Mid-Tier

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underdog427

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I keep hearing about Mid-Tier IM residencies, but I don't know which ones are considered Mid-Tier; seems too broad of a range to qualify. Anyone care to explain?
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underdog427 said:
I keep hearing about Mid-Tier IM residencies, but I don't know which ones are considered Mid-Tier; seems too broad of a range to qualify. Anyone care to explain?
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Basically any university medicine program, not in the top 30 or so. Most community programs with a few exceptions are generally considered "bottom tier".

Who are the "top 30"? :laugh: Debatable. Though your national "name brands" are generally considered "top tier" (which also tend to correspond to places with also considered "top tier" medical schools, if that helps too).

We all tend to agree who the elite programs are. There a only a bit of squabbling about who should be in the top 30, but most kind of agree on that as well.

You can give us a list of places to get a sense. This is really more of a subjective collective consciousness gestalt about where programs lie, and there will be disagreements, but it will help you get a feel for it.
 
Rankings of programs has been discussed here ad nauseum (see: this ranking thread), and everyone has different ideas. Mid-tier, for most, means a respected program that's not in the top 15/top 20/top 30/whatever your cutoff may be, but still in the top 50/top 75/top 100/whatever your cutoff may be. Usually it's an academic program that will be able to set you up for fellowship, if you so choose.

Looking back on the process, I was much happier during the week of submitting my list once I decided to rank where I would be happiest (a term that can mean a variety of things to many people), rather than what I could brag the most about.
 
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FrisbeeDocIM said:
Rankings of programs has been discussed here ad nauseum (see: this ranking thread), and everyone has different ideas. Mid-tier, for most, means a respected program that's not in the top 15/top 20/top 30/whatever your cutoff may be, but still in the top 50/top 75/top 100/whatever your cutoff may be. Usually it's an academic program that will be able to set you up for fellowship, if you so choose.

Looking back on the process, I was much happier during the week of submitting my list once I decided to rank where I would be happiest (a term that can mean a variety of things to many people), rather than what I could brag the most about.
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👍
 
okay; places like UNC, UVA, UMD, Emory, UAB, Vanderbilt, Stanford, MUSC, Tulane, LSU, Wash U, Rochester, VCU, USC, UCSD?...i know i listed some top tier in here but yeah
 
underdog427 said:
okay; places like UNC, UVA, UMD, Emory, UAB, Vanderbilt, Stanford, MUSC, Tulane, LSU, Wash U, Rochester, VCU, USC, UCSD?...i know i listed some top tier in here but yeah
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Yeah, mid-tier is a pretty nebulous term. Some would even go so far as breaking down mid-tier into mutiple tiers... We won't do that here.


UVA, UNC, Emory, Wash U, UCSD, Vandy, Stanford and UAB probably are not mid-tier. The others would be considered solid mid-teir programs.
 
underdog427 said:
okay; places like UNC, UVA, UMD, Emory, UAB, Vanderbilt, Stanford, MUSC, Tulane, LSU, Wash U, Rochester, VCU, USC, UCSD?...i know i listed some top tier in here but yeah
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I think most of us would put it like this of the list you've given us:

Top Tier:
UNC, UVA, Emory, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Wash U, UCSD

Quibbles (These two would probably be on my top 30 list):
UMD, UAB,

Middle Tier:
Tulane, LSU, Rochester, VCU, USC, MUSC,
 
Here are some mid-tiers worth considering (in no particular order):
Wake Forrest
Georgetown
GW
Rush
UIC
Indiana
Ohio State
Pitt
Baylor
University of Florida
Temple
Wayne State University
 
sluggs said:
Here are some mid-tiers worth considering (in no particular order):
Wake Forrest
Georgetown
GW
Rush
UIC
Indiana
Ohio State
Pitt
Baylor
University of Florida
Temple
Wayne State University
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Agreed.

Heh. Most of us toss Pitt in the top 30 these days.
 
FrisbeeDocIM said:
Rankings of programs has been discussed here ad nauseum (see: this ranking thread), and everyone has different ideas. Mid-tier, for most, means a respected program that's not in the top 15/top 20/top 30/whatever your cutoff may be, but still in the top 50/top 75/top 100/whatever your cutoff may be. Usually it's an academic program that will be able to set you up for fellowship, if you so choose.

Looking back on the process, I was much happier during the week of submitting my list once I decided to rank where I would be happiest (a term that can mean a variety of things to many people), rather than what I could brag the most about.
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I'll agree to this.

It pretty much came down to location > reputation, more or less. I was happy I matched at my happy medium.
 
jdh71 said:
Agreed.

Heh. Most of us toss Pitt in the top 30 these days.
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Anyone mind throwing out the bottom end of top-tier? A few were tossed around, but I'm starting to build my list, and I'd like to see what people think. Thanks!
 
GoodmanBrown said:
Anyone mind throwing out the bottom end of top-tier? A few were tossed around, but I'm starting to build my list, and I'd like to see what people think. Thanks!
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Bottom end of the top 30??

