Match (Residency) Day on Tuesday!!

[docmemi]

tomorrow is match day (from what i heard) and scramble....if anyone didnt match for residency, the schools scramble all day to find you a spot.

i was wondering if those who had sources (current med students and applicants who work at a med school, of course who are on SDN) could start posting what they hear about different schools.

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[docmemi]

anyone know about the schools in los angeles (usc, ucla, or drew/ucla)??

 

[Jalby]

It;s Thursday,not Tuesday. I would know stuff if I was on campus, but I don't. Sorry.

 

[docmemi]

hmmm. i thought it was Thursday too. but someone told me Tuesday is match and scramble day. maybe its announced and celebrated on thursday.

anyway, im so anxious to find out.

 

[docmemi]

i guess meanwhile we can talk about the way the process works.

so im assuming the applicant puts schools they want in order (of course for a particular program). i heard sometimes students apply for more than one speciality. then you are given an interview...does everyone get it or you have to invited? then the schools pick who they want and the match making begins. is that how it goes?

how about selection factors? from previous threads, i gathered the following:

step 1 board score, grades in rotations (esp for that speciality), ranking in class, letters of rec including a deans letter, where you did and the specialty of your elective/away clerkships (did you do it at that school?), school and its location (sometimes you have home school or home state advantage, reputation among directors---ranking), and research-publications/other EC's.

how does that list sound? order of importance?

 

[MiamiDoc]

Match day is Thursday. Today was about finding out "if" you had matched at a spot, otherwise you are set to scramble. Thursday everyone gets their own letters of matching.

 

[pathstudent]

so im assuming the applicant puts schools they want in order (of course for a particular program). i heard sometimes students apply for more than one speciality. then you are given an interview...does everyone get it or you have to invited? then the schools pick who they want and the match making begins. is that how it goes?

you apply to the programs electronically in the early fall of your senior year and the programs decide to interview you or not. You interview from mid Oct to early Feb. The programs rank you compared to the other candidates they interviewed and you rank the programs that you interviewed at, and then a computer matches you to your most desired program that has open spots not filled by other candidates that the program preferred over you.

You find out where you are going the third Thursday of March. The Monday before you find out if you matched. If you did not match, you try to match up with a program that has open spots. This is what is going on today. Unfortunately, you may not get a spot in your field of choice if you have to "scrammble". But sometimes a sweet situation can work out. I have heard of people scrambling into UCLA Emer Med and UCSF surgery although that is probably unusual.

YOur list of things considered for your application is more or less complete, but different people will list them in different orders of importance. What is for sure true that if you have a 250 or greater on step 1, are ranked near the top of your class, elected into AOA, have great letters of Rec, do well your third year, get your name on a paper or two, and gotten involved with the school at all, you are money and can match more or less where you want in what you want with rare exceptions.

 

[docmemi]

so those who did match wont know to where until thursday and those who didnt need to find one (theoretically then they find out before others...well if they find an opening), right?

this is interesting.

 

[CalBeE]

I know of a family friend who didn't get matched anywhere for Ophthalmology (She applied to 50 places and interviewed at quite many I heard). She scrambled into a family medicine spot I believe.

That's just said, it's just like going through the whole application process and end up getting a huge disappointment.

Oh and by the way, I'm curious if med schools actually give you really good advice on your realistic chances at different places. It seems like at many schools, like 75% or more people get matched to one of their top 3 choices. I mean, how many people who applied for med school can say they got into one of their top 3 choices....definitely not 75%.

 

[auster]

Originally posted by CalBeE
I know of a family friend who didn't get matched anywhere for Ophthalmology (She applied to 50 places and interviewed at quite many I heard). She scrambled into a family medicine spot I believe.

That's just said, it's just like going through the whole application process and end up getting a huge disappointment.

Oh and by the way, I'm curious if med schools actually give you really good advice on your realistic chances at different places. It seems like at many schools, like 75% or more people get matched to one of their top 3 choices. I mean, how many people who applied for med school can say they got into one of their top 3 choices....definitely not 75%.

