Official Eternal IM WAMC Thread

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mm45 said:
It's a top 50 MD school in the SE with what is considered a mid tier university IM program. Yes, after looking at the past few match-lists the school has sent a few students to IM programs I am interested in however not a large number to be sure. I am currently reaching out to my IM department and hope to hear back soon. No major fellowship interests although I'd like to keep options open for a possible fellowship in something like allergy. Thank you for all of your help! If I may ask, what are some programs that you secured interviews at?
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Rush, UIC, Loyola, Wisconsin, Indiana
Tufts, Brown, Dartmouth, Einstein, Temple, Jefferson, Univ of Maryland, GWU, Cooper, Robert Wood Johnson, Rochester
Tulane, Miami

No worries. i think things will work out for you.
 
Kind of curious how high I can reach, assuming CK and CS work out well. No specific regional preference. Uncertain about subspecializing at this time but would like to keep that option open. On a similar note, is it worth throwing a Hail Mary or two with away rotations at some high-tier programs?

US MD, low/mid-tier
Step 1: 250s
Step 2 CK/CS: Haven't taken/awaiting result
AOA: No
Pre-clinical: Third quartile/middle third
Clinical: Straight P (school doesn't do HP; missed H in IM and psych by the slimmest of margins)
Research:
Pre-medical school stuff: A dozen or so conference posters/presentations, some random electrical engineering conference and journal papers unrelated to medicine, some mouse model work (unpublished)
Medical school stuff: 3 IR case reports, unpublished bench work​
ECs: A smattering of volunteering/mentoring and briefly an officer of a currently defunct medical student interest group
LoRs: Hopefully strong
 
Bob IV said:
Kind of curious how high I can reach, assuming CK and CS work out well. No specific regional preference. Uncertain about subspecializing at this time but would like to keep that option open. On a similar note, is it worth throwing a Hail Mary or two with away rotations at some high-tier programs?

US MD, low/mid-tier
Step 1: 250s
Step 2 CK/CS: Haven't taken/awaiting result
AOA: No
Pre-clinical: Third quartile/middle third
Clinical: Straight P (school doesn't do HP; missed H in IM and psych by the slimmest of margins)
Research:
Pre-medical school stuff: A dozen or so conference posters/presentations, some random electrical engineering conference and journal papers unrelated to medicine, some mouse model work (unpublished)
Medical school stuff: 3 IR case reports, unpublished bench work​
ECs: A smattering of volunteering/mentoring and briefly an officer of a currently defunct medical student interest group
LoRs: Hopefully strong
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Alas, your chances at top 20 are low. However, everyone should pull an Aaron Rodgers and toss up some Hail Mary'es. Otherwise, you should be in the running for strong programs like BU, Monte, Case, Pitt, UVA, Emory, UAB, etc. etc.
 
Currently an M3 at a "Top 30" school in the northeast with a potentially discordant step 1 compared to other application factors. Really trying to get an idea for my competitiveness at academic programs in urban areas in the northeast (Boston, NYC, Philly)/California. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Top 30 US MD
Step 1: 230
Step 2 CK/CS: TBD/TBD
AOA - TBD
Pre-clinical: All P (P/F curriculum)
Clinicals: Honors - medicine, surgery, obgyn, peds, neuro, rads; TBD: psych, FM (H/HP/P/F curriculum)
ECs: very strong, multiple/varied with leadership
Research: extensive with 15+ combined pubs, posters, oral presentations
LoRs: TBD but probably strong
 
MyTachyBradyHeart said:
Alas, your chances at top 20 are low. However, everyone should pull an Aaron Rodgers and toss up some Hail Mary'es. Otherwise, you should be in the running for strong programs like BU, Monte, Case, Pitt, UVA, Emory, UAB, etc. etc.
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By top 20 are you referring to the USNWR list or some other metric?
 
