DrAlaric
New Member
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2024
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I'm really just looking for any helpful advice. I know I'm opening myself up for harsh criticism here, but I need help.
As the title implies, I applied internal medicine this cycle and followed my home institution academic advisors' advice that since I am applying very broadly geographically, I should put "no geographical preference" since many programs will fall outside of my preference and this will be seen negatively. I made the mistake of following this advice, and after seeing the data on geographical preferences, especially in internal medicine, it seems this is ERAS application suicide. I had geographical preferences, but to a many places for different reasons so I thought it would be fine.
App info:
MD-PhD (why my STEP1 is scored)
USMLE STEP1 mid-240's (75th percentile)
USMLE STEP2 high-260's (>90th percentile based on July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2024 scores)
40+ Researches items, 10+ peer-reviewed abstracts/papers, multiple first-authors, original research
Clinical grades around class average, no AOA/GHHS
Letter writers are all mentors (both clinical + research) each worked with for 4-10 years
Extensive volunteering, international work, co-founded student clinic, etcetera.
ERAS submitted on-time
No leaves of absence, disciplinary actions, etcetera. No red flags, confirmed with home program advisor before submitting and a chair separately.
No geographical preference, with an explanation that the program matters more than geography
It turns out that over 80% of applicants in IM put geographical (AAMC 2024), so PDs expect people to use them. After finding the geographic preference data from AAMC, it turns out that putting "No geographical preference" is somehow statistically worse than listing a geographical preference then applying outside of it:
There is some speculation that this is because "less-competitive" applicants are more likely to apply very broadly and list no geographical preferences, but even still if I were to apply these statistics to my application, I will only receive 1 interview (~3% interview conversion rate) versus 4-5 interviews if I had submitted geographic preferences (~10% interview conversion rate since not all my programs fall within 3 areas). Turns out "no geographic preference" is a "throw away my application" button on ERAS because to PDs they think it means you have a lower chance of ranking their program high and interviewing you is a waste of their resources.
It is now one month after ERAS submission, and after applying 45+ programs I have only gotten one interview at my home program (and 2 declines from reach silver signals). It seems my application is not even being read because it's being screened -- since programs aren't even giving responses.
I've been frantically sending LOIs (letters of interest, not letters of intent) to some of my top programs (personalized to each program) and even reached out to some faculty mentors so they can reach out on my behalf. I was under the impression we technically weren't supposed to do this since it is communication outside of ERAS, but I don't know what else to do.
The TLDR question to this post is: What can I do at this stage, if anything?
Keep sending emails? Give up and wait? Start applying for construction jobs, do Uber on the weekend and commit academic hara-kiri for apparently dishonoring ERAS bushido?
I know this is a bit ridiculous to ask, and I know I really messed up here by submitting my application with no regional preferences (I really had no idea it was somehow almost as important as passing STEP1 on the first attempt). I just really want to do something about this ASAP because at my home institution I'm scheduled, but interview slots are already filled until January, and I imagine most outside institutions are the same at this stage in the cycle. Even if I was a perfect applicant, which I'm not, institutions can't offer me an interview slot that's not available.
As the title implies, I applied internal medicine this cycle and followed my home institution academic advisors' advice that since I am applying very broadly geographically, I should put "no geographical preference" since many programs will fall outside of my preference and this will be seen negatively. I made the mistake of following this advice, and after seeing the data on geographical preferences, especially in internal medicine, it seems this is ERAS application suicide. I had geographical preferences, but to a many places for different reasons so I thought it would be fine.
App info:
MD-PhD (why my STEP1 is scored)
USMLE STEP1 mid-240's (75th percentile)
USMLE STEP2 high-260's (>90th percentile based on July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2024 scores)
40+ Researches items, 10+ peer-reviewed abstracts/papers, multiple first-authors, original research
Clinical grades around class average, no AOA/GHHS
Letter writers are all mentors (both clinical + research) each worked with for 4-10 years
Extensive volunteering, international work, co-founded student clinic, etcetera.
ERAS submitted on-time
No leaves of absence, disciplinary actions, etcetera. No red flags, confirmed with home program advisor before submitting and a chair separately.
No geographical preference, with an explanation that the program matters more than geography
It turns out that over 80% of applicants in IM put geographical (AAMC 2024), so PDs expect people to use them. After finding the geographic preference data from AAMC, it turns out that putting "No geographical preference" is somehow statistically worse than listing a geographical preference then applying outside of it:
There is some speculation that this is because "less-competitive" applicants are more likely to apply very broadly and list no geographical preferences, but even still if I were to apply these statistics to my application, I will only receive 1 interview (~3% interview conversion rate) versus 4-5 interviews if I had submitted geographic preferences (~10% interview conversion rate since not all my programs fall within 3 areas). Turns out "no geographic preference" is a "throw away my application" button on ERAS because to PDs they think it means you have a lower chance of ranking their program high and interviewing you is a waste of their resources.
It is now one month after ERAS submission, and after applying 45+ programs I have only gotten one interview at my home program (and 2 declines from reach silver signals). It seems my application is not even being read because it's being screened -- since programs aren't even giving responses.
I've been frantically sending LOIs (letters of interest, not letters of intent) to some of my top programs (personalized to each program) and even reached out to some faculty mentors so they can reach out on my behalf. I was under the impression we technically weren't supposed to do this since it is communication outside of ERAS, but I don't know what else to do.
The TLDR question to this post is: What can I do at this stage, if anything?
Keep sending emails? Give up and wait? Start applying for construction jobs, do Uber on the weekend and commit academic hara-kiri for apparently dishonoring ERAS bushido?
I know this is a bit ridiculous to ask, and I know I really messed up here by submitting my application with no regional preferences (I really had no idea it was somehow almost as important as passing STEP1 on the first attempt). I just really want to do something about this ASAP because at my home institution I'm scheduled, but interview slots are already filled until January, and I imagine most outside institutions are the same at this stage in the cycle. Even if I was a perfect applicant, which I'm not, institutions can't offer me an interview slot that's not available.
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