Am I competitive for the following programs? I have a Step I 227 (92), Upper 35% of class first two years. Doing decent M3 year with an H in Medicine and HP in others. I have my name on 3 publications and 2 presentations since in med school, though none related to Pathology and great LOR's. I would love to end up in either Oregon, Washington, Utah, California or Colorado. If I apply to just those schools that makes 16 programs. I'll probably apply to Indiana, Florida and possibly Hawaii as back-ups. Does this sound reasonable? Should I apply to more? What is the typical number to apply too?
Lookin for Advice
- Thread starter Quixotic
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D
deleted113029
your stats make you competitive. i'm sure you'll be able to match in one of the 5 states you mentioned. 16 programs should be plenty, but you're entitled to at least 4 more as it will cost the same through ERAS. I applied to too many schools; 20 but declined 10 interviews.
i guess people have been saying path is getting more competitive, but you should be fine.
good luck!
B
b&ierstiefel
You should be fine. Your step 1 score is above average. You got pubs which always helps...they don't have to be pathology related. Great LOR's? You mean you've seen them already? As for your selection of programs, the california schools will be the most competitive. UWash is competitive too.
An H in medicine is more than doing just decent...the majority of us get just passes cuz we're laid back.
Oh wait, you got an H in medicine...I hope you're not one of those obnoxious folks that people like us couldn't stand when we were rotating on medicine.
An H in medicine is more than doing just decent...the majority of us get just passes cuz we're laid back.
Oh wait, you got an H in medicine...I hope you're not one of those obnoxious folks that people like us couldn't stand when we were rotating on medicine.
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you and i will have similar applications next year with respect to the numbers, minus publications on my end. i'll be applying some out west as well, minus cali schools. i hope the advice given to you is right, as it'll bode well for me too. when i've spoken with the path PD at my school as well as our dean of student affairs, i've been told that with numbers in our range, we'll be very strong pathology applicants. the PD here i spoke with said 15-20 apps is reasonable and then 8-12 interviews. more than that is probably not doable in terms of time and resources. if you're interested in comments about USF/tampa, i'd be glad to share my observations with you.
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I agree, those stats will get you interviews at most places you apply (provided your LOR are good and you have a strong interest in pathology). And provided you can articulate your desire to do pathology in the interview, no problem to match.
You should be fine. Your step 1 score is above average. You got pubs which always helps...they don't have to be pathology related. Great LOR's? You mean you've seen them already? As for your selection of programs, the california schools will be the most competitive. UWash is competitive too.
An H in medicine is more than doing just decent...the majority of us get just passes cuz we're laid back.
Oh wait, you got an H in medicine...I hope you're not one of those obnoxious folks that people like us couldn't stand when we were rotating on medicine.
I read some of the comments the letter writers put on my evaluations and if they are followed through on the LOR then I should be golden. Plus, they offered to write letters so I would estimate they should be great.
I received an H in Medicine because I really enjoyed the rotation and let my enthusiasm show presenting papers constantly and always trying to do extra work. Not to suck up, just because I enjoyed what I was doing.
I'm thinking 25 applications max and then maybe 12-15 interviews just to be sure I want to end up at a specific location. I'm not sure about doing an away yet?
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I would do an away rotation if you are applying in a different part of the country, that's the main reason to do it. But away rotations will never hurt you if you can afford the expense and the time commitment (provided of course that you do a good job there).
25 applications is probably excessive, but I don't think it costs any more to apply to that many, so you might as well.
25 applications is probably excessive, but I don't think it costs any more to apply to that many, so you might as well.
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Hey mlw03, I was just talking about USF with an attending the other day. Could you post what you think are the strengths and weaknesses of the program. Unfortunately the resident manual link on the website is not functioning and I'd love to hear a first hand opinion.
Thanks!
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I have similar stats and got great interviews in the region that you've specified minus the programs that are more traditionally geared toward research. I applied to 28 programs, which in retrospect was too many. We'll see where I end up matching though!
I ended up doing 13 interviews, which doesn't seem like a lot as a third year when you're just talking about doing them, but in reality it was a lot and I was really burnt out. I almost fell asleep during one of them, which I'm not proud of but I was able to keep it together for the interviews that were really important to me. What happened was I got invites for a lot of my less desirable places early on, which I scheduled in November. I saved the more desirable interviews for the end because Iserson's said that I'd have a 2-3% increased chance of matching there if I waited until the end of interview season. As far as advice, don't be afraid to cancel because it gets old fast, and don't buy your flight tickets too far in advance.
I ended up doing 13 interviews, which doesn't seem like a lot as a third year when you're just talking about doing them, but in reality it was a lot and I was really burnt out. I almost fell asleep during one of them, which I'm not proud of but I was able to keep it together for the interviews that were really important to me. What happened was I got invites for a lot of my less desirable places early on, which I scheduled in November. I saved the more desirable interviews for the end because Iserson's said that I'd have a 2-3% increased chance of matching there if I waited until the end of interview season. As far as advice, don't be afraid to cancel because it gets old fast, and don't buy your flight tickets too far in advance.
