Is AOA a requirement for radiology?

[fatsal]

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I was hoping to do rads but I know my grades will not get me into AOA. Am I more or less knocked out of contention? I know that they look at everything but we all know the two most important indicators are boards scores and grades. Is AOA more or less a requirement for radiology these days due to the competitiveness of it?

 

[musicman1991]

No, it depends on a lot of things. What is the rank of your school? At my top-tier school not everyone was AOA and in fact some of the matches were the same if you were AOA or not.

At a lower-tier school, AOA is a must to match at elite schools, but DEFINITELY not to make you competitive to match at a middle-tier school. BUt then again you won't know where you'll get an interview unless you try.

 

[peehdee]

are you from penn since you are from philly and said you're in the 'toop-tier'?

No, it depends on a lot of things. What is the rank of your school? At my top-tier school not everyone was AOA and in fact some of the matches were the same if you were AOA or not.

At a lower-tier school, AOA is a must to match at elite schools, but DEFINITELY not to make you competitive to match at a middle-tier school. BUt then again you won't know where you'll get an interview unless you try.

 

[supervenience]

how hard is it to match into radiology from a top tier school if your grades are so-so and your board scores are around 220-230? i'm not talking about the most competitive radiology programs, but just decent ones... well let's not get ahead of ourselves... how about just ANY radiology spot?

i am also interested in neuroradiology. will getting into an uncompetitive radiology residency significantly affect my chances at a neuroradiology fellowship?

 

[b&ierstiefel]

I heard at Michigan they throw your application into a different pile if your AOA status is negative.

 

[peehdee]

do these questions/remarks sound like when you were applying to medical school?

i mean everyone was saying you have to have 35+ and gpa of close to 4

but yet there's a range of people who are in med school. i mean if you want the top notch program, yeah, they might just look at numbers. but what about ANY rad program.

I heard at Michigan they throw your application into a different pile if your AOA status is negative.

 

[jhadow]

do these questions/remarks sound like when you were applying to medical school?

i mean everyone was saying you have to have 35+ and gpa of close to 4

but yet there's a range of people who are in med school. i mean if you want the top notch program, yeah, they might just look at numbers. but what about ANY rad program.

I agree... not exactly like we're hearing anything new about having perfect grades and AOA making your match-life easier.

Isn't there anybody that can shed some light on the reality of the radiology match for those of us that aren't Step 1 >250 and AOA?

 

[wannaberad]

Sure. Several guys who weren't AOA matched into rads from our school (not in the US News list), and the one I know was in the 230s. There was one fellow with a 210 or so who managed to match at a community program. He got a paper out, though. I would say take time and do research.

AOA is NOT a requirement for radiology. In 2003 (the last year I can get data for) there were 279 applications from AOA students, and something like 900 spots in radiology. They couldn't fill it all with AOAers, even if they wanted to..

 

[Harbster]

I could of swear I saw you somewhere..................

I heard at Michigan they throw your application into a different pile if your AOA status is negative.

😀

 

[ginger_flower]

and...does being a non-white female in a male-dominated speciality help the application process, assuming you're not F***kin ugly and superfat? 😉

anyways, from the limited number of ppl that I have talked to so far, beyond the grades and score, it really is up to how well you fit in with the department and the speciality, eg your personality.

which, actually, leaves me with a question as to the personality of radiologists. what I have learned is that they are superchill, laid back, highly intellectual physicians..... 😀

 

[peehdee]

and...does being a non-white female in a male-dominated speciality help the application process, assuming you're not F***kin ugly and superfat? 😉

anyways, from the limited number of ppl that I have talked to so far, beyond the grades and score, it really is up to how well you fit in with the department and the speciality, eg your personality.

which, actually, leaves me with a question as to the personality of radiologists. what I have learned is that they are superchill, laid back, highly intellectual physicians..... 😀

i think the only non-white female who can 'benefit' are blacks, hispanics and native americans, if i'm not mistaken. and that was for college and med school application. i don't think it goes beyond med school.

well i guess you have to get your foot in the door to be able to see if you can fit in the department. so, regardless you have to have the hard numbers. right?

well, i hope rads are laid back and intellectural. cause that's me 🙂

 

[MedStudent2004]

Let's put this AOA issue to rest. You DO NOT NEED TO BE AOA to match into a strong program in radiology, but you should have credentials that are strong. End of story. AOA is not the end-all.. it's just an award that puts together a bunch of other areas in medicine which define your performance. In short, if you are a stellar student but didn't get AOA because it's a popularity game, etc. it WON'T hurt you at all b/c residency program directors can figure out that you did stellar without AOA. On the other hand, if you did poorly on Step I and your grades aren't great, and you're not respected amongst faculty/students then it will go along with your non-AOA status and you probably won't match well.

 

[kmv1005]

Kinda stupid question...what's AOA? 😕

 

[elayboy]

Kinda stupid question...what's AOA? 😕

Alpha Omega Alpha -- It's an honor society whose members are typically elected based on scholarship (i.e. grades). Even schools which may be pass fail may still have AOA -- basically it means you are in the top X percentile of your class.