Official 2018 IM Match Results

[Barbecue]

Our AOA was mostly MS1-MS2 and included MS3 as well, so the majority was exams. Why other med schools make it a popularity contest is beyond me. But this is why I believe a more objective AOA should hold more weight than # of pubs. I don’t know why SDN touts # of pubs so much when it’s solely an extracurricular experience outside of core medical curriculum and it’s treated like its more important than anything outside of Step 1. This is coming from someone who had pubs and did NOT get AOA and I’m not even bitter about it. I just agree with PDs using AOA as the checkbox.

I think the fact that many schools are moving to P/F makes AOA even more meaningless and more of a popularity contest. But it's obviously school-dependent.

Also, research is a core experience in academics, so while it may technically be "extra-curricular," research experience has a lot of practical value if you're considering a career in academic medicine. It's not unreasonable to use # and quality of pubs (esp. first author) when evaluating someone for a spot in an academic program. At least it makes more sense to me than using AOA.

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[IMreshopeful]

Lol @ subjective grades being more objective markers of work than publications

Lol @ either being a marker of anything

 

[IMreshopeful]

I think the fact that many schools are moving to P/F makes AOA even more meaningless and more of a popularity contest. But it's obviously school-dependent.

Also, research is a core experience in academics, so while it may technically be "extra-curricular," research experience has a lot of practical value if you're considering a career in academic medicine. It's not unreasonable to use # and quality of pubs (esp. first author) when evaluating someone for a spot in an academic program. At least it makes more sense to me than using AOA.

Research is a core experience, sure. It has no bearing on how good of a clinician you are. I know of numerous attendings who are great researchers and utter crap at taking care of patients. This is not uncommon.

 

[Barbecue]

Research is a core experience, sure. It has no bearing on how good of a clinician you are. I know of numerous attendings who are great researchers and utter crap at taking care of patients. This is not uncommon.

Completely agree. However, if you're applying for an academic program, it makes sense that demonstrated research competency would make you more competitive, since one of the most common markers of career success in academic medicine is research productivity.

We should probably move this discussion to another thread, though.

 

[IMreshopeful]

Completely agree. However, if you're applying for an academic program, it makes sense that demonstrated research competency would make you more competitive, since one of the most common markers of career success in academic medicine is research productivity.

We should probably move this discussion to another thread, though.

Yeah it’s fine. I don’t think we disagree. Conversely though the vast majority of people who train in academic residencies and fellowships go into practice. So maybe we should think of a different metric that’s more accurately reflective of clinical skill since ultimately that is what matters for most people

 

[throwaway345678]

I'll post as a more average applicant

School: DO school
Step Scores: Step 1: 242 Step 2CK: 254 COMLEX 1: 594 COMLEX 2: 707 COMLEX PE: Pass on first attempt
Grades: As except for 1 B in surgery
Research: 1 pub
Extracurriculars: Some volunteering here and there. Put an interesting hobby I have that was brought up at almost every interview
AOA: Nope
Rank: Top quartile
Interview Invites: UFlorida , USF, UT Houston, UT San Antonio, Houston Methodist, Cleveland clinic, Scripps Green, ULouisville, UArizona, UNew mexico, Henry Ford, Drexel, Beaumont, V. Tech, Creighton (cancelled), UCSF fresno (cancelled)
Rejections: UCI, UCSD, Baylor and basically got ghosted by every Chicago program
Matched (+ # on ROL): #4 in Houston
Advice: Very happy with the program I matched to (was originally #1/2) but ego a bit bruised from not getting my top 3. Not sure whether or not it made a difference, but the place I matched to was the only program I sent hand-written thank-you cards to. I applied to ~90 programs in a wide geographic area and received a safe number of interviews. It seems that there is major geographic bias in the Chicago programs as I was not able to get even one interview out of the six I applied to that took DOs.

 

[wiloghby]

Since there are no IMGs here...Also important to note couples matching (SO in peds).
School: Poland
Matched (+ # on ROL): #2 VCU (Together )

Congratulations on: 1) matching to a fantastic university program, 2) as a couple, 3) coming from Poland.