pastiche said:
Currently an M3 at a "Top 30" school in the northeast with a potentially discordant step 1 compared to other application factors. Really trying to get an idea for my competitiveness at academic programs in urban areas in the northeast (Boston, NYC, Philly)/California. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Top 30 US MD
Step 1: 230
Step 2 CK/CS: TBD/TBD
AOA - TBD
Pre-clinical: All P (P/F curriculum)
Clinicals: Honors - medicine, surgery, obgyn, peds, neuro, rads; TBD: psych, FM (H/HP/P/F curriculum)
ECs: very strong, multiple/varied with leadership
Research: extensive with 15+ combined pubs, posters, oral presentations
LoRs: TBD but probably strong
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You will be competitive for most top programs. Step 1 is low, but will easily meet cutoffs. The rest of your application is strong. Good luck and you will have many IVs to choose from

Bob IV said:
By top 20 are you referring to the USNWR list or some other metric?
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By top 20, I mean the usual suspects you'd think of. USNWR is just a place to start.

Coming from a low tier school, no AOA, so-so clinical grades, and no stand-out research/ECs will hurt your chances at those places. Your reach should be programs of the caliber I listed. Also, it's your choice, but I wouldn't recommend doing away rotations with your stats/application. Don't think they'll help you at top 20s at all and you should be in the running for the mid/upper-mid tier so why waste the money?
 
Third year DO student here, looking for some honest feedback about the types of programs I should go for. Obviously I will be applying to plenty of community programs. Wondering what type of university programs I have a shot at. (If any) and how many (#) to apply at...
Stats:
Step 1: 226 Comlex: 581
Step 2CK: not taken yet
Research: One pub in journal of moelcular biology(from college), second author. A couple of Case Studies in Medschool
Presentations at a couple of conferences
Grades: GPA 3.43; HP and Hs
Lors: Probs decent (I hope)
 
med candidate said:
Third year DO student here, looking for some honest feedback about the types of programs I should go for. Obviously I will be applying to plenty of community programs. Wondering what type of university programs I have a shot at. (If any) and how many (#) to apply at...
Stats:
Step 1: 226 Comlex: 581
Step 2CK: not taken yet
Research: One pub in journal of moelcular biology(from college), second author. A couple of Case Studies in Medschool
Presentations at a couple of conferences
Grades: GPA 3.43; HP and Hs
Lors: Probs decent (I hope)
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Your stats are almost identical to mine. Your chances are fine for any university program that has routinely taken grads from your school. There's no rule for how many programs to which you should apply, but applying wisely would be your best bet. Start with the state universities near your program and work outwards from there.
 
Posted a little while back, wanted to post again to see if someone would be willing to respond:

M3 at mid-tier program in Midwest.
Step 1: 231
Step 2 CK: TBD
Step 2 CS: TBD
Clerkship grades: H in Neuro, ObGyn, and Rad Onc elective; HP in IM and Surgery; Peds/FM/Psych/IM acting internship pending
Preclinical: Almost all H/HP, a couple of P's
Research: 1 first author publication + 1 other abstract in surgical subspecialty; 3 national presentations (2 oral + 1 poster), 1 case report
AOA: TBD

Missed out on H in IM by 2 points on shelf exam, which is a bummer because I got excellent evals.

Where should I start for my list? I'd like to get back to CA but I understand with my Step 1 it will probably not happen. Thanks for any help
 
sharkbyte said:
Posted a little while back, wanted to post again to see if someone would be willing to respond:

M3 at mid-tier program in Midwest.
Step 1: 231
Step 2 CK: TBD
Step 2 CS: TBD
Clerkship grades: H in Neuro, ObGyn, and Rad Onc elective; HP in IM and Surgery; Peds/FM/Psych/IM acting internship pending
Preclinical: Almost all H/HP, a couple of P's
Research: 1 first author publication + 1 other abstract in surgical subspecialty; 3 national presentations (2 oral + 1 poster), 1 case report
AOA: TBD

Missed out on H in IM by 2 points on shelf exam, which is a bummer because I got excellent evals.

Where should I start for my list? I'd like to get back to CA but I understand with my Step 1 it will probably not happen. Thanks for any help
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Where do you want to start?

