Lowish Step 1 Score

[ophthowannabe1]

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I am the president of my ophthalmology interest group, and I had a fellow student with a low 220's score approach me. Also, I recently had a colleague with a low 230 approach me. Both were interested in how badly their step score hurt their chances for matching.

What should I tell them? They have both done pretty well in the first 2 years, and they are starting up their third year. No published research by either.

 

[NSAspy]

First tell them to NOT listen to ANYTHING their fellow classmates have to say about their individual chances of matching, EXCEPT if the advice from their peers is to talk to an Ophtho Residency Program Director. Having just gone through this process, I've been amazed at how ignorant and devoid of perspective SOME med students and physicians are, when it comes to evaluating one's chances of matching. As in most things, there's a normal distribution, mean, median etc.

With an avg step 1 of 242, that means plenty of applicants with 230s match, & some with 220s also match. Tell them to prepare their CV and go sit down with a PD.

 

[DrZeke]

Agree with the above post. It's a curve not an absolute. Obviously there is a difference between a 250 and a 230, but 230 can have a very real and decent chance of matching if they target the right programs and prepare their CV well.

 

[DermViser]

I am the president of my ophthalmology interest group, and I had a fellow student with a low 220's score approach me. Also, I recently had a colleague with a low 230 approach me. Both were interested in how badly their step score hurt their chances for matching.

What should I tell them? They have both done pretty well in the first 2 years, and they are starting up their third year. No published research by either.

With all due respect, students should not be getting matching advice from OTHER students, esp. if they haven't been through the match even if that person is an officer in the specialty interest group. The only valid advice any student should be giving another student with regards to matching is to talk with their specialty's Program Director to evaluate their application.

 

[DrZeke]

With all due respect, students should not be getting matching advice from OTHER students, esp. if they haven't been through the match even if that person is an officer in the specialty interest group. The only valid advice any student should be giving another student with regards to matching is to talk with their specialty's Program Director to evaluate their application.

Also, med students tend to way more pessimistic than ophtho faculty members.