That is incredible.

 

[LuciusVorenus]

I met a couple of applicants from schools that closed their AOA chapter, and they kind of converted me to the cause. I obviously didn't even come close / never expected to be AOA BUT...

They said that since a lot of top programs use AOA as a filter, removing it forces them to give everyone with the right scores a chance and overall the people who WOULD have been AOA do just as well, but now the people who were in the running but didn't get it are getting equivalent interviews.

Idk. When there are so many applications to each school, can you blame them for using every possible filter they can to narrow it down?

 

[MyTachyBradyHeart]

School: Top 30
Step Scores: 260, 265, pass
Grades: H in medicine, HP in sub-i (pediatrics), otherwise split 50/50 between H's and P's
Research: 3 pubs (1 first author, 2 second author) in non-medicine fields
AOA: Nope
Rank: I think 25-50%'ile
Interview Invites: West Coast: UW cat + PC, UCLA PC, UCSD cat, Univ of Colorado PC + cat. Midwest: UMich cat, Pitt cat + GH. South: UTSW cat, BCM cat, Vanderbilt cat, Emory cat + PC. East Coast: Columbia cat, Cornell PC + cat, Mount Sinai PC + cat, NYU PC + cat, Einstein PC + cat, Yale PC, BUMC PC + cat, Georgetown cat, GWU PC + cat, Jefferson PC + cat, Brown PC + cat, Jackson-Memorial PC + cat
Rejections: BWH, MGH, JHH, UCSF, Penn, Mayo, Stanford, BIDMC, Northwestern, UChicago, OHSU, UNC, Yale cat
Matched (+ # on ROL): #1 University of Washington PC!

Advice:
- I read a lot of these threads to figure out where to apply, so I wanted to post for future applicants (particularly those interested in PC since there are fewer of us).
- Don't really have advice that's particularly novel or different from what's already been stated on this thread or others throughout the forum. As many on SDN have said, AOA and/or significant research experience seems to be important to receive many invites from top 10 institutions, regardless of whether you're interested in PC or categorical tracks. But still, shoot for the stars but keep your expectations grounded. You'll likely be surprised by some of the invites you did and did not receive.
- For my fellow GIM/PC people, you may find that some of the advice on SDN about ranking programs isn't as relevant for you (such as fellowship match criteria, etc.). My rank list ended up to be a mix of PC and categorical tracks. I was really attracted to PC tracks for obvious reasons: the camaraderie in many of these close-knit groups are pretty inspiring & your training is often more customized to fit the type of career within PC that you're looking for. However, there were also some institutions without specific PC tracks that offer excellent training in PC. Don't limit yourself- look at categorical & PC programs to see what best fits you. Some things I considered when ranking programs are: 1) Am I interested in urban or rural PC? Underserved care? HIV care? Women's health? -Does the institution provide adequate exposure to these populations?, 2) Does the institution as a whole (including the categorical track leadership) seem to value PC as a field? Do they feel they provide strong training in PC? (I actually had an interviewer at one program who told me right off the bat that they are admittedly weak in PC and are more fellowship-oriented. I appreciated the honesty with that.), 3) Where do the PC grads work after residency? Where do I want to work? (Most PC tracks publish that. Some seem to send more grads into academic medicine positions than others, if this is something that interests you), 4) Research, advocacy, mentorship opportunities? (Most will have these activities to varying degrees but some programs seemed pretty outstanding in the number of residents that participated. If you're into public policy & health services research, there are some institutions that are more well-known for this than others), 5) As everyone will tell you: do I FIT with the residents/faculty? (Many PC programs are smaller, so this may be even more important for us. I loved the vibes at UW and everyone I met, so it quickly rose to the top of my list), 6) Is the institution good at fields other than primary care? (This is when the fellowship match, etc. can be a proxy. For PC, this could be the last formal training we receive before practicing, so it's great to be at a place where subspecialty training is also solid).
- At the end of the day, try not to sweat the rank list process or match day. There are fortunately so many wonderful IM programs with fantastic physicians and residents that you'll be in good shape no matter where you go.

