Matching at Top Programs with not so hot USMLE scores

[psychguy88]

Hi all-

I have read a lot on here and have finally joined and posted!

Basically, I applied this year from a US MD school. I have gotten interviews at most of the great programs on east coast (Cambridge, Longwood, Brown, Sinai, Columbia, Penn, Maryland, Emory). Those eight are all places I'd love to match. But, I wonder if I will really be able to match at any of them?

I have honors in my psych rotations and mostly high satisfactory in my third year rotations. My step 1 isn't so great at 197 and my step 2 I went up to 220. I have been published a few time. My personal statement was interesting and well-received so programs seem to like that.

I have gotten nice feedback along the interview trail. But sadly, only one love letter/phone call/we are ranking you highly from those eight programs.

One of my advisers was very positive... saying in Psych we don't look at Step 1 and Step 2 as much because it's a poor representation of your ability to be a psychiatrist. She says if you got an interview, you should be in the running.
My other adviser is less optimistic. He feel sometimes programs (especially more competitive ones) will use scores as differentiating factors for ranking.

What do you guys think? I know no one can predict this and the NRMP report (Charting Outcomes in 2009) says about 97% chance matched at about 7 ranks. But, I just don't want to be disappointed. So, I'm trying to set my expectations at a realistic level.

I have another six programs on my list after them. So I should be good to match. Though my excitement and like for them drops precipitately.

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[notdeadyet]

I have gotten nice feedback along the interview trail. But sadly, only one love letter/phone call/we are ranking you highly from those eight programs.

I also applied this year and noticed that the letters and phone calls came from all but the very top programs. I think at UCSF or MGH, you probably assume everyone will be ranking you near the top and even if they don't, hey, you'll get a top notch person next on the list.

My other adviser is less optimistic. He feel sometimes programs (especially more competitive ones) will use scores as differentiating factors for ranking.

I'm with your "other adviser." We're blessed (I also didn't set the world on fire with my USMLE scores) in that Psychiatry seems to place less emphasis on the Step scores than most specialties, but it would be wishful thinking to assume that they don't look at them at all. It's another piece used in your evaluation. How much weight it's going to carry will vary by school and individual.

What do you guys think? I know no one can predict this and the NRMP report (Charting Outcomes in 2009) says about 97% chance matched at about 7 ranks.

Keep in mind that of that 97% of folks who ranked 7 programs, a big majority probably had some less competitive programs in there.

But at the end of the day, I wouldn't really consider your Step scores to be a deal-killer. You had some great interviews at some great programs, all of which knew your scores when they invited you, so they apparently saw something in your application that made you worth their consideration. Assuming you did a bang-up job on your interviews, I'm sure you have a strong shot at landing at one of the programs you listed.

 

[flash]

Congrats on securing interviews at some great programs. Many of us understand all too well the anxiety this process can provoke. My advice, humbly, is to generate an ROL, don't forget to certify it and work on accepting this dreadful period of uncertainty. Nothing you do at this point, or what others may post after me will make any difference. You're gonna do just fine.

I, on the other hand, will probably end up at my 12th preference

 

[billypilgrim37]

The improvement in your Step 2 is significant and many programs would see that as a possibility that your Step 1 was a bad day (depending on what makes sense with the rest of your application). If you got that many interviews at good places despite that, it probably bodes well. Your cautious anxiety seems appropriate, but I think most of us would be surprised if you weren't pretty happy on match day. And your med school of origin is probably a significant factor too, and obviously something most people don't feel comfortable disclosing on here.

 

[plickfu]

I think what got you those interviews were your pubs. I had decent board scores (221, 249), good grades (all honors or high passes in 3rd year), very strong rec letters, lots of leadership/community service experience, but no research or publications. I had lots of interview offers, even at really great programs, and I basically have my pick of where I want to match (I believe), but I got no interview love at all from top places (UCSF, UCLA, MGH, Mt Sinai, Yale, Columbia,...).

As far as matching, at this point, it depends on how your interviews went. I doubt some PD is going to overlook feeling like you'd be a great fit because you have below-average board scores.

