matching woes

[welcometolax]

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Hi guys. Im a US IMG who just graduated in Jan 2018. I did not match in 2018 even though I had 10 IM interviews and ranked all of them. I am in the process of getting my ECFMG certification. Dont know why I went unmatched. Thought I had a competitive application. My scores are Step 1 : 236, Step 2ck: 245, CS pass first time. Cs score came in Oct. 10th. I am planning on taking step 3 but would like some constructive criticism as to why I went unmatched. thank you for your help. FYI I only applied to IM.

 

[darklabel]

How many programs did you apply for?

 

[welcometolax]

200+

 

[spacegun]

Hi guys. Im a US IMG who just graduated in Jan 2018. I did not match in 2018 even though I had 10 IM interviews and ranked all of them. I am in the process of getting my ECFMG certification. Dont know why I went unmatched. Thought I had a competitive application. My scores are Step 1 : 236, Step 2ck: 245, CS pass first time. Cs score came in Oct. 10th. I am planning on taking step 3 but would like some constructive criticism as to why I went unmatched. thank you for your help. FYI I only applied to IM.

200+

As an IMG, I thought you had to have your ECFMG certification complete before you applied. Maybe that's why you didn't match? Otherwise your scores seem solid for IM and it sounds like you applied to plenty of programs with 200+ programs (and I assume you applied to a good mix of community and lower tier programs all over the country too?).

Other reasons might be - some red flag you're not telling us about (failed classes? repeat a year?) or poor interviewing ability. Maybe ask @aProgDirector?

 

[welcometolax]

I only failed a class in my preclinical year, which caused me to repeat a semester because of my med school's rules. No failed shelfs, mostly honors clinical rotations. Its possible i did not interview well, though i walked out of my interview thinking most of them went well. Ended up talking about sports and georgia ( where im from) and in turn felt like i created good rapport. I know people in my class who also dont have their ecfmg certification yet, but have ended up matching in their specialties. I understand most programs would want you to be certified by ROL, but that again varies by program i believe.

 

[mimelim]

Failed class, repeated semester, IMG. Three red flags that you know about. I'm not exactly sure where you are confused.

 

[welcometolax]

i know people with failed shelfs and lower step scores than me who matched. Hence my confusion. Also i got a decent amount of interviews. only one interview did they bring up my failed class.

 

[spacegun]

I only failed a class in my preclinical year, which caused me to repeat a semester because of my med school's rules. No failed shelfs, mostly honors clinical rotations. Its possible i did not interview well, though i walked out of my interview thinking most of them went well. Ended up talking about sports and georgia ( where im from) and in turn felt like i created good rapport. I know people in my class who also dont have their ecfmg certification yet, but have ended up matching in their specialties. I understand most programs would want you to be certified by ROL, but that again varies by program i believe.

i know people with failed shelfs and lower step scores than me who matched. Hence my confusion. Also i got a decent amount of interviews. only one interview did they bring up my failed class.

Sorry OP. Your stats seem solid when compared to NRMP for IM apart from the failures. Anything else you might be accidentally forgetting to mention? Did you address your failures well in your PS? Do you have strong LOR’s and enough USCE? Just trying to get a better picture to better advise or help.

 

[welcometolax]

I did not necessarily address my failure in my personal statement. is that a big issue? Nothing else that i can think of. I went to a carib med school so did all my rotations in US. I had decent LOR's, which im working on improving.

 

[welcometolax]

Also, how do i improve my application for next years match?

 

[Snoopy2006]

Which school did you go to? One of the big 4?

Generally while you have some red flags as noted above, those flags tend to prevent people from getting interviews. 10 IVs is solid. My suspicion is that it comes down to how you interviewed, though of course no one online can be sure.

Your best bets are to apply broader (FM, not just IM) and if you can get an observership or whatever the IMG equivalent of an away rotation is, it might help you show your personality and connect with people at a certain program, which could compensate for weak interviewing skills.

 

[welcometolax]

I went to AUA. Also I was thinking of applying to pediatrics.