Official 2011-2012 IM Residency WAMC (What Are My Chances) Thread

[go lakers]

You're fine. You're underestimating your application and CV I think.

Step 1 score has got me anxious.
But I hope you're right.. Thanks!

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[DrVanNostran]

Have I added to many?
Posted my stuff in an earlier thread back and I received insightful feedback.

• Non-Top 50 medical school
• Top 1/4
• Step1=240, STEP2 CK/CS in Nov
• Summer research at MDACC, manuscript in progress
• Non name brand MPH and Undergrad
• Decent ECs, nothing jaw dropping

But how many interviews do you think I can get from this first block? I'm hoping about 5 and maybe another 5 from the second.
My goal is Heme-Onc


Places that I think I would love:

1. University of Washington
2. UCSF
3. Stanford
4. UCLA
5. UCSD
6. UTSW
7. WashU
8. Michigan
9. Duke
10. Northwestern
11. UChicago
12. BIDMC
13. MGH
14. BWH
15. Yale
16. Cornell
17. NYU
18. MSSM
19. Columbia
20. Penn
21. Hopkins
22. Vandy
23. Pitt

Other Places that I will apply:

1. USC
2. UC Irvine
3. Baylor
4. Alabama
5. Wisconsin
6. UNC
7. Virginia
8. Mayo
9. Emory
10. Boston U
11. OHSU
12. Colardo
13. Rush

 

[gutonc]

Have I added to many?
Posted my stuff in an earlier thread back and I received insightful feedback.

• Non-Top 50 medical school
• Top 1/4
• Step1=240, STEP2 CK/CS in Nov
• Summer research at MDACC, manuscript in progress
• Non name brand MPH and Undergrad
• Decent ECs, nothing jaw dropping

But how many interviews do you think I can get from this first block? I'm hoping about 5 and maybe another 5 from the second.

You will get 10-20 interviews from the first group and 8-12 from the 2nd group. I still think you should just go ahead and apply to all of those places and see how things go, but you're going to be fine.

 

[Instatewaiter]

Yes, many of these places will interview you. Of course, there are the variables: research, extracurrics, your personality, and the whole "liking you" factor. Roughly speaking, the hardest ones for you to get a nod from will be:

MGH = Penn = Columbia ~= Hopkins

Though if your listed location is current, your best chances from this cluster of 4 would be Penn or Hopkins.

In terms of competitiveness I would say MGH= columbia which are a bit more selective than hopkins and Penn. In terms which is the best program... it will depend on which you like best, which you feel you fit with and which one is in Baltimore

wow, everyone has such impressive scores...

stats:
top 25 med school
grades first 2 years were B's (2 Cs), third year was high pass or Honors. Great comments for MSPE, decent letters, some research, good ECs
Step 1: 205, Step 2: 223

would like to get into a great academic program as I am pursuing GI. Prefer the SOUTH, Applying to all Texas schools since this is my homestate - can anyone comment or add more to the selection...

Emory
UNC, Duke
UAB
Vanderbilt
Tulane, LSU
Univ of Oklahoma
U of Arizona
U of New Mexico
U of Mississippi
U of Colorado
U of Arkansas

Texas schools:
UT SA
Baylor Houston
UT Houston
Baylor Dallas
UTSW
Scott & White
UT Austin
UTMB

a lot of reach...

I think you have WAAAAY too many schools. I'd apply to like a max of 15-20

 

[internalmed86]

Hey Guys! Just another 4th year about to start the application process and wondering about what my chances are of matching at places in the South-East.

I am an AMG, middle tier med school, pre-clinical rank in the bottom 2/3rds (had a rough start to med school), 3rd year rank in top 20% (Honors in Internal Medicine, Ob-Gyn, Psych, Neurology clerkships), 4th year (Honors in Medicine ICU, Medicine Sub-I in progress). I guess it's important to note that my med school did just Honors, Pass and Fail for rotations 3rd year (no high-pass).

Step 1: 224/96
Step 2: 257/99

Will have decent letter's of recommendation, one from a senior faculty member who is well-known and another from my current Attending on my Sub-I who is the director of the Primary Care Track for the IM residency program at our institution. Research in undergrad, no publications; no research during medical school but do have some international work (over summer after first year). I think I want to pursue a fellowship in Hem-Onc>>GI>Rheum after my IM residency.

Looking at the following places (mostly in the South-East):
MUSC, VCU, Vandy, UVA, Wake Forest, UNC, Duke, Georgetown, George Washington, UAB, UMichigan, UF (Gainesville), Emory, Louisville.

What are my realistic changes of getting an interview at these places? What other places do you guys recommend I look at (especially in my geographical region of interest)? Any other places in my reach that I should definitely include even though they fall out of South-East?

Thanks for the help!

anyone else with any opinion? Getting nervous as I will be sending in my apps next week!

 

[darkelven29]

UMiami (if you speak spanish), UMaryland, Hopkins Bayview, UCincinatti, Baylor, Texas schools?