Congratulations on your interviews and match, but it's bonkers you did not get more interviews. I know the applicant pool gets deeper and more competitive every year but this just shows (to me at least) that it's such a crapshoot up top.

If I applied this year, I definitely would not have matched where I did

What would you guys recommend for rotations and having to go on interviews? I'm a spectacularly average candidate (DO, Step 1: low 230's, some research) and not really sure when to expect interviews to be happening. I don't really want to be on an away and have to fly repeatedly for interviews.

If you don't want to do an away rotation, you shouldn't. I would recommend aiming for low-mid tier university programs and in your situation, an away rotation won't help you much.

So you’d rather have a world where students who shake the right hands, get lucky with whoever PI/resident/fellow they get set up with get the spot over the people who actually got the best grades IN medical school?

# Pubs is ridiculous sometimes. I knew students including myself who slaved away at reviewing hundreds upon hundreds of charts to not get a pub out of it. And then there are students who simply had lunch with a PI and get their names thrown on a paper.

Agreed, although if PD/interviewers take a minute and ask in depth what an applicant's specific role was in the research, they can quickly differentiate real work vs. getting name thrown into a paper. That requires interviewers to actually read the applications... oh wait...

 

[toastee]

Our AOA was mostly MS1-MS2 and included MS3 as well, so the majority was exams. Why other med schools make it a popularity contest is beyond me. But this is why I believe a more objective AOA should hold more weight than # of pubs. I don’t know why SDN touts # of pubs so much when it’s solely an extracurricular experience outside of core medical curriculum and it’s treated like its more important than anything outside of Step 1. This is coming from someone who had pubs and did NOT get AOA and I’m not even bitter about it. I just agree with PDs using AOA as the checkbox.

You do realize residencies put more weight on Pubs because it shows that you're likely to produce more pubs during and after residency which, you guessed it, gives them more fame and research dollars. You did well in school? Great, you'll pass the in-service exams and boards, but what does you passing the board or answering all the pimp questions right do for the residency itself? Nothing. So yes they value pubs because pubs gives insight into what the student can potentially bring to the residency, during their time there and after.

 

[Robotneurologist]

Congratulations on: 1) matching to a fantastic university program, 2) as a couple, 3) coming from Poland.

That is incredible.

Thanks so much man. We're really excited.

 

[ChordaEpiphany]

One could argue that having multiple publications is just as useless a metric at predicting who’s a superior physician. Unfortunately there is no good metric out there.

From the perspective of someone who graduated in 2013, this has gotten way more competitive.

Yup, I would argue it really depends on what field you plan to go into. I had a chance to talk with a big 4 PD a little while ago, and basically the message was, "we want you to be a future leader in medicine, but we also don't want you to be our problem child on the wards or for passing board exams." On the one hand, multiple pubs will carry forward in your career/resume as evidence of productivity. You can't put your step 1 score on your resume, and you won't be including your grades/GPA either. On the other hand, multiple pubs will not carry you on the wards when what they really need is a competent resident. Someone who gets AOA is at the very least either well-liked or high performing.

The thing is, we don't have many objective or remotely fair ways to judge performance. Even step 1 has confidence intervals that span more than 10 points. Some people get AOA because they're average students with a position on student government and a nice smile. Some people get multiple pubs because they fall into the good graces of a productive researcher. I personally know people who have mentors who write papers and then ask the med student to write the intro (takes them literally 2-3 afternoons) and then add them as an author. Clinical grades can be a function of site placement or luck getting good attendings. Top schools are generally looking for some sort of spark indicating that this student is sure to be at their minimum standards. It sounds like their #1 concern is avoiding problem residents, and after they've confirmed that you'll be okay, they look for sparks of brilliance and potential to change the field. These are still medical training programs, not research fellowships.

