Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Time for me to give back. My Match Story:
-Board scores: step 1 (>250), step 2 (>250)
-Not AOA: Nominated twice, failed twice. Im still bitter but its easier to let it go now that Ive matched. AOA helps immensely. So does PhD status
-Non-name brand school: There are programs that will refuse to interview an applicant based on this. Sucks but true
-Research: 3 months full time M1 = 1 regional presentation. 9 months part time M2 = nothing to show for it. 1 month full time M4 = 2 articles. Unfortunately, the articles came too late to help me snag interviews. It was mentioned on all interviews though. Bench research + publications = the best kind of research
-Honors: None. This really hurt. I was a pre-clinical superstar (100% honors) and a clinical dud (100% high pass). I dont care to go into the reasons but needless to say, you do not want to follow in my footsteps. That being said, I still matched. I did honor everything that was derm and important in my 4th year including clinical rotations, research rotations, and path rotations
-#of aways = 1. Had a great time. I think 1 away is good. 0 would make you feel like youre missing out. And even though its derm, it is hard to be 100% for a home rotation, an away rotation, and then have to maintain that same effort for yet another away rotation. Remember, these are month long interviews
-# of programs applied to: Close to all of them, 106. Money well spent
-# of interviews: 7. Yeah, I wanted more. But if you look at my stats, 7 is pretty generous. Ill admit it was a miserable December when others were rolling in the double digits
-Anything that helps: You can tell Im not the strongest applicant ever. But there were some things on my app that helped. Outstanding Step 1 score confirmed with Step 2, sustained excellent performance (I had all honors every year except 3rd year, clearly the pathology wasnt on my end), sustained scholarly activity (research for a month or less is a joke), basic science publications, unique pre-medical school activities including music and athletics, outstanding LOR from a world-famous academic dermatologist (outstanding LORs, in general, help), and an outstanding MSPE (in spite of my 3rd year)
I am married, Ive had a child, and still, matching has made today the best day of my life!
-Board scores: step 1 (>250), step 2 (>250)
-Not AOA: Nominated twice, failed twice. Im still bitter but its easier to let it go now that Ive matched. AOA helps immensely. So does PhD status
-Non-name brand school: There are programs that will refuse to interview an applicant based on this. Sucks but true
-Research: 3 months full time M1 = 1 regional presentation. 9 months part time M2 = nothing to show for it. 1 month full time M4 = 2 articles. Unfortunately, the articles came too late to help me snag interviews. It was mentioned on all interviews though. Bench research + publications = the best kind of research
-Honors: None. This really hurt. I was a pre-clinical superstar (100% honors) and a clinical dud (100% high pass). I dont care to go into the reasons but needless to say, you do not want to follow in my footsteps. That being said, I still matched. I did honor everything that was derm and important in my 4th year including clinical rotations, research rotations, and path rotations
-#of aways = 1. Had a great time. I think 1 away is good. 0 would make you feel like youre missing out. And even though its derm, it is hard to be 100% for a home rotation, an away rotation, and then have to maintain that same effort for yet another away rotation. Remember, these are month long interviews
-# of programs applied to: Close to all of them, 106. Money well spent
-# of interviews: 7. Yeah, I wanted more. But if you look at my stats, 7 is pretty generous. Ill admit it was a miserable December when others were rolling in the double digits
-Anything that helps: You can tell Im not the strongest applicant ever. But there were some things on my app that helped. Outstanding Step 1 score confirmed with Step 2, sustained excellent performance (I had all honors every year except 3rd year, clearly the pathology wasnt on my end), sustained scholarly activity (research for a month or less is a joke), basic science publications, unique pre-medical school activities including music and athletics, outstanding LOR from a world-famous academic dermatologist (outstanding LORs, in general, help), and an outstanding MSPE (in spite of my 3rd year)
I am married, Ive had a child, and still, matching has made today the best day of my life!