 

[Phyozo]

Here's me:

Top 25 school from Cali
6 or so preclinical honors
Honors in medicine, neuro, psych; HP in obgyn, peds; pass in surg
Step 1 250
Step 2 260
1st author in a couple of papers (in an unrelated medical specialty -- didn't know i wanted to do internal back then) and a couple presentations at two national conference though not much else as far as ECs go
No AOA (because my school doesn't have it)
Average-strong letters
Lets assume no honors in 4th year sub-I (my school is stingy with the H) but with good evals

Planning to apply to:
UCSF
stanford
UCLA
UCLA-harbor
UCLA-olive view
Cedars Sinai
USC
UC Irvine
UC Davis
UCSD
Loma Linda
Scripps Green
Scripps Mercy
OHSU
UW
Duke
Columbia
MGH
Brigham
JHU
Penn

Wanting to be a hospitalist vs GI

For someone like me, is this an appropriate number of schools to apply to? Also, what can I expect as far as interviews/matching into some of the more competitive programs? Thanks!

 

[gutonc]

For someone like me, is this an appropriate number of schools to apply to? Also, what can I expect as far as interviews/matching into some of the more competitive programs? Thanks!

You're fine.

 

[jdh71]

Wanting to be a hospitalist vs GI

For someone like me, is this an appropriate number of schools to apply to? Also, what can I expect as far as interviews/matching into some of the more competitive programs? Thanks!

It's a good number. You'll have to decide which ones to go to and which one's not. Not a bad position to be in honestly.

 

[Running Water]

Hi all,
Need some direction here guys:

Mid-tier state school
YR: 1,2 all pass
YR 3,4: 2 (small fry) honors, but everything else (including medicine) are HP
Step 1: 206 (2nd attempt, family issue)
Step 2: take it 2nd week of September (expecting to hit 220-230)
3 publications (clinical research)
2 projects in the works
7 posters/presentations
Significant leadership/volunteering/awards
Strong LORs
GHHS
Well-liked and funny

Looking for urban setting at a place that does fair amount of clinical research (so academic/community-affiliated). Undecided about future career path, but hospitalist vs. CC (not interested in cards). No tie-downs/no limit on $ for apps. Willing to move anywhere (less so the deep south perhaps).

Also, is it better to send in my app Sept 1st (with the crappy step 1) or wait until (maybe) end of the month when I get step 2 back? I would lose the early selective advantage but would maybe gain a a few less immediate "no's." Thoughts?

I am rly worried about not having enough safetys/not matching:

Maricopa Medical Center Program,
University of Arizona - Tucson Hospitals Program,
Kaiser Permanente Medical Group (San Francisco) Northern California Program,
Los Angeles County-Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Program,
Southern California Kaiser Permanente Medical Group (Los Angeles) Program,
St Mary's Medical Center Program,
University of California (San Diego) Program,
University of California (San Francisco)/Fresno Program,
Georgetown University Program,
Washington Hospital Center Program,
Christiana Care Health Services Program,
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Program,
Loyola University Program,
Mount Sinai Hospital Medical Center of Chicago Program,
Rush University Medical Center,
University of Chicago (NorthShore) Program,
University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago Program,
University of Louisville Program,
Boston University Medical Center Program,
Lahey Clinic Medical Center Program,
University of Massachusetts Medical School - University Campus Program,
Johns Hopkins University Bayview Medical Center Program,
University of Michigan Program,
Washington University/B-JH/SLCH Consortium Program,
University of North Carolina Hospitals Program,
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center Program,
University of New Mexico Program,
Mount Sinai School of Medicine Program,
New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center Program,
SUNY at Stony Brook Program,
New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens/Cornell University Medical College Program,
Case Western Reserve University/Univ Hosp Case Med Ctr Program,
St Vincent Hospital and Medical Center Program,
Drexel University College of Medicine/Hahnemann University Hospital Program,
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Program,
Temple University Program,
Vanderbilt University Program,
University of Texas at Houston Program,
Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University Program,
University of Vermont Program,
University of Washington Program,
Virginia Mason Medical Center Program,
Medical College of Wisconsin Program,

 

[milesdavis]

Hey long time reader/poster another sn wanted some anonymity.
My stats: school in southeast
AOA
step 1 265
all clinic honors
Minimal research one third author basic sci immunology paper one poster onc, some international onc work

What shot if any do I have at the top cali schools + columbia bw mgh penn jh etc without an away rotation/minimal research/noname school? I desperately want to leave the south and would like to be part of a skyline.
My school puts out folk to places like Duke JH UW for IM but havent seen a match at BW UCSF etc in the last couple of years (only in non IM). Thanks in advance this forum has been a huge help/entertaining read.

 

[jdh71]

Hi all,
Need some direction here guys:

Mid-tier state school
YR: 1,2 all pass
YR 3,4: 2 (small fry) honors, but everything else (including medicine) are HP
Step 1: 206 (2nd attempt, family issue)
Step 2: take it 2nd week of September (expecting to hit 220-230)
3 publications (clinical research)
2 projects in the works
7 posters/presentations
Significant leadership/volunteering/awards
Strong LORs
GHHS
Well-liked and funny

Looking for urban setting at a place that does fair amount of clinical research (so academic/community-affiliated). Undecided about future career path, but hospitalist vs. CC (not interested in cards). No tie-downs/no limit on $ for apps. Willing to move anywhere (less so the deep south perhaps).