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first off i should note that it's rediculously obvious who i am, so i'm not going to post anything inflammatory about USF. that said, i have generally strong feelings about the program, and as i've mentioned before, if not for my desire to leave tampa i'd surely apply and would strongly consider the program.
Strengths:
Many solid faculty - from my experiences with them, I feel there are solid faculty in the following areas: hematopathology, neuropathology, dermpath, cytology, gyn, liver and kidney, forensics, and microbiology. I have a specific person I'm thinking of for each here, and they're all very good at what they do and also good teachers. I don't have much exposure with the other faculty, so I won't comment about them.
Moffitt - a top notch cancer institute in the southeast. you'll see plenty of pathology here, including some of the zebras
Improving program - I think they're expanding the program in the next year or so, and from my observations, the lower-level resident classes seem to have increasing numbers of americans. i'm not knocking some of the upper-level FMGs, but i think we can all agree that more US MDs corresponds with more competitiveness.
Ancillary staff: at both the VA and Moffitt, there is plenty of support from some very knowledgeable and friends PAs. I can't speak about the TGH experience too much as I haven't spent much time down there.
young faculty: many of the faculty are relatively young - late 30s, early 40s. when i've spent time with many of them, they're cool people - the kind you'd go grab a beer with on a sunday afternoon and watch the bucs game or something like that. i think this contributes to a pleasant working environment.
USF med students: path residents help teach the MSII's pathology labs, and most of us are pretty cool.
tampa cost of living: much cheaper than anything up north, and the market is down lately because builders went a little crazy the last few years and demand is now less than supply.
Weaknesses:
disjointedness: the USF pathology department only has 3 actual practicing pathologists on faculty to my knowledge - the chairman, the PD, and the second year course director. all the other faculty are employed by the VA, Moffitt, county ME's office, etc. i don't know if this is intrinsically good or bad, but i would imagine there are issues sometimes about who's in charge. as a counterpoint, i've never heard of any problems because of this, and everyone got along just fine at the Christmas party.
lots of travel: the tampa bay area is big, and USF utilizes a lot of sites, some of which are up to 1 hour from each other (more in rush hour traffic, which sucks here). no matter where you live, you're going to have to travel sometimes.
tampa weather: think swamp April thru October. you practically need malaria prophylaxis the bugs can get so bad. November thru early March tends to be rather pleasant though.
i'd be glad to try and answer any other questions thru PMs.
Strengths:
Many solid faculty - from my experiences with them, I feel there are solid faculty in the following areas: hematopathology, neuropathology, dermpath, cytology, gyn, liver and kidney, forensics, and microbiology. I have a specific person I'm thinking of for each here, and they're all very good at what they do and also good teachers. I don't have much exposure with the other faculty, so I won't comment about them.
Moffitt - a top notch cancer institute in the southeast. you'll see plenty of pathology here, including some of the zebras
Improving program - I think they're expanding the program in the next year or so, and from my observations, the lower-level resident classes seem to have increasing numbers of americans. i'm not knocking some of the upper-level FMGs, but i think we can all agree that more US MDs corresponds with more competitiveness.
Ancillary staff: at both the VA and Moffitt, there is plenty of support from some very knowledgeable and friends PAs. I can't speak about the TGH experience too much as I haven't spent much time down there.
young faculty: many of the faculty are relatively young - late 30s, early 40s. when i've spent time with many of them, they're cool people - the kind you'd go grab a beer with on a sunday afternoon and watch the bucs game or something like that. i think this contributes to a pleasant working environment.
USF med students: path residents help teach the MSII's pathology labs, and most of us are pretty cool.
tampa cost of living: much cheaper than anything up north, and the market is down lately because builders went a little crazy the last few years and demand is now less than supply.
Weaknesses:
disjointedness: the USF pathology department only has 3 actual practicing pathologists on faculty to my knowledge - the chairman, the PD, and the second year course director. all the other faculty are employed by the VA, Moffitt, county ME's office, etc. i don't know if this is intrinsically good or bad, but i would imagine there are issues sometimes about who's in charge. as a counterpoint, i've never heard of any problems because of this, and everyone got along just fine at the Christmas party.
lots of travel: the tampa bay area is big, and USF utilizes a lot of sites, some of which are up to 1 hour from each other (more in rush hour traffic, which sucks here). no matter where you live, you're going to have to travel sometimes.
tampa weather: think swamp April thru October. you practically need malaria prophylaxis the bugs can get so bad. November thru early March tends to be rather pleasant though.
i'd be glad to try and answer any other questions thru PMs.
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