 

[atsai3]

I have honors in my psych rotations and mostly high satisfactory in my third year rotations. My step 1 isn't so great at 197 and my step 2 I went up to 220. I have been published a few time. My personal statement was interesting and well-received so programs seem to like that.

(snip)

One of my advisers was very positive... saying in Psych we don't look at Step 1 and Step 2 as much because it's a poor representation of your ability to be a psychiatrist. She says if you got an interview, you should be in the running.
My other adviser is less optimistic. He feel sometimes programs (especially more competitive ones) will use scores as differentiating factors for ranking.

An interview doesn't mean the playing field is completely level afterwards. If we are considering two candidates who have interviewed, one with zero publications and a Step 1 of 200 and no honors, and the other with 5 publications and a Step 1 of 260 and 5 honors, then of course we are going to consider the second candidate more highly. These factors are not deterministic, but neither are they chopped liver.

-AT.

 

[snowkhat]

I think what got you those interviews were your pubs. I had decent board scores (221, 249), good grades (all honors or high passes in 3rd year), very strong rec letters, lots of leadership/community service experience, but no research or publications. I had lots of interview offers, even at really great programs, and I basically have my pick of where I want to match (I believe), but I got no interview love at all from top places (UCSF, UCLA, MGH, Mt Sinai, Yale, Columbia,...).

As far as matching, at this point, it depends on how your interviews went. I doubt some PD is going to overlook feeling like you'd be a great fit because you have below-average board scores.

I have very similar scores to Plickfu, have graduate research experience/Masters in Neuroscience, and pending publications in major journals...and I didn't get interviews like that. The catch? I'm a DO. I'm happy about the programs I got interviews from, but sometimes I feel I made the wrong choice about medical school.

 

[psychguy88]

Hi all- I wanted to update everyone, as I have gotten a number of PMs about how I faired.

I'm happy to say that I did match in my top 8 (Cambridge, Emory, Columbia, Longwood, Penn, Brown, Sinai, Maryland) and I'm very happy with where I am going. They are all fabulous/competitive programs and I'm lucky to be a part of one of them.

Good luck to all and feel free to PM me if I can help anyone.

Hi all-

I have read a lot on here and have finally joined and posted!

Basically, I applied this year from a US MD school. I have gotten interviews at most of the great programs on east coast (Cambridge, Longwood, Brown, Sinai, Columbia, Penn, Maryland, Emory). Those eight are all places I'd love to match. But, I wonder if I will really be able to match at any of them?

I have honors in my psych rotations and mostly high satisfactory in my third year rotations. My step 1 isn't so great at 197 and my step 2 I went up to 220. I have been published a few time. My personal statement was interesting and well-received so programs seem to like that.

I have gotten nice feedback along the interview trail. But sadly, only one love letter/phone call/we are ranking you highly from those eight programs.

One of my advisers was very positive... saying in Psych we don't look at Step 1 and Step 2 as much because it's a poor representation of your ability to be a psychiatrist. She says if you got an interview, you should be in the running.
My other adviser is less optimistic. He feel sometimes programs (especially more competitive ones) will use scores as differentiating factors for ranking.

What do you guys think? I know no one can predict this and the NRMP report (Charting Outcomes in 2009) says about 97% chance matched at about 7 ranks. But, I just don't want to be disappointed. So, I'm trying to set my expectations at a realistic level.

I have another six programs on my list after them. So I should be good to match. Though my excitement and like for them drops precipitately.

 

[TexasPhysician]

Hi all- I wanted to update everyone, as I have gotten a number of PMs about how I faired.

I'm happy to say that I did match in my top 8 (Cambridge, Emory, Columbia, Longwood, Penn, Brown, Sinai, Maryland) and I'm very happy with where I am going. They are all fabulous/competitive programs and I'm lucky to be a part of one of them.

Good luck to all and feel free to PM me if I can help anyone.

Willing to tell us where? I'm sure others would like to know for the future. The competitiveness of Cambridge/Longwood is much different than Emory/Maryland. Just saying you matched at one of those 8 doesn't really help many applicants.