Also, is it better to send in my app Sept 1st (with the crappy step 1) or wait until (maybe) end of the month when I get step 2 back? I would lose the early selective advantage but would maybe gain a a few less immediate "no's." Thoughts?

Based on that list you'll likely get enough interviews and find a match. Make sure your repeat of step 1 is outlined in your PS. And be prepared to talk about what you would do if that SAME stressor were to occur again in residency on interviews.

 

[jdh71]

Hey long time reader/poster another sn wanted some anonymity.
My stats: Top 50ish southeastern state school, only state school in the state
AOA
step 1 265
all clinic honors
Minimal research one third author basic sci immunology paper one poster onc, some international onc work

What shot if any do I have at the top cali schools + columbia bw mgh penn jh etc without an away rotation/minimal research/noname school? I desperately want to leave the south and would like to be part of a skyline.
My school puts out folk to places like Duke JH UW for IM but havent seen a match at BW UCSF etc in the last couple of years (only in non IM). Thanks in advance this forum has been a huge help/entertaining read.

You're fine man. The AOA and 265 make up for school pedigree. 265 is pretty damn high. You should get at least one out of B&W and UCSF, probably both.

 

[bergwood]

Ok, full stats this time.

Unranked midwest school
Junior AOA
Step 1 - 265
Honors in everything pre-clinical and clinical so far (still awaiting sub-I grade)
Strong LORs from non-bigwigs at my home institution
Some research summer of MS-1, no pubs but my research was presented at a national conference as part of a larger project by the primary researchers
A few solid ECs (adcome, teaching/tutoring, volunteering)
No aways
Interested in cards (most likely), GI, or critical care

 

[roadneverends]

The limit for ERAS is 4 total letters. My plan is to send the Chairman's letter to every program unless they specifically say they don't need it, my 3rd yr IM clerkship faculty letter (had it almost last), and two research mentors. One research mentor was non-MD, but the work I did was related to clinical research. Since I took an extra research year for these two projects and will be scrutinized anyway (a good thing), I think this is an excellent plan, and the research letters should both be stronger than strong.

However, with this plan, I would be sending only one clinical letter (though the Chair's letter should comment on clinical performance per faculty).

Good plan? Or should I submit a sub-i letter in place of one of the research letters?

 

[gutonc]

Ok, full stats this time.

Unranked midwest school
Junior AOA
Step 1 - 265
Honors in everything pre-clinical and clinical so far (still awaiting sub-I grade)
Strong LORs from non-bigwigs at my home institution
Some research summer of MS-1, no pubs but my research was presented at a national conference as part of a larger project by the primary researchers
A few solid ECs (adcom, teaching/tutoring, volunteering)
No aways
Interested in cards (most likely), GI, or critical care

[big snip]

I know my CV is pretty competitive and I'm pretty sure I should get interview offers from several of the places on my list, but I'm gonna ask just to be safe: Should I add some more safety schools to my list since I've mostly applied to top tier programs, or do I have enough as it stands currently?

You're fine. You'll get calls from 80+% of those places.

 

[gutonc]

The limit for ERAS is 4 total letters. My plan is to send the Chairman's letter to every program unless they specifically say they don't need it, my 3rd yr IM clerkship faculty letter (had it almost last), and two research mentors. One research mentor was non-MD, but the work I did was related to clinical research. Since I took an extra research year for these two projects and will be scrutinized anyway (a good thing), I think this is an excellent plan, and the research letters should both be stronger than strong.

However, with this plan, I would be sending only one clinical letter (though the Chair's letter should comment on clinical performance per faculty).

Good plan? Or should I submit a sub-i letter in place of one of the research letters?

I know how tempting it is to send multiple research letters because these are from people who know you better than anybody in your med school.

But the reality is that nobody (except for integrated research pathway programs) cares all that much about what your research mentor(s) have to say. They are hiring you to be a clinician and as such, care primarily about your clinical skills which your research mentors can't comment on.

You should definitely have a research letter, but only one. And you should have at least 2 clinical letters (not counting IM chair which I contend is an anachronistic joke).

As to which of the two research letters to send, the best option would be if they could co-write/co-sign a letter for you but since that's probably out of the question at this point, just pick the one from the person you spent the most time with or the one with the "bigger name."

 

[horhay1241]

Hey Guys,
Any advice would be appreciated for an averagely average applicant.

Pre Clinical: HP/P 50:50
Clinical: All HP
Research: Few Regional Posters, Few national oral presentations
Med School: Top 50 Mid Tierish
Step 1: 216
EC: Average amount of ECs, good letters etc etc

I'm applying to a few programs in addition to this list, but these are the programs where I'm not sure about my chances. I realize some are a bit out of reach but thats why I'm here. Thanks!

Mayo Scottsdale
Cedar Sinai-LA
UCLA
UCSD
UCI
UC Davis
USC
George Washington
Georgetown
U Miami
Rush
UIC
Tulane
Boston U
Tufts
UMass
Dartmouth
NYU
OHSU
UPMC
Utah
Wisc Madison

 

[jdh71]

Hey Guys,
Any advice would be appreciated for an averagely average applicant.