Make a list (and not just of every program in CA) and let's see what matters to you.
 
gutonc said:
Where do you want to start?

Make a list (and not just of every program in CA) and let's see what matters to you.
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Well, I'm not entirely sure, but for the Midwest I was thinking: Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, MCW, Rush, UIC, Loyola, Ohio State to start. Maybe some reaches in there too. I'm not sure yet how many programs on the East Coast I'd apply to but some ones I've thought of are BU, Tufts, Jefferson, Maryland, Georgetown and Rutgers.

As far as CA schools are concerned, I'll probably apply to UC Davis and UC Irvine. Might try USC and UCSD as reaches. I'm sure Stanford/UCLA/UCSD/UCSF are out of reach.
 
sharkbyte said:
Well, I'm not entirely sure, but for the Midwest I was thinking: Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, MCW, Rush, UIC, Loyola, Ohio State to start. Maybe some reaches in there too. I'm not sure yet how many programs on the East Coast I'd apply to but some ones I've thought of are BU, Tufts, Jefferson, Maryland, Georgetown and Rutgers.

As far as CA schools are concerned, I'll probably apply to UC Davis and UC Irvine. Might try USC and UCSD as reaches. I'm sure Stanford/UCLA/UCSD/UCSF are out of reach.
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Scripps Green is an amazing program that might be in your reaches(pretty much a university program disguised as a community). There are a lot of other university-affiliated programs that are great.
 
Anyone know what step 1 score would make it super likely to match one of the "low-tier" california programs, i.e. Davis or UCI?

Obviously there's more than your step 1 score but if everything else was average, what score would make you feel confident that you'd have a good chance?

Originally from the area/did undergrad in the area if that matters
 
yungspleen said:
Anyone know what step 1 score would make it super likely to match one of the "low-tier" california programs, i.e. Davis or UCI?

Obviously there's more than your step 1 score but if everything else was average, what score would make you feel confident that you'd have a good chance?

Originally from the area/did undergrad in the area if that matters
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270.
 
DO Student, OMS-III
Step 1: 236
Level 1: 632
Complex 2 PE: Pass
Step 2/Level 2: ?
Class rank: ~ top 25%
Honors: IM, Psych, Surgery/ P: Peds/ awaiting FM and OB
Research: 2 pubs (1 first author), 2 pubs awaiting submission, 15+ abstracts/presentations, many different labs from college - now
ECs: Extensive medical school teaching experience (scholarship program)
Hoping to do heme/onc and academia in the future

WAMC: top choices right now - Georgetown, GW, Montefiore, UMass, UConn, URochester, Cleveland Clinic, BU, Lenox Hill, Northwell, Stony Brook, Rutgers, Temple, Drexel, UVM, Mt Sinai SLR
 
Terat0ma said:
DO Student, OMS-III
Step 1: 236
Level 1: 632
Complex 2 PE: Pass
Step 2/Level 2: ?
Class rank: ~ top 25%
Honors: IM, Psych, Surgery/ P: Peds/ awaiting FM and OB
Research: 2 pubs (1 first author), 2 pubs awaiting submission, 15+ abstracts/presentations, many different labs from college - now
ECs: Extensive medical school teaching experience (scholarship program)
Hoping to do heme/onc and academia in the future

WAMC: top choices right now - Georgetown, GW, Montefiore, UMass, UConn, URochester, Cleveland Clinic, BU, Lenox Hill, Northwell, Stony Brook, Rutgers, Temple, Drexel, UVM, Mt Sinai SLR
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Reasonable list.
 
Terat0ma said:
DO Student, OMS-III
Step 1: 236
Level 1: 632
Complex 2 PE: Pass
Step 2/Level 2: ?
Class rank: ~ top 25%
Honors: IM, Psych, Surgery/ P: Peds/ awaiting FM and OB
Research: 2 pubs (1 first author), 2 pubs awaiting submission, 15+ abstracts/presentations, many different labs from college - now
ECs: Extensive medical school teaching experience (scholarship program)
Hoping to do heme/onc and academia in the future

WAMC: top choices right now - Georgetown, GW, Montefiore, UMass, UConn, URochester, Cleveland Clinic, BU, Lenox Hill, Northwell, Stony Brook, Rutgers, Temple, Drexel, UVM, Mt Sinai SLR
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So I had similar stats (231, 256, DO) and had invites from all the New England programs you listed except BU (didn’t apply, don’t care for Boston). Can’t speak to NY except Rochester which ghosted me. Was rejected by the DC programs, got invited from the PA programs when I reached out. Hope that helps.