As for people who get Junior AOA based on class exams... I have no idea why that carries any weight. Grades on class exams were typically 85% average with a 5% SD. Whether you were near the top or the bottom boiled down to a few poorly written questions most of the time. My grades have varied wildly despite very consistent performance on Qbanks.

 

[IMreshopeful]

Yup, I would argue it really depends on what field you plan to go into. I had a chance to talk with a big 4 PD a little while ago, and basically the message was, "we want you to be a future leader in medicine, but we also don't want you to be our problem child on the wards or for passing board exams." On the one hand, multiple pubs will carry forward in your career/resume as evidence of productivity. You can't put your step 1 score on your resume, and you won't be including your grades/GPA either. On the other hand, multiple pubs will not carry you on the wards when what they really need is a competent resident. Someone who gets AOA is at the very least either well-liked or high performing.

The thing is, we don't have many objective or remotely fair ways to judge performance. Even step 1 has confidence intervals that span more than 10 points. Some people get AOA because they're average students with a position on student government and a nice smile. Some people get multiple pubs because they fall into the good graces of a productive researcher. I personally know people who have mentors who write papers and then ask the med student to write the intro (takes them literally 2-3 afternoons) and then add them as an author. Clinical grades can be a function of site placement or luck getting good attendings. Top schools are generally looking for some sort of spark indicating that this student is sure to be at their minimum standards. It sounds like their #1 concern is avoiding problem residents, and after they've confirmed that you'll be okay, they look for sparks of brilliance and potential to change the field. These are still medical training programs, not research fellowships.

As for people who get Junior AOA based on class exams... I have no idea why that carries any weight. Grades on class exams were typically 85% average with a 5% SD. Whether you were near the top or the bottom boiled down to a few poorly written questions most of the time. My grades have varied wildly despite very consistent performance on Qbanks.

Yeah...problem is that like you said there is no objective way to judge who will be a good resident and who will suck. And I do get that top programs are looking for people to be leaders and researchers. However, usually what happens is that at the top residencies, most go into fellowship of some competitive fashion (cards, GI, etc). They subsequently end up going into private practice as the vast majority from there’s unless they are on some sort of research track meant to help them run a lab one day. As such, one wonders if these places are truly doing a good job at accomplishing their mission OR at recruiting people likely to go the route they want. And that’s partially an economic thing - nobody wants to go to PGY-6-8 and come out with a starting salary of 90k in somebody academic center while their compatriots in private practice are minting 350k.

My Med school did junior AOA purely based off of grades. I agree it’s absurd. Doubtful that’s changing anytime soon

 

[deleted913979]

School: Top 25
Step Scores: Step 1: 250's, Step 2: 260's
Grades: All honors (medicine + sub-i, included) , except one HP
Research: Several publications and presentations
AOA: NA
Interview Invites: BWH, UCLA, UCSD, UCSF, MGH, Mt. Sinai, Columbia, NYU, Duke, Northwestern, Michigan, OHSU, Yale, UTSW, Vanderbilt, Stanford
Rejections: Hopkins, Penn, UWash
Matched (+ # on ROL): UCSF

Advice: I promised myself I would post on this one day, because I've been using the advice for three years.
1. Do not let anyone (advisor, geography) tell you where you can and can't interview. No one had gotten an interview from my #1 and #2 in a few years, or matched at #1-3 ever (or in >5 years for the others)
2. Fit matters. If you're a basic science person, places like JHH, Duke, Stanford, and BWH will love you. If you're a advocacy person, consider UW, NYU, etc.
3. Things are random. My classmate who had no other Top 20 interviews got a Hopkins interview. '
4. Do not read too much into interview day. One of the reasons I ranked my #2 second and my #1 first is because #1 put on a great interview day (made me feel very special etc, responded to my post-interview communication), vs #2 was a little disorganized in comparison (did not show me as much attention, didn't respond to me)
5. Play the game to some extent. Some programs like MGH will really only rank you to match if you get a phone call or #1 email, BWH really cares about who you know, and some programs like Columbia care more about geography.
6. I got two interviews in the Midwest by sending a LOI when I did not hear back from them.
7. Find your passion, find why you want to go to a top program, and really figure out how you are going to get there (PS, interview day). How is that program going to help you reach your goal? There are many paths out there.