Pre Clinical: HP/P 50:50
Clinical: All HP
Research: Few Regional Posters, Few national oral presentations
Med School: Top 50 Mid Tierish
Step 1: 216
EC: Average amount of ECs, good letters etc etc

I'm applying to a few programs in addition to this list, but these are the programs where I'm not sure about my chances. I realize some are a bit out of reach but thats why I'm here. Thanks!

Mayo Scottsdale
Cedar Sinai-LA
UCLA
UCSD
UCI
UC Davis
USC
George Washington
Georgetown
U Miami
Rush
UIC
Tulane
Boston U
Tufts
UMass
Dartmouth
NYU
OHSU
UPMC
Utah
Wisc Madison

I think you may find yourself surprised.

I don't think Utah, Darmouth, Tufts, BU, UMass, Tulane, UIC, Rush, Miami, GW, USC, or Mayo-Scott's are outside your reach at all. I see no reason not to add Loyola to your Chicago programs, and Harbor and Olive View to your LA programs.

 

[gutonc]

Hey Guys,
Any advice would be appreciated for an averagely average applicant.

Pre Clinical: HP/P 50:50
Clinical: All HP
Research: Few Regional Posters, Few national oral presentations
Med School: Top 50 Mid Tierish
Step 1: 216
EC: Average amount of ECs, good letters etc etc

I'm applying to a few programs in addition to this list, but these are the programs where I'm not sure about my chances. I realize some are a bit out of reach but thats why I'm here. Thanks!

I don't think any program on your list is a reach. You'll be fine.

 

[habeschoen0340]

Hey all, I'd appreciate any advice you can lend.

Med School: below average US school
Step 1: 235
Step 2: 258
Honors in IM/Surg/Peds, HP in OBGYN/Psych/Neuro, Pass in Family
Solid letters, great evals from my IM attendings/residents
Nothing else really to add, no research since undergrad, no AOA, just some random volunteer stuff.

Pretty much looking at University programs, location doesn't matter a whole lot to me, but since there does seem to be some regional bias, I've spent all my life in the midwest for what it's worth.

I'm guessing the elite programs like JHU/MGH/Stanford/UCSF/Duke will be out of my league based on my med school and relatively sparse CV. I'll probably still apply anyway, but here's a tentative list for now:

UMich
Detroit Med Center/Wayne State
Ohio State
UW-Madison
Univ Minnesota
Univ of Chicago
Northwestern
Rush
Pittsburgh
Georgetown
George Washington
Univ of Virginia
Univ of Maryland
UNC
Univ of Miami
Univ of Florida
UCLA
USC
UC-Irvine
UCSD

I'll also be applying to a lot of community programs in my region just to make sure I match somewhere, but I won't list those here.

What do you all think? Aiming too high? Thanks for any input. I appreciate it.

 

[gold&black2005]

What, no Yale love but you'll go to Cleveland??

If you are going to Cleveland, go to Case Western over the Clinic. Search the boards for more info but it seems like a place still building itself up (IM program wise, anyway).

Ok, full stats this time.

Unranked midwest school
Junior AOA
Step 1 - 265
Honors in everything pre-clinical and clinical so far (still awaiting sub-I grade)
Strong LORs from non-bigwigs at my home institution
Some research summer of MS-1, no pubs but my research was presented at a national conference as part of a larger project by the primary researchers
A few solid ECs (adcom, teaching/tutoring, volunteering)
No aways
Interested in cards (most likely), GI, or critical care

Here is my list as of now:
Brigham
MGH
BID
Columbia
Cornell
Mt. Sinai
NYU
U Penn
Pitt
JH
Duke
UNC
Cleveland Clinic
U Chicago
Northwestern
Wisconsin
Michigan
Minnesota
Mayo
Wash U
Colorado
UW
OHSU
UC Davis
UCSF
Stanford
UCLA
Cedars
UCSD
And my home institution which is a safety

Several top tier programs with a few safety programs peppered in. I don't anticipate going on any more than about 10-12 interviews, but since it's so cheap to apply and I'm applying to a lot of top tier programs I figure I'll aim broadly to maximize my chances. I know my CV is pretty competitive and I'm pretty sure I should get interview offers from several of the places on my list, but I'm gonna ask just to be safe: Should I add some more safety schools to my list since I've mostly applied to top tier programs, or do I have enough as it stands currently?

 

[gold&black2005]

Hey all, I'd appreciate any advice you can lend.

Med School: below average US school
Step 1: 235
Step 2: 258
Honors in IM/Surg/Peds, HP in OBGYN/Psych/Neuro, Pass in Family
Solid letters, great evals from my IM attendings/residents
Nothing else really to add, no research since undergrad, no AOA, just some random volunteer stuff.

Pretty much looking at University programs, location doesn't matter a whole lot to me, but since there does seem to be some regional bias, I've spent all my life in the midwest for what it's worth.