The statistics about getting into one of your first three choices are a bit misleading - the fact is, because there is a match process, you don't necessarily list what are ACTUALLY your first three choices, but instead list the first 3 choices among those that are likely to have liked you. You might have hated the three programs you listed first, but realized those were the most likely to have ranked you.
So, the statistics about the number of graduates who get one of their top 3 choices is more of a reflection of the quality of the advising - they aren't ranking programs that are unlikely to want them...

 

[CalBeE]

Originally posted by auster
The statistics about getting into one of your first three choices are a bit misleading - the fact is, because there is a match process, you don't necessarily list what are ACTUALLY your first three choices, but instead list the first 3 choices among those that are likely to have liked you. You might have hated the three programs you listed first, but realized those were the most likely to have ranked you.
So, the statistics about the number of graduates who get one of their top 3 choices is more of a reflection of the quality of the advising - they aren't ranking programs that are unlikely to want them...

OK, so if a residency program ranks you as a top candidate, but you ranked the program pretty low on your priority, you'll end up not getting that spot b/c you don't show enough interest?

I mean, if that's not the case, that why wouldn't someone just list things based on their own preference, not neccessarily their chances of getting in?

 

[Bendrix]

Originally posted by auster
they aren't ranking programs that are unlikely to want them...

Students also don't rank programs that didn't interview them. When you see "matched in top 3," that's really top 3 post-interview.

 

[Eraserhead]

This sounds like a better system, why doesn't MD admission work this way? We'd all be more sane finding out on the same day. I guess there are too many applicants for this to work?

 

[Bendrix]

Originally posted by DoctorKevin
why doesn't MD admission work this way?

I sort of wish it did too, but then we couldn't use financial aid packages to figure out the best choice money-wise. Personally, I'd settle for hearing from Cornell around the same time everyone else did.

 

[Eraserhead]

jaycee- you are still waiting on cornell too then? its really hard for me to focus on anything at this point.

 

[Bendrix]

Yeah, DK, I'm still waiting. I have to thank you for all your posts. They really enable me to check my email every 2 minutes without feeling unduly obsessive.

 

[Eraserhead]

Its good to know everyone thinks I'm nuts

 

[madcadaver]

Originally posted by auster
The statistics about getting into one of your first three choices are a bit misleading - the fact is, because there is a match process, you don't necessarily list what are ACTUALLY your first three choices, but instead list the first 3 choices among those that are likely to have liked you.

This is, in general, wrong. There are indeed a few people who don't actually understand how the match works and use that logic. But those who have understand the match algorithm know that you should rank places in order of desirability, and no other way. The great thing about the match is that it is quite favorable to students.

For further info I recommend looking at the NRMP site and trying to understand why it is stupid to not highly rank programs which you would like to attend.

http://www.nrmp.org/res_match/user.html

MadC

 

[Bones2008]

Originally posted by madcadaver
But those who have understand the match algorithm know that you should rank places in order of desirability, and no other way. The great thing about the match is that it is quite favorable to students.

I totally agree. By the way, for those who didn't know, the Match is being sued. Look at Save the Match for more info.

 

[Tone2002]

Originally posted by DoctorKevin
This sounds like a better system, why doesn't MD admission work this way? We'd all be more sane finding out on the same day. I guess there are too many applicants for this to work?

Texas medicals schools already does this same system with a few minor differences.

 

[docmemi]

bump. any news.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by madcadaver
This is, in general, wrong. There are indeed a few people who don't actually understand how the match works and use that logic. But those who have understand the match algorithm know that you should rank places in order of desirability, and no other way. The great thing about the match is that it is quite favorable to students.

I agree! Rank where you would like to go first, even the long shots.

 

[An Yong]

http://www.siam.org/siamnews/04-03/tocapr03.htm

2nd article. Enjoy!

 

[docmemi]

bzump. any news???

 

[Bendrix]

Re: matching to top three programs, check out this chart. About 85% of med students nation-wide matched within their top three this year.