Impact of this red flag?

[basophilic]

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Beginning of M3 last year I had a fail on a research elective due to missing several deadlines for submitting a summary report for the elective; I screwed up, no two ways around that. It will be on the transcript and explained on my MSPE as a professionalism comment. No other red flags, and comments from clinical rotations are all positive, and rest of app is decent: 260 step 2, honored 3 (including IM) and high-passed 3, decent research with 4-5 non-first-author pubs + multiple oral/posters, honored ICU sub-I with probably good-to-strong letters (advisor was positively surprised at the comments on my IM clerkship and sub-I evals), and decent ECs.
Was hoping for upper-mid tier academic IM programs (e.g. Beth Israel, Yale, Sinai), but after some discussions seems like the fail will ruin my chances at a lot of those. So just want to know how badly this will hurt me, and how best to minimize the damage. Would also like to hear from someone who overcame a red flag like this; please feel free to DM.

 

[Euxox]

A fail with excellent step scores is a rare combination. When your application is unusual, things become harder to predict and variance becomes higher. Many programs have rubrics or scoring systems that they use to evaluate apps, and how heavily they weight grades versus step scores is going to vary from place to place. Unfortunately this is all entirely opaque to the applicant. The best response is to that sort of uncertainty is to apply broadly.

You will be decently competitive for mid and low tier IM programs. High tier is harder to say. I don't think you are entirely out of the running for top programs, so I would apply to some (or many if you have cash to burn), but I would also absolutely make sure to apply to a generous amount of mid and low tier academic programs to ensure a match. I don't think you have to apply to community programs.

 

[GoSpursGo]

You should be ok at mid tier. High tier it’s hard to say. You have the research that those places would want to see, but a fail due to an easily preventable professionalism lapse is tough to look past. While having good research is certainly desirable in an applicant, a resident with professionalism concerns is such a pain that this may be enough to get people to look past you.

How are you explaining this in your app?

 

[basophilic]

Thanks both for the input. It would be explained as a professionalism comment in the MSPE. It did not lead to any extensions, leaves, gaps, or breaks, so not sure if I should explain it under the 'interruptions or extensions' section.
I will apply broadly, but am I basically out of the running for T30 programs?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Previously, we discussed...

A

Thread 'MSPE challenges'

Feb 10, 2025

N/A

• Ascent23510
• Replies: 22
• Forum: Medical Students (MD)

The only person who could say definitively if you're out of the running for highly-desired programs is your student dean. How often do you meet?

 

[Euxox]

Thanks both for the input. It would be explained as a professionalism comment in the MSPE. It did not lead to any extensions, leaves, gaps, or breaks, so not sure if I should explain it under the 'interruptions or extensions' section.
I will apply broadly, but am I basically out of the running for T30 programs?

I don't think you are out of the running for T30, but I don't think you are a lock either. That's why I advise applying broadly, including mid tier programs, where I can say with much more confidence that you will be competitive. You might be wondering how to use your signals, and to be frank I don't know. It's going to involve some guesswork.