 

[OneStepAhead]

Since there are no IMGs here...Also important to note couples matching (SO in peds).
School: Poland
Step Scores: Step 1: 254 Step 2CK: 256 CS: Pass first attempt
Grades: 5(out of 5) in all 3rd year clerkships except peds, OBGYN, Psych.
Research: 2 presentations but a handful of different projects
Extracurriculars: Hobbies were consistently brought up. Unconventional sport, instrument, and another very specific niche hobby.

Hobby fencing...? hope you are not same guy I met at Memorial we talked about Norway

 

[ninjaman22]

School: One of the newer DO schools (I am in the 2nd class)
Step Scores: Step 1/Level 1: 251/695, Step 2/Level 2: 265/803; COMLEX PE: Pass
Grades: All honors
Research: One publication and several poster presentations
Extracurriculars: some volunteering, free clinic
AOA: School doesn't have it
Rank: 3
Interview Invites: UCSD, Penn State, VCU, Rutgers-NJMS, MUSC, Ohio State, Virginia Tech-Carilion, Einstein-Philly, Drexel, ECU, Lehigh Valley, Carolinas, Mount Sinai-Beth Israel, Union Memorial-Baltimore, U Mass
Rejections: Way too many (including silent) to type out but the notable ones are U Penn, MGH, Hopkins-Bayview, Hopkins, Stanford, Thomas Jefferson, UT Southwestern, UT Houston, UCLA, U Washington, Washington U SL, Boston Uni, UNC, Duke, Wake Forest, UVA, Vanderbilt, Emory, Georgetown, GW, Maryland, Cooper, Rutgers-RWJ, Temple, Pittsburg, Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, Case Western, INOVA Fairfax, EVMS, Emory, etc.
Matched (+ # on ROL): #2 - Penn State (loved the program, and it's super close to home!)

Advice: As a DO, if you want to match at a good university program, definitely take both step 1 and step 2. I applied to 64 programs ranging from top (with basically no shot) to community programs with university affiliation. I also got shut out from a lot of the mid-tier DO friendly programs (from my guess, it would be due to my school being fairly new since I have no red flags). Definitely, apply to places that have fellowships. Also, if you have rotated at smaller hospitals during third year without residents, I would recommend doing a Sub I at a University program during fourth year.

 

[BigGAC1]

School: Is a top DO school even a thing?
Step Scores: Step 1/Level 1 - 219/559, Step 2/Level 2 - 237/517, COMLEX PE: Pass
Grades: Straight P's baby
Research: nope
Extracurriculars: Leadership experience, volunteerism, craft beer enthusiasm
AOA: lol
Rank: Bottom 10%
Interview Invites: Mostly mid-tier and a few community
Rejections: Lots
Matched (+ # on ROL): #1 - UTMB

Advice: Rule #1: Interview well. Rule #2: Don't suck at interviewing. Rule #3: ... There is no rule #3.

Underdogs unite!

 

[rddn_jk]

Interview Invites: Mostly mid-tier and a few community


Underdogs unite!

Congrats on your match! Would you mind giving us a sample of the places you interviewed at? And please tell me that you put the “craft beer” enthusiasm on your cv

 

[BigGAC1]

Congrats on your match! Would you mind giving us a sample of the places you interviewed at? And please tell me that you put the “craft beer” enthusiasm on your cv

Sure - UMKC, KU (KC), KU (Wichita), Mizzou, UAMS Fayetteville, BSW Round Rock, Medical City Fort Worth

And while I can't claim to have put my craft beer enthusiasm on my CV, I totally did talk to multiple interviewers about my craft beer (and craft whiskey) interests. Just gotta judge your audience first.