I'm guessing the elite programs like JHU/MGH/Stanford/UCSF/Duke will be out of my league based on my med school and relatively sparse CV. I'll probably still apply anyway, but here's a tentative list for now:

UMich
Detroit Med Center/Wayne State
Ohio State
UW-Madison
Univ Minnesota
Univ of Chicago
Northwestern
Rush
Pittsburgh
Georgetown
George Washington
Univ of Virginia
Univ of Maryland
UNC
Univ of Miami
Univ of Florida
UCLA
USC
UC-Irvine
UCSD

I'll also be applying to a lot of community programs in my region just to make sure I match somewhere, but I won't list those here.

What do you all think? Aiming too high? Thanks for any input. I appreciate it.

You might actually be low-balling yourself. Remember, this is IM, and with the exception of BWH/UCSF, almost every other place has a smattering or more of the "cream" skimmed from all over the country. I'd put WashU, Yale, UWash, Cornell, BIDMC, Sinai, Vanderbilt, Emory, Stanford up on your list easily...and I'd even throw Duke and JHH an app. They interview a lot of people based on location...and you never know...

Would agree that MGH/BWH/UCSF are best left alone.

 

[gutonc]

Hey all, I'd appreciate any advice you can lend.

Med School: below average US school
Step 1: 235
Step 2: 258
Honors in IM/Surg/Peds, HP in OBGYN/Psych/Neuro, Pass in Family
Solid letters, great evals from my IM attendings/residents
Nothing else really to add, no research since undergrad, no AOA, just some random volunteer stuff.

[snip]

I'll also be applying to a lot of community programs in my region just to make sure I match somewhere, but I won't list those here.

What do you all think? Aiming too high? Thanks for any input. I appreciate it.

Don't be ridiculous. That list is fine given your stats. You could probably even crank it up a notch (WashU, Vandy, Cornell, Sinai, etc) and score some nice interviews.

Rush, Wayne State, the Georges and the FL programs are a waste of your money too unless you really, really want to go to one of those places.

 

[ejps]

IMG
s1: 203 (3rd att)
s2 200 (1st att)
cs Pass (1st att)

any chance? on IM or PEDS

 

[habeschoen0340]

Don't be ridiculous. That list is fine given your stats. You could probably even crank it up a notch (WashU, Vandy, Cornell, Sinai, etc) and score some nice interviews.

Rush, Wayne State, the Georges and the FL programs are a waste of your money too unless you really, really want to go to one of those places.

Thanks a lot for the advice guys. The other thing that I was worried about was my SubI...so I did a MICU SubI in August, but my grade for it won't be available for a couple more weeks and my school has already uploaded my transcript to ERAS, so all of the places that I apply to won't see the grade I received for this rotation. By all accounts I did well on the rotation, but I wasn't sure if programs would hold it against me that it's not included on my transcript. Will they need an updated transcript with the SubI before they decide on giving an interview?

 

[gutonc]

Thanks a lot for the advice guys. The other thing that I was worried about was my SubI...so I did a MICU SubI in August, but my grade for it won't be available for a couple more weeks and my school has already uploaded my transcript to ERAS, so all of the places that I apply to won't see the grade I received for this rotation. By all accounts I did well on the rotation, but I wasn't sure if programs would hold it against me that it's not included on my transcript. Will they need an updated transcript with the SubI before they decide on giving an interview?

No...if you didn't have Honors on your IM clerkship it might be helpful to you but programs know that you aren't necessarily in control of when you get to do your SubI, when your grade comes in or when your school sends out transcripts. As long as all of your cores are on it, they won't care.

 

[gutonc]

IMG
s1: 203 (3rd att)
s2 200 (1st att)
cs Pass (1st att)

any chance? on IM or PEDS

There are a whole host of community programs in the NE that you stand a chance with. Apply to essentially every community program in the country.

 

[futureinplastic]

States:
Top Tier medical school
Preclinical: just pass/fail grades--all pass
Clinical: 5 honors, 2 HP
Step 1: 225
Step 2: taking soon, should be 250-260 based on practice tests and shelf scores
Research: oral presentations and posters only, currently doing research with a very well-known researcher but abstract won't be finalized until mid-September
EC good
Letters should be excellent

Want to be in Boston, Chicago, San Fran or Philly (family things)
Current list:

BWH
MGH
BID
Tufts
BU
Northwestern
UChicago
Loyola
UIllinois
UCSF
Stanford
Penn
Jeff

Thoughts?

 

[Instatewaiter]

IMG
s1: 203 (3rd att)
s2 200 (1st att)
cs Pass (1st att)

any chance? on IM or PEDS

You have a chance, probably more at peds but not by much. You will be best served by applying to community programs since you failed step 1 twice.

What, no Yale love but you'll go to Cleveland??

If you are going to Cleveland, go to Case Western over the Clinic. Search the boards for more info but it seems like a place still building itself up (IM program wise, anyway).

To expand upon this, cleveland suffers a bit because the hospital is very fellow driven. That means it is a great place to do fellowship but a mediocre one to do IM residency. They also aren't so kind to their own graduates for fellowship. For instance for cards, last year they had 21 residents go into cards and they only took 1 from cleveland (they take 2 each year from hopkins). Personally I think that's kinda dick

States:
Top Tier medical school
Preclinical: just pass/fail grades--all pass
Clinical: 5 honors, 2 HP
Step 1: 225
Step 2: taking soon, should be 250-260 based on practice tests and shelf scores
Research: oral presentations and posters only, currently doing research with a very well-known researcher but abstract won't be finalized until mid-September
EC good
Letters should be excellent

Want to be in Boston, Chicago, San Fran or Philly (family things)
Current list:

BWH
MGH
BID
Tufts
BU
Northwestern
UChicago
Loyola
UIllinois
UCSF
Stanford
Penn
Jeff

Thoughts?

