Is there any hope for matching into top 30 IM program for me?

[OphthLover]

---

Members don't see this ad.

.

 

[Law2Doc]

Top 5, top 30 -- you are too focused on laurels and not focused enough on where you want to end up. And honestly even if there were such accepted ranking for residency (which there isn't), the place ranked 25 wouldn't likely actually be better than the place ranked 35. It's other factors than this that matter. if your scores and evaluations are good you should end up at a decent place but there are plenty of paths that will set you up nicely to get the job you ultimately want so you do yourself a disservice focusing on such arbitrary rankings. It's what I call "undergrad thinking" -- the notion that you have to go to the most prestigious option you have regardless of the end goal. Time to get over that.

 

[GoldenFish]

Here's what helps you match into a top IM Program:

- Top medical school (you have this)
- AOA
- High Step scores (245+, preferably 250+)
- Strong clinical grades (H in IM and a majority of clerkships)
- Published research
- Solid letters

It really is no secret. They're fiercely competitive, and not a guarantee for anyone. Yes, a step of mid 220s COULD get you in, but the more of the above you have going for you, the better your chances are.

 

[Psai]

You don't have your step 1 score yet. Wait for that to come out. I would do a year of research if matching into an arbitrary number ranked residency is your goal

 

[Ophthoseidon]

"Top 30" is pretty subjective. Can you match at a good program? Yes. You just have to work hard from here on out to achieve it, though.

Side note: I just crept on your profile because I thought I saw you post on the ophtho board. You said you were a third year med student 1.5 years ago? lol

 

[piii]

"Top 30" is pretty subjective. Can you match at a good program? Yes. You just have to work hard from here on out to achieve it, though.

Side note: I just crept on your profile because I thought I saw you post on the ophtho board. You said you were a third year med student 1.5 years ago? lol

She was just posting for a "friend"

 

[throwaway1939]

Hi guys, I recently took STEP 1, and based on my recent NBME scores, I am hopeful that I would get a score between mid-220 to 230. I understand that this really isn't a competitive score, but I was hoping to get some feedback from you guys as to how I could strengthen my application during my upcoming third year.

I was very fortunate to get accepted into a top 5 medical school, but I heard that the prestige of medical school has become much less important in residency matching over the last decade or so. So assuming that (I understand that this would be a big assumption to make) I will be doing decently during my third year especially in IM and be within the top 50% of my class, would I be able to make up for the subpar step 1 score by performing well on STEP 2 CK (e.g. >=250) and still be able to get matched into top 30 IM program? Thank you guys for your help in advance.

take it from someone in the opposite scenario (good/great app from a very low tier school), I'd rather have been in your shoes. Coming from a top 5 opens so many more doors than a low tier school. People from my school simply do not get into Duke/Hopkins/Columbia/UCSF/etc etc etc. The best matches at my school, from people who are >250 and AOA, were to programs that barely cracked the top 30. Prestige matters on both extremes (eg very helpful for the top 10, detrimental to those on the bottom rung); it's only in the gooey middle that prestige becomes less important (eg UIC vs IU is essentially a wash; UIC vs Harvard is a whole different ball game).

Like I said, I'd rather have a 230 from Harvard/JHU/Yale/Columbia/UCSF than a 260 from a low tier school. You'll match into basically w/e program you want to as long as there are no glaring defects in your application.

 

[deleted564680]

take it from someone in the opposite scenario (good/great app from a very low tier school), I'd rather have been in your shoes. Coming from a top 5 opens so many more doors than a low tier school. People from my school simply do not get into Duke/Hopkins/Columbia/UCSF/etc etc etc. The best matches at my school, from people who are >250 and AOA, were to programs that barely cracked the top 30. Prestige matters on both extremes (eg very helpful for the top 10, detrimental to those on the bottom rung); it's only in the gooey middle that prestige becomes less important (eg UIC vs IU is essentially a wash; UIC vs Harvard is a whole different ball game).

Like I said, I'd rather have a 230 from Harvard/JHU/Yale/Columbia/UCSF than a 260 from a low tier school. You'll match into basically w/e program you want to as long as there are no glaring defects in your application.

Yeah, it's a shame that the biggest factor of getting a top caliber residency is your pre-med resume.

 

[kenjixshadow]

"Top 30" is pretty subjective. Can you match at a good program? Yes. You just have to work hard from here on out to achieve it, though.

Side note: I just crept on your profile because I thought I saw you post on the ophtho board. You said you were a third year med student 1.5 years ago? lol

I thought of 3 possible scenarios:
1) troll of april's fool
2) this person took 2 years of LOA
3) this person is an MD/PhD student -- usually these students take Step 1 after finished M2, but I know someone took it after finishing G2. The year gap here makes sense.

 

[Ophthoseidon]

I thought of 3 possible scenarios:
1) troll of april's fool
2) this person took 2 years of LOA
3) this person is an MD/PhD student -- usually these students take Step 1 after finished M2, but I know someone took it after finishing G2. The year gap here makes sense.

Probably a troll. I was saying more about her saying "going into third year" on this post but saying she was in third year 1.5 ago. It would make sense if she just took step 1 now without mentioning that because this could be her 5th year or something.

 

[sliceofbread136]

I remember thinking like this end of ms2. Now that I'm at the end of ms3 I really really do not care

 

[OphthLover]

I thought of 3 possible scenarios:
1) troll of april's fool
2) this person took 2 years of LOA
3) this person is an MD/PhD student -- usually these students take Step 1 after finished M2, but I know someone took it after finishing G2. The year gap here makes sense.

+1 to 3)

 

[OphthLover]

Thank you guys all for your replies. I really do appreciate them.

 

[235009]

+1 to 3)

You're an MD/phd student and didn't think that was a relevant thing to mention?

Way to manufacture drama.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app