Edit: That’s just for the areas you have listed, I applied the other coast with some success as well.
 
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rddn_jk said:
So I had similar stats (231, 256, DO) and had invites from all the New England programs you listed except BU (didn’t apply, don’t care for Boston). Can’t speak to NY except Rochester which ghosted me. Was rejected by the DC programs, got invited from the PA programs when I reached out. Hope that helps.

Edit: That’s just for the areas you have listed, I applied the other coast with some success as well.
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Thank you!! Any suggestions for other places to look at? I'd prefer east coast, but want to apply as broadly as possible.
 
Terat0ma said:
Thank you!! Any suggestions for other places to look at? I'd prefer east coast, but want to apply as broadly as possible.
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I’m guessing you have some sort of connection to the NE, so really should be fine for most community programs as safeties. I want to say I got an invite from every New England community program I applied. Turned some down as well, since that wasn’t my goal. Honestly I wish I applied to way more reaches/unlikely spots because you’ll never know what you’ll get, especially if you reach out yourself. It’s your only shot, make the most of it. But if you want to stay in the North East I don’t think you’ll have any problem.
 
MD student from unranked school
Step 1: 235
Step 2/ TBD
Class rank: no rankings
AOA: school doesn’t have
Honors: IM, Peds HP: psych, surgery. FM and OB tbd
Research: 1 1st author pub, another being reviewed- both in non impressive journals
Ec’s: 1 leadership in a community volunteer program, leadership in school club, volunteer at a special ed school
LOR’s: 3 from IM, 1 from FM. Should all be solid
Looking to possibly do cards but not 100%. Do want to specialize

WAMC: NY big 4, monte, Yale, BU, Urochester, Ucon, Rutgers, Cleveland clinic, Ucolorado, Uchicago, Uwash, GW, UVM, Loyola, Indiana, Brown, CW
 
IMslope12 said:
MD student from unranked school
Step 1: 235
Step 2/ TBD
Class rank: no rankings
AOA: school doesn’t have
Honors: IM, Peds HP: psych, surgery. FM and OB tbd
Research: 1 1st author pub, another being reviewed- both in non impressive journals
Ec’s: 1 leadership in a community volunteer program, leadership in school club, volunteer at a special ed school
LOR’s: 3 from IM, 1 from FM. Should all be solid
Looking to possibly do cards but not 100%. Do want to specialize

WAMC: NY big 4, monte, Yale, BU, Urochester, Ucon, Rutgers, Cleveland clinic, Ucolorado, Uchicago, Uwash, GW, UVM, Loyola, Indiana, Brown, CW
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Unlikely: Yale, NY Big 4, UChicago, UW
Semi-Reach (but def worth applying): BU, U-Colorado
Rest are fair.
 
IMslope12 said:
MD student from unranked school
Step 1: 235
Step 2/ TBD
Class rank: no rankings
AOA: school doesn’t have
Honors: IM, Peds HP: psych, surgery. FM and OB tbd
Research: 1 1st author pub, another being reviewed- both in non impressive journals
Ec’s: 1 leadership in a community volunteer program, leadership in school club, volunteer at a special ed school
LOR’s: 3 from IM, 1 from FM. Should all be solid
Looking to possibly do cards but not 100%. Do want to specialize

WAMC: NY big 4, monte, Yale, BU, Urochester, Ucon, Rutgers, Cleveland clinic, Ucolorado, Uchicago, Uwash, GW, UVM, Loyola, Indiana, Brown, CW
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Nope: NY big 4, Ucolorado, Uchicago, Uwash (but what the hell, go ahead and apply, it's just money, and I may be wrong)
Yale is a maybe. The rest are in your wheelhouse.