You shouldbe in good shape. Your step 1 is a bit low for some of those programs but with a good step 2 and solid letters you will likely get a bunch of top tier interviews. You have a nice smattering of top tier and "safety" schools.

 

[drrockstar140]

Hello again. I just wanted to get some more input based on my updated stats and list of programs:

Med School: lowest tier
Class Rank: top 1/2
Step 1: 229/99
Step 2: 252/99
Clerkships: no honors (did fairly well across the board, ...just consistently
missed the boat)
Research: basic science research between 1st and 2nd year, nothing
published, traveled to Wash U. for 1 week to finish my project,
presented locally, excellent LOR from my mentor
- 3rd year epi research project, presentation, not published
Volunteer and Work: average amount of experience, nothing earth
shattering
4 LORs: 1. Clerkship Director - great letter, "top 5%," etc.
2. 3rd year IM preceptor - solid letter but somewhat vague, no
concrete examples and what not
3. IM AI - somewhat sketchy, ....good comments, but the doc is
Egyptian and doesn't have the best English
speaking/writing abilities
4. Research mentor - excellent

I'm torn between general IM and heme/onc so I plan on working this out during my intern year (assuming good exposure to sub-specialty medicine). So, obviously I'm going to favor programs with good fellowship placement, especially heme/onc, just in case.

Programs: 22 total

Arizona - UofA, Mayo (Scottsdale), Banner Health, Maricopa, St. Joes

Colorado - UC Denver, Exempla St. Joes

Oregon - OHSU, Legacy Emmanual, Providence and Providence St. Vincent

California - Scripps Green, Santa Clara, Santa Barbara

Texas: UT San Anton, Methodist (Houston)

Nevada: UN (Reno) and UNLV

University of New Mexico

University of Wisconsin

University of Minnesota

Virginia Mason (Seattle)

(may add Ohio State and University of Iowa)


Any/all thoughts and comments would be awesome! Would you consider this a balanced list (reaches versus safety, etc.)? Are most people thinking ~10 interviews?

 

[jdh71]

Hello again. I just wanted to get some more input based on my updated stats and list of programs:

Med School: lowest tier
Class Rank: top 1/2
Step 1: 229/99
Step 2: 252/99
Clerkships: no honors (did fairly well across the board, ...just consistently
missed the boat)
Research: basic science research between 1st and 2nd year, nothing
published, traveled to Wash U. for 1 week to finish my project,
presented locally, excellent LOR from my mentor
- 3rd year epi research project, presentation, not published
Volunteer and Work: average amount of experience, nothing earth
shattering
4 LORs: 1. Clerkship Director - great letter, "top 5%," etc.
2. 3rd year IM preceptor - solid letter but somewhat vague, no
concrete examples and what not
3. IM AI - somewhat sketchy, ....good comments, but the doc is
Egyptian and doesn't have the best English
speaking/writing abilities
4. Research mentor - excellent

I'm torn between general IM and heme/onc so I plan on working this out during my intern year (assuming good exposure to sub-specialty medicine). So, obviously I'm going to favor programs with good fellowship placement, especially heme/onc, just in case.

Programs: 22 total

Arizona - UofA, Mayo (Scottsdale), Banner Health, Maricopa, St. Joes

Colorado - UC Denver, Exempla St. Joes

Oregon - OHSU, Legacy Emmanual, Providence and Providence St. Vincent

California - Scripps Green, Santa Clara, Santa Barbara

Texas: UT San Anton, Methodist (Houston)

Nevada: UN (Reno) and UNLV

University of New Mexico

University of Wisconsin

University of Minnesota

Virginia Mason (Seattle)

(may add Ohio State and University of Iowa)


Any/all thoughts and comments would be awesome! Would you consider this a balanced list (reaches versus safety, etc.)? Are most people thinking ~10 interviews?

How interested are you in southern california, because I think you should consider Loma Linda, Cedars, Harbor, and Olive View before Santa Clara or Santa Barbara

 

[darkelven29]

Maybe take out some of the weaker community programs. You're more competitive than you think. Consider also Scripps Mercy, UTSW Austin, Baylor, and Indiana University if you're thinking about SoCal, TX, and Midwest.

Hello again. I just wanted to get some more input based on my updated stats and list of programs:

Programs: 22 total
Arizona - UofA, Mayo (Scottsdale), Banner Health, Maricopa, St. Joes
Colorado - UC Denver, Exempla St. Joes
Oregon - OHSU, Legacy Emmanual, Providence and Providence St. Vincent
California - Scripps Green, Santa Clara, Santa Barbara
Texas: UT San Anton, Methodist (Houston)
Nevada: UN (Reno) and UNLV
University of New Mexico
University of Wisconsin
University of Minnesota
Virginia Mason (Seattle)
(may add Ohio State and University of Iowa)

Any/all thoughts and comments would be awesome! Would you consider this a balanced list (reaches versus safety, etc.)? Are most people thinking ~10 interviews?

