Likelihood of Matching into Away Rotation Site

[laptopheater]

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General Question: What is the likelihood of matching into your away rotation site? (Obviously, given that you got an HP or H with good comments on the SLOE, and you rank them highly.) Or, if easier to answer, has anyone ranked their away rotation site #1-3 and wound up matching at a lower rank?

Background: I am a US MD senior with a much less than stellar application: remediated a couple preclinical courses due to family issues, Step 1 - 201, somewhat compensated by Step 2 - 245, half P's and HP's during 3rd year, bottom 25% of class. No relevant research in emergency medicine and ended up taking an extra year in med school to figure out whether EM was right for me. Did home EM rotation and two aways where I earned 2 HPs and 1 H. According to several interviewers, SLOEs report that I did "very well." The away that is my #1 choice would be the one where I got the H, and I would consider the program to be somewhat competitive (current residents from top schools, nationally recognized faculty, located in a large city in the Northeast, lots of trauma, etc.).

I significantly prefer this program more than any other program at which I will be interviewing (though once I interview at the other places, who knows?), but given the caliber of my application, I assumed the interview was purely a courtesy for rotating there, and from several different sources, these courtesy interviews should only be taken at face value (i.e., it is very likely they will not rank me at all). Any input would be much appreciated!

 

[SoyMilk]

General Question: What is the likelihood of matching into your away rotation site? (Obviously, given that you got an HP or H with good comments on the SLOE, and you rank them highly.) Or, if easier to answer, has anyone ranked their away rotation site #1-3 and wound up matching at a lower rank?

Background: I am a US MD senior with a much less than stellar application: remediated a couple preclinical courses due to family issues, Step 1 - 201, somewhat compensated by Step 2 - 245, half P's and HP's during 3rd year, bottom 25% of class. No relevant research in emergency medicine and ended up taking an extra year in med school to figure out whether EM was right for me. Did home EM rotation and two aways where I earned 2 HPs and 1 H. According to several interviewers, SLOEs report that I did "very well." The away that is my #1 choice would be the one where I got the H, and I would consider the program to be somewhat competitive (current residents from top schools, nationally recognized faculty, located in a large city in the Northeast, lots of trauma, etc.).

I significantly prefer this program more than any other program at which I will be interviewing (though once I interview at the other places, who knows?), but given the caliber of my application, I assumed the interview was purely a courtesy for rotating there, and from several different sources, these courtesy interviews should only be taken at face value (i.e., it is very likely they will not rank me at all). Any input would be much appreciated!

Why does it matter? The match favors student preferences so you should rank the programs you want highest regardless of how they will rank you.

http://www.nrmp.org/match-process/match-algorithm/

http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Run-A-Match.pdf


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Do you have enough interviews to feel comfortable matching without applying to backup specialties?

 

[BoardingDoc]

Completely agree with SoyMilk. If you're looking for reassurance, we don't really have a lot of data that are going to help you. If you want to know whether you should rank them, the answer is yes. There is no reason whatsoever to adjust your rank list based on who you think likes you. Your rank list should be entirely based on where you want to go as there is literally ZERO benefit to doing it any other way. This isn't propaganda. There isn't a way to "game the match list." It's an algorithm, and it favors the applicant completely.

 

[laptopheater]

Why does it matter? The match favors student preferences so you should rank the programs you want highest regardless of how they will rank you.

http://www.nrmp.org/match-process/match-algorithm/

http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Run-A-Match.pdf


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Do you have enough interviews to feel comfortable matching without applying to backup specialties?

Thanks for asking! I was extremely fortunate enough to get more interviews than I ever expected for EM (currently at 22 invitations) after applying VERY broadly (80 programs, only EM as I wouldn't be happy anywhere else) since I knew there were multiple red flags in my application from the start. Now, I kind of realize it was a little overkill since I basically would have gotten the same number if I stuck to the original 50 - 60 I had planned (I ended up applying to random locations in the South and Midwest without having any ties to the areas and now without any intention of interviewing even if I were invited). Of course, it was impossible to get me to apply to fewer programs on Sept 15/16 even if you had convinced me you were from the future and showed me all the things I could've bought with the extra few hundred dollars now lost to ERAS.

As for my original question, I suppose I was just looking for reassurance, but now in retrospect, even if 20 people replied that they did in fact match into their away rotation site, I would still assume the sample size was skewed and it would be meaningless for my particular circumstances (typical medical student anxiety). I really appreciate the responses and will just keep my fingers crossed for the best.