Match Lists

[bridgie]

K I'm and idiot but I don't know how to tell a good match list from a bad match list, any pointers?

Don't you have to be an insider and know where the best programs are or what matches are most competitive? I don't know these things so how am I supposed to know if a list is impressive or not?

(PS I have no clue what I want ot go into)

Thanks in advance for the enlightenment.

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[Yogi Bear]

it's all relative to what someone considers good and is often very anecdotal. i.e. a school like georgetown has an awesome matchlist cuz they had 17 ortho's, harvard has an awesome matchlist cuz they match at MGH. i think the two main features are 1) where the students match 2)in which area the students match. i think it's all personal preferance what combination of #1 and #2 you value. The whole USNews thing about "95+% of our applicants match at one of the top 3 choices" is totally misleading. The % matching into their top choices is all based on where an applicant applies (i.e. some schools such as georgetown may have a lower personal top 3 matchrate cuz so many of their students apply for hard specialties such as ortho).

 

[tryingagain]

Speaking of matching........

What happens if you want to go into a specific field but then no one picks you? What heppens then? What do you do? If this does happen does it happen often???

 

[Yogi Bear]

Originally posted by tryingagain
Speaking of matching........

What happens if you want to go into a specific field but then no one picks you? What heppens then? What do you do? If this does happen does it happen often???

i think u can 'scramble' for any available residency spot or take a year off. in the scramble, i think u're informed a few days before match days that u weren't matched. then, u basically take whatever residency spot's available. at one of my interviews, a director said that there was one student who had to scrambel and ended up at harvard's mgh for anesthesiology or something.

 

[Joe Joe on da Radio]

Originally posted by tryingagain
Speaking of matching........

What happens if you want to go into a specific field but then no one picks you? What heppens then? What do you do? If this does happen does it happen often???

most people will end up in a transitional position (non-categorical) at a hospital for the year. they apply for the match again during this year.

 

[banannie]

i have a question about what is meant by "top 3"

i am guessing that when you apply to residencies, you send out apps to a bunch of places. then, the ones that like you invite you to an interview. then when it comes time to rank, you can only rank those that interviewed you.

so basically, you could apply to a lot of residencies, only get asked to interview at 4 that are at the bottom of your selection barrel, and then if you rank these 4, and get into #3 (which may very well be the next-to-last favored school of all those you applied to) you still, technically, got into a "top 3"

someone please explain this if I have got it wrong.

 

[bw07]

Originally posted by banannie
i have a question about what is meant by "top 3"

i am guessing that when you apply to residencies, you send out apps to a bunch of places. then, the ones that like you invite you to an interview. then when it comes time to rank, you can only rank those that interviewed you.

so basically, you could apply to a lot of residencies, only get asked to interview at 4 that are at the bottom of your selection barrel, and then if you rank these 4, and get into #3 (which may very well be the next-to-last favored school of all those you applied to) you still, technically, got into a "top 3"

someone please explain this if I have got it wrong.

That's exactly right, whereas someone else could up at their #5 choice, which didn't even give you an interview, but on the surface, you got the higher choice. If you're going to look at a match list, the %matching Top 3 choices is not a great indicator.

 

[kaos]

So the difficulty in getting residencies is actually getting interviewed?

 

[bw07]

Generally yes. Especially for the more competitive residencies, you need some combination of very good board scores, some honors in your clerkships, and LORs from hopefully someone who is well known. Once you get to an interview, barring that you're totally inept, the places want you and want you to rank them highly.

 

[redwingie]

do residency programs look at ur MCAT scores? what about stuff outside of the classroom?

 

[KBCoch]

You know what is a really excellent book that answers all of these questions and more? Kenneth Iserson's Getting Into a Residency. A lot of people recommend that you read it before or during your first year in med school. It's an easy, interesting read absolutely loaded with info about specialties, choosing one, and getting into residencies.

You can probably find one in a med library or pick one up on amazon.com.