 

[drrockstar140]

jdh and darkelven,

Thanks for your input. My wife is pretty luke-warm about moving to the LA area, so I'm trying to steer clear. I think I am going to give both Scripps-Mercy and Baylor the nod. I think Baylor might be a bit of a stretch for me but we'll see what happens.

Do any of my community programs strike you as being especially weak?

Also, jdh, did you end up having to decline/cancel any interviews while applying to residencies? It would be nice to only recieve ~10 interview invites so I'm not left with the headache of deciding where/when to drop the $$$ on flights, etc.

 

[jdh71]

Also, jdh, did you end up having to decline/cancel any interviews while applying to residencies? It would be nice to only recieve ~10 interview invites so I'm not left with the headache of deciding where/when to drop the $$$ on flights, etc.

Yes, I did. I think I ended up canceling 5 or 6 that I just couldn't make work for one reason or another (sometimes a "better" place will offer an interview late around or on the same date) plus at the end I ran out of steam. I did 12 and canceled my last two because I thought my chances of ranking them higher than my top 6 was very low, so I didn't waste their time or mine.

 

[drrockstar140]

Any thoughts on the University of Utah?

 

[jdh71]

Any thoughts on the University of Utah?

I liked them a lot both for IM and Pulm/CC

EDIT: That wasn't entirely clear. I interviewed at Utah for both IM and Pulm/CC fellowship and both time Utah made it into my top 3 list. They are a SUPER solid program - a real diamond in the rough IMHO. They get a bad rap because of Salt Lake, which isn't a bad town in an of itself, but the Mormons can really harsh your buzz at times, but . . . meh . . . I wouldn't have minded. 15-20 minutes from some of the best skiing on the planet and a central hub airport that gets you direct flights just about anywhere. Cheap to live.

 

[dubinekg]

Med School : Top 30
Step 1 : 237/99
Grades : H in Surg, Peds, Psych ( likely Sub-I in IM ); HP in IM , Neuro , Ob-Gyn , Family Med
Research : working on paper , will submit by application date ; some research projects , no pubs
Extra Curics : interesting original hobbies , international clinical work , various volunteer projects

From california but not living in CA at this time.

Looking at:


NYU , Cornell , MSSM , UCSD , UCI , OHSU , Stanford , NW , UCLA ( harbor , reagan , olive ) , USC , AECOM , some safety programs...

What do you guys think of my list / chances , etc? No H in IM will probably hurt me but I am not looking for super academic places.

bump?

 

[jdh71]

bump?

I think you're fine

 

[DrVanNostran]

I submitted my app and now I'm all scared. WTF lol.

A couple of questions:

1. I talked my research mentor today and his group thinks that they have a high impact paper and they are ready to submit. About how long does it take to get accepted (if it does)? And if so, when would it be appropriate to tell programs?

2. Continuing from statement 1, is it approrpirate to send an email with an update in my application? For instance, if the manuscript does in fact get accepted and receiving an H in a sub-I?

 

[Phillysteak]

hello everyone, need your thoughts.

step 1: 216
step 2: 199
step 3: 198
all first attempts. FMG need visa.
4 US Letters (6 months clinical rotation)
18 months research in cards (IVY school) - 6 papers, 5 oral and 6 posters (including AHA,ACC)

applied very broadly in IM. My scores are not good enough for university programs but community programs don't prefer high on research. confused!

 

[residentk3]

Hey guys, I was hoping someone could help me out a little bit. I am an AMG looking to do a residency obviously in Internal Medicine. Here is some info about myself.

Step 1 : 218/92
Step 2 CK: awaiting results.

Grades: probably in the 3rd quartile of my class, Honors in Internal Medicine and Family Medicine, High Pass in surgery, pass in peds/psych/ob

Research: 2 oral presentations (1 national), manuscript sent for publication awaiting results.

I have never received an unfavorable comment and everyone has had a pleasant experience working with me (or so they say).

So I applied to 36 programs, I know that several of these are competitive and I probably wont be given an interview, but I figured I'd try anyway.


Emory
Baylor
UTSW
Jackson Memorial
Vanderbilt
Wash University
Cleveland Clinic (OH)
Cedars-Sinai
Brown University

UF
Indiana Univ.
UM-Columbia
UT San Antonio
UAB
Mayo (Arizona)
Mayo (Jacksonville)
UF- Jacksonville
UCLA - Olive View
UC-Irvine
UC-SD
Boston University
UNC

UMKC
KU
USF
Cleveland Clinic (FL)
UT-Houston
Univ. of South Alabama
Univ. of Arizona
Orlando Health Program
Tulane University
Univ. of Tenesssee
Univ. of Cincinnati
Univ. of New Mexico
Univ. of Colorado
St. Vincent Hospital


I have applied to all these places. My question is what are my chances and should I apply to more? Thank you all for taking the time to read this.

 

[jdh71]

Hey guys, I was hoping someone could help me out a little bit. I am an AMG looking to do a residency obviously in Internal Medicine. Here is some info about myself.