 

[DBV]

Sure - UMKC, KU (KC), KU (Wichita), Mizzou, UAMS Fayetteville, BSW Round Rock, Medical City Fort Worth

And while I can't claim to have put my craft beer enthusiasm on my CV, I totally did talk to multiple interviewers about my craft beer (and craft whiskey) interests. Just gotta judge your audience first.

Second this. I matched at duke and all my interviewer and I talked about was micro brews and home crafts. Also interviewed with Vanderbilt pd and we exchanged home brew recipes.

 

[rddn_jk]

This is all excellent advice. Looks like all of the delicious beers I've been drinking in lieu of studying has a chance to pay off!

 

[QueensFinesf]

Matched at Downstate IM
204 step 1
231 step 2
Cs pass all on first try

7 interviews, one pre match
Ranked: downstate, nyp queens, Woodhull,mt. Sinai elmhurst, Brooklyn hospital, wyckoff.
St. Barnabas was a pre match

 

[michiganred]

School: Unranked Midwest
Step Scores: Step 1: 243, Step 2 CS: Pass (July 2016); Step 2 CK: 258 (July 2016)
Grades: H in everything except Psych
Research: 6 peer-reviewed articles, 4 abstracts, 6 posters, 3 oral presentations. Funded research year.
AOA: Yes (+GHHS)
Rank: Top Quintile (20%)
Interviews (Attended): U of Michigan, Northwestern, UIC at Chicago, Minnesota, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Rochester, BIDMC, MGH, BWH, Boston Med Center, Tufts, Dartmouth, Brown, Yale, Vermont, Johns Hopkins, Duke, UNC, Vanderbilt, WashU St. Louis, OHSU, Utah, Stanford
Interview Invitations (Not Attended): Henry Ford, Emory, Colorado, Hopkins Bayview, Maine Med, Mount Auburn, UMass, Thomas Jefferson, Rush, Cleveland Clinic
Rejections: UCSF, Penn, Drexel, U of Washington, Mount Sinai, U Chicago, UPMC, Temple, UTSW
Matched (+ # on ROL):BWH (#1)

Advice:
1. Apply far and wide. You might be surprised once interview invites start coming in. Once you have an idea of how things are going to go, don't be afraid to cancel interviews.
2. I wish I hadn't gone on so many interviews. I wasn't sure what I wanted exactly out of a program, so I kept a lot of variety in my interview trail. It all turned out, but I was a little more tired than my peers when all was said and done.
3. Be calm and friendly on interview day! I think being personable and relatable is the only thing you must do. If you've made it to the interview, they just want to make sure you're nice and normal.

 

[AquilaCC]

I've used this site for a long time, and am happy to provide as much useful info as I can for you all.

School: Top 20
Step Scores: Step 1: 251, Step 2: 260, CS: Pass
Grades: HP medicine, HP surgery, all others H including SubI
Research: 2 review publications: one first co-author, one second author
Extracurriculars: Solid volunteering, strong involvement in curriculum committees, minimal leadership
AOA: Nominated but didn't make it
Rank: Probably top 25% but unsure
Interview Invites: Mayo, UMich, Stanford, NU, NYU + PC, UCLA PC, BIDMC, Cornell + PC, Icahn, Yale, Yale PC, UPMC, UCSD, Rush, UIC, Loyola, UCD, Olive View
Rejections: MGH, UCSF, BWH, Columbia, Penn, UW, UChicago, BU, Cedars-Sinai, OHSU, USC, Duke (waitlisted)
Matched (+ # on ROL): #2- Cornell PC

Advice: I'll discuss the things I did which I would've wanted to know about beforehand, and leave you to make your own conclusions.

ERAS Application:
- I only wrote one simple sentence, two at most for the descriptions of each activity.
- Did not fill in "Reason for Leaving" for any.
- Did not fill in "Hours per Week" unless it was substantial.
- Included all past "real life" work experiences, but only included the single most significant undergrad activity which fit into the overall narrative of my application.
- Took Step 2 CK/CS earlier (May/August), which gave me peace of mind and was the correct choice.