There's going to be a lot of disagreement, but I think here's about 15ish places that can arguably (dependin' on who's arguin') be in the top 30 but . . . just not the top half :meanie:

OHSU
Mayo
Wisconsin
Iowa
UTSW
NWern
University of Chicago
UAB
Vandy
UNC
Emory
UVirginia
UMaryland
Pitt
MSSM
Cornell
BID
 
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jdh71 said:
Bottom end of the top 30??

There's going to be a lot of disagreement, but I think here's about 15ish places that can arguably (dependin' on who's arguin') be in the top 30 but . . . just not the top half :meanie:

OHSU
Mayo
Wisconsin
Iowa
UTSW
NWern
University of Chicago
UAB
Vandy
UNC
Emory
UVirginia
UMaryland
Pitt
MSSM
Cornell
BID
Click to expand...

Might as well list a top 30 in no particular order to take out all the mystery...

love these types of ranking threads :corny: 😛
 
disorder said:
Might as well list a top 30 in no particular order to take out all the mystery...
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44222-Grumpy-Cat-GOOD-and-NO-memes-runp.jpeg
 
jdh71 said:
Wake's a great program. Nice hospital. I like the area too. But I don't think most people would lump them in the "top 30", though they wouldn't be too far behind. They'd be in any kind of top 50 I could put together.
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CloseEnough.jpg
 
On SDN, we split hairs between number 30 and 31 on a list...
 
Where would you put Penn State on this list? Is that program very competitive? Average USMLE scores?
 
jdh71 said:
yup
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On a serious note, I'll be a DO student in the fall. I saw they take a decent number of DOs. I will have 1-2 firth author papers, 2 second author and an author on a poster all in cardio. This program would be good for me geographically. Do well and have decent board scores, is this a realistic expectation?
 
FreeOilChecks said:
On a serious note, I'll be a DO student in the fall. I saw they take a decent number of DOs. I will have 1-2 firth author papers, 2 second author and an author on a poster all in cardio. This program would be good for me geographically. Do well and have decent board scores, is this a realistic expectation?
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Seems like it to me. It's not a bad program either. Just doesn't get a ton of respect. Good luck.
 
The competitiveness of residency programs depends a lot on their location with few exceptions. The main reason why penn state is less competitive is because of it's very unfortunate location.
 
skinMD said:
The competitiveness of residency programs depends a lot on their location with few exceptions. The main reason why penn state is less competitive is because of it's very unfortunate location.
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^ yup. I know multiple people who interviewed there and loved it. It's just in the middle of nowhere unfortunately so that turns people off to it. Same could certainly be said about a bunch of midwest programs.
 
jdh71 said:
Bottom end of the top 30??

There's going to be a lot of disagreement, but I think here's about 15ish places that can arguably (dependin' on who's arguin') be in the top 30 but . . . just not the top half :meanie:

OHSU
Mayo
Wisconsin
Iowa
UTSW
NWern
University of Chicago
UAB
Vandy
UNC
Emory
UVirginia
UMaryland
Pitt
MSSM
Cornell
BID
Click to expand...

From this list: Cornell, MSSM, BID, U Chicago, and Northwestern tend to be more competitive due to location.
 
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jdh71 said:
they're still the bottom half :meanie:

EDIT: And you couldn't pay me enough to live in their locations
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Yeah it's funny, these places cost twice as much to live in and pay you much less than pretty much everywhere else in the country.

****, I can buy 2 ten thousand square foot mansions in Cleveland for what a 1 bedroom apartment goes for in NYC.
 
Instatewaiter said:
Yeah it's funny, these places cost twice as much to live in and pay you much less than pretty much everywhere else in the country.

****, I can buy 2 ten thousand square foot mansions in Cleveland for what a 1 bedroom apartment goes for in NYC.
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Werd.

It doesn't make sense to me. You get paid less to have to pay more and for what?? You get to live in some godforsaken city center??

PASS
 
jdh71 said:
Werd.

It doesn't make sense to me. You get paid less to have to pay more and for what?? You get to live in some godforsaken city center??

PASS
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...you'd be closer to jay-z
 
What are some community programs that aren't in the bottom tier?
 
jdh71 said:
Cal Pacific, Cedars, Harbor, Scrips, Cleveland Clinic, Methodist (Houston), Bayview
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In addition to Cleveland Clinic, MGH is also a decent community program 🙄
 
Instatewaiter said:
In addition to Cleveland Clinic, MGH is also a decent community program 🙄
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You must be there for cards. Heh.

Dude there is not university. Do you notice one anywhere? Any "cleveland clinic" university?? It's technically a community program. Unbunch your panties son. If your jimmies get rustled that easy, you're never gunna make it.
 
jdh71 said:
You must be there for cards. Heh.

Dude there is not university. Do you notice one anywhere? Any "cleveland clinic" university?? It's technically a community program. Unbunch your panties son. If your jimmies get rustled that easy, you're never gunna make it.
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I guess, then, technically it is.
 
jdh71 said:
AND it might be where all the cool kids form Hopkins go to become good at hearts, but it's IM program . . . MID-tier and you know it.
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Yeah, I'm not saying it is a good program by any means. At times, I think mid-tier may even be pushing it...
 
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