Step 1 : 218/92
Step 2 CK: awaiting results.

Grades: probably in the 3rd quartile of my class, Honors in Internal Medicine and Family Medicine, High Pass in surgery, pass in peds/psych/ob

Research: 2 oral presentations (1 national), manuscript sent for publication awaiting results.

I have never received an unfavorable comment and everyone has had a pleasant experience working with me (or so they say).

So I applied to 36 programs, I know that several of these are competitive and I probably wont be given an interview, but I figured I'd try anyway.


Emory
Baylor
UTSW
Jackson Memorial
Vanderbilt
Wash University
Cleveland Clinic (OH)
Cedars-Sinai
Brown University

UF
Indiana Univ.
UM-Columbia
UT San Antonio
UAB
Mayo (Arizona)
Mayo (Jacksonville)
UF- Jacksonville
UCLA - Olive View
UC-Irvine
UC-SD
Boston University
UNC

UMKC
KU
USF
Cleveland Clinic (FL)
UT-Houston
Univ. of South Alabama
Univ. of Arizona
Orlando Health Program
Tulane University
Univ. of Tenesssee
Univ. of Cincinnati
Univ. of New Mexico
Univ. of Colorado
St. Vincent Hospital


I have applied to all these places. My question is what are my chances and should I apply to more? Thank you all for taking the time to read this.

36, nice mix, should be enough.

Based on locations where you've already selected programs . . . consider In SoCal USC and Loma Linda. Tufts out NE. A&M in Texas. Creighton, Nebraska, and Iowa in the middle.

 

[darkelven29]

Uhm... it's a nice mix, but the locations are all kind of random.... Florida, Texas, Indiana, Missouri, CA, Northeast... etc. You might want to consider where you want to end up and add programs in that region.

Why not UTSW Austin, Scripps Mercy, Scripps Green (San Diego), and Wake Forest?

 

[lauren85]

any input would be great! unusual and unexpected situation....
IMG, US citizen

step 1 - 223/93
step 2 - 266/99
cs fail (retaking sept 15th) - native English speaker... was sick but still went for it

3 LORS - from program directors and associated PDs from univ programs
3 peer reviewed publications (2nd author)
applying to 52 university IM programs mainly in the south and NE.

 

[DrVanNostran]

any input would be great! unusual and unexpected situation....
IMG, US citizen

step 1 - 223/93
step 2 - 266/99
cs fail (retaking sept 15th) - native English speaker... was sick but still went for it

3 LORS - from program directors and associated PDs from univ programs
3 peer reviewed publications (2nd author)
applying to 52 university IM programs mainly in the south and NE.

If I were you, I would add every university program in the country and a good 20 to 30 community programs. That cs may bother enough pds for you to consider more programs.

 

[lauren85]

If I were you, I would add every university program in the country and a good 20 to 30 community programs. That cs may bother enough pds for you to consider more programs.

I was thinking of adding some , but the issue is, i dont know which ones are worthy applying to. i dont want to be stuck in a ****ty community hospital, with no research opportunities.... im very set on academics. :é

 

[jmcappleby]

Thought I'd get some input on my situation...

US Citizen IMG from a Caribbean school
Excellent pre-clinical grades. Don't know how much this matters - but that led to:
Step 1: 250s
Step 2: 240s
CS: Passed
All honors in 3rd year clinical rotations so far at US hospitals.
Decent extracurriculars but nothing extraordinary. No research or publications.

Numerically, I feel competitive, but based on my school I felt like I couldn't afford to be stingy (haha!!). I am planning to apply to 80ish programs, a mix of mostly mid/low(?)-tier University programs and affiliated hospitals in the West, Midwest and East Coast and a few Community programs in the same areas that have been known to accept graduates from my school. I also thought I'd apply to a few dream schools that will probably laugh me into the trash can, but hey, what the hec!

Some examples of schools I'm wondering about are: Mayo non-Rochester (FL and AZ), UCLA Harbor/Olive, USC. University programs in the midwest like U of MN, U of Cincinnati, U of Illinois, U of Iowa, Rosalind Franklin, Michigan State, Case Western, etc.

I did a lot of website surfing to look for IMGs among the current residents of the schools that I am looking at - and there were a few, for example, where I saw several non-Caribbean grad IMGs from schools in South Asia or Europe or the Middle East. Is that kind of a program generally a good sign for a Caribbean grad or are these two groups somehow different in a PDs mind?

 

[jdh71]

I did a lot of website surfing to look for IMGs among the current residents of the schools that I am looking at - and there were a few, for example, where I saw several non-Caribbean grad IMGs from schools in South Asia or Europe or the Middle East. Is that kind of a program generally a good sign for a Caribbean grad or are these two groups somehow different in a PDs mind?

Hard to know. But I think many PDs see US Carib grads differently than FMGs.

 

[jmcappleby]

Hard to know. But I think many PDs see US Carib grads differently than FMGs.

Fair enough! This is the hunch I had as well... for all I know, those docs may be the cream of the crop in their home countries.

Any thoughts on the list of schools I mentioned above? Obviously I am applying to more, but those are among my "wouldn't it be amazing" list...