Interviews:
- In mid-October I wrote letters of interest to a few programs I was interested in and competitive for who had not yet sent me an invitation. Brief 3-4 sentences long. I got a couple of interviews this way.
- I asked some programs who invited me only to categorical if I could also interview for PC, with universal success. I did not ask the reverse for programs who invited me only to PC.
- I applied to 30 programs just to make me feel better. This was unnecessary-- however, my thought was that this was not the time to be cheap. I ended up cancelling many and attended 13, which was way more than enough. Applying to ~20 and attending ~8-10 would've been plenty.
- Not honoring medicine and not being AOA earned my rejections from top programs. One program explicitly told me that these were the reasons for my rejection.
- If you're going to cancel an interview, do it at least a week before. Don't feel bad about it. Be a decent human being and give up your spots to others as soon as possible if you know you're probably not going to attend the school.
- When possible, I scheduled my "safety" program interviews earlier for practice, and the programs I was most interested in later on in the cycle. This was the correct strategy.
- I received a steady trickle of interviews through the end of November. However, many more interviews arrive in Dec-Jan as people get tired and begin dropping their interviews. Be patient.
- I scheduled the majority of my interviews in Oct-Dec and cancelled all the rest in January and beyond. This was the right strategy, as I was burning out near the very end.
- I scheduled some interviews back to back. This was the wrong strategy-- interviews are tiring.
- The interviews themselves were usually very relaxed. They're trying to recruit you as much as you're trying to put on a good face. Try to be a normal human being, smile, and have a conversation. Prepare at least 5-6 questions to ask at the end of each interview.
- I was asked variations of the same set of questions each time. Prepare answers for these using the IM google drive spreadsheet. The three most common questions were: tell me more about X activity, what will you be when you grow up, and what are you looking for in a residency program/why this program. You will be asked what questions you have at the end without fail. Rarely, the entire interview consisted of me asking questions to the interviewer the whole time.
- I was frequently asked about the hobbies I listed on my application.
- I did dermatology research and was asked multiple times indirectly if I was a closet derm applicant. This took me off guard, though in retrospect it makes sense. I added a line about why I did derm research in my PS, and began answering this question proactively when I could do so in context. I would advise the same if you are in a similar boat.
- Residents at dinner and during the interview day can and will comment on you positively or negative to the program, but will usually only take the time to do so if you're at one extreme or the other.
- Business casual at pre-interview dinner regardless of what is mentioned in the email.
- There were multiple programs who didn't openly disclose terrible QOL schedules until I specifically the residents asked what call/daily life looked like.
- I wrote brief notes about the program details that were most important to me (e.g. call schedule, tracks, what I thought of the residents/PD) after each interview day, followed by a paragraph which summarized how I felt about the program. Don't bother with smaller details. I kept an ongoing rank list which ultimately was exactly what I ended up using for my real rank list. This was the correct strategy. The programs were blending together by the end, and it was much easier to compare each new program to the others one at a time as they happened when everything was fresh.
- TSA precheck was worth it.
- I got the Southwest credit card and was able to use the 50k points bonus for almost all of my flights with a good chunk leftover.

Post-Interview
- I did not send any thank you emails. I gave polite responses to the few thank you emails I received from programs.
- I sent a love letter only to my #1 which clearly made no difference, but made me feel better.
- I sent no other post-interview correspondence.
- My rank list was a mix of categorical and PC tracks in whatever order I'd put them in as the interview season progressed. After deliberating, I submitted my rank list a week before and never changed it again. This was the correct strategy.
- Lastly, I feel obligated to repeat these two warnings:
- Don't interpret any post-interview love letter correspondence from programs as meaning you will match there.
- Rank the programs in the order you want them. Period.

This process is random, frustrating, and long. Commiserating here, on reddit, and on the IM spreadsheet was fun and kept me sane, and I'm very happy with how everything ended up. For those of you eyeing this in anticipation of your own application cycle, feel free to reach out with any questions anytime Good luck!