any weak grades or scores are forgiven when it comes time to put you on the list. Only a small percentage of applicants and an only slightly higher percentage of interviewees do sub-Is out of about 100 interviews programs do. None of us have the expectation that applicants need to do sub-Is if they are going to get in. This may not be true for some very tiny programs in very isolated areas, but Universities can do a dozen sub-Is and then get 800 applications and interview 10% of these, so you can see why this isn't an expectation.
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For those who might not get an interview at a place (an AMG with a red flag, a reasonably strong IMG, possibly a weaker DO). I would recommend only doing one sub-I and at the place that you really want to go. Doing more is likely going to be a negative. A way around doing a sub-I for these individuals would be a LOR from a person that the program knows. This will work if somebody is really strong but appears to be weak. For those who either are truly weak or really don't want to go to a specific program, then having a letter writer claim the opposite will just make things worse.
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It sounds like you are a reasonably strong DO. I don't think you will be helping yourself doing all these sub-Is. Identify the strong program that you really want to go to and consider doing a sub-I there. You can apply to several additional strong programs and several of them will likely invite you for an interview. I would also have several safety schools just in case. If you want to be on the west coast, then focus most of your applications there. I think you would have a stronger application if you did a medicine sub-I, etc, at your home school. If you do over apply and get tons of interviews on the west coast, then you should quickly (i.e. early in the application process) decline/cancel interviews at places that are really not of interest to you so that others can be invited.
Thanks for your input, appreciate it. I'll keep all of that in mind as I apply.