Would also add (based on your apparent geographic preferences):
Dartmouth
UMass
UMD
Bayview
UWisc
UMinn
UIC
Rush
Iowa

That's 20 programs which is more than enough.
 
gutonc said:
Nope: NY big 4, Ucolorado, Uchicago, Uwash (but what the hell, go ahead and apply, it's just money, and I may be wrong)
Yale is a maybe. The rest are in your wheelhouse.

Would also add (based on your apparent geographic preferences):
Dartmouth
UMass
UMD
Bayview
UWisc
UMinn
UIC
Rush
Iowa

That's 20 programs which is more than enough.
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Thanks for the suggestions! Also I know this has been asked to death, but do you have an opinion on always? Granted I’m coming from a pretty unknown school
 
low-tier MD East coast
Step 1:241
Step 2: pending
Clerkship grades: H in IM, HP everything else thus far, no AOA
Research: 10 publications (basic + clinical), multiple poster and abstracts, no research year
WAMC Northeast?
Wondering about threshold for Step 2 CK impact?
Should I prioritize home sub-I or aways?
Thanks!
 
jp2317 said:
low-tier MD East coast
Step 1:241
Step 2: pending
Clerkship grades: H in IM, HP everything else thus far, no AOA
Research: 10 publications (basic + clinical), multiple poster and abstracts, no research year
WAMC Northeast?
Wondering about threshold for Step 2 CK impact?
Should I prioritize home sub-I or aways?
Thanks!
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Don't waste time on aways.

You'll be just fine for a number of the top tier programs in the NE. You won't get them all, but you'll get enough to be happy.
 
gutonc said:
Don't waste time on aways.

You'll be just fine for a number of the top tier programs in the NE. You won't get them all, but you'll get enough to be happy.
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Thanks, @gutonc - sorry to make you sound like a broken record on aways!
 
Hey all!
Top 20-30 med school on east coast
Step 1: 253
Step 2: 266/pass
Clerkship grades: A- in IM, surgery, psych, peds, A in neuro, B in OB/GYN
AOA: no
Pubs: undergrad: 4
med school, non related to IM: 1 podium presentation, 2 abstracts
med school, related to IM: 2 abstracts, paper submitted, working on a project now

Looking to stay on the east coast and willing to include midwest up to texas. Want to be in a city, but flexible with which city I end up in. Which programs should I/should I not apply for?
 
WakaFloxacin said:
Hey all!
Top 20-30 med school on east coast
Step 1: 253
Step 2: 266/pass
Clerkship grades: A- in IM, surgery, psych, peds, A in neuro, B in OB/GYN
AOA: no
Pubs: undergrad: 4
med school, non related to IM: 1 podium presentation, 2 abstracts
med school, related to IM: 2 abstracts, paper submitted, working on a project now

Looking to stay on the east coast and willing to include midwest up to texas. Want to be in a city, but flexible with which city I end up in. Which programs should I/should I not apply for?
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what are your goals? fellowship? any good university program should set you up. hospitalist? probably doesn't matter other than any tertiary care center.

the equation changes if you want academic medicine. once you make that bad decision, you should be hunting pedigree.

honestly, it doesn't really matter. now that I've finished residency, it's all the same everywhere. I got the fellowship I wanted and after 3 years, done with academics forever, **** academics.
 
Where does a 254 Step 1 coming from a top 40-50 school put you? With research is it in the running for big academic programs like a Penn or BIDMC?
 
RonSwanson's Gold said:
Where does a 254 Step 1 coming from a top 40-50 school put you? With research is it in the running for big academic programs like a Penn or BIDMC?
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A score like that will not hold you back anywhere. The other parts of your app may, but not your Step 1.
 
brg92 said:
low-tier MD School
Step 1:260+
Step 2: have not taken yet
Clerkship grades: H in all clinical rotations
Research: 5 poster presentations, 3 abstracts, 3 manuscripts in submission, one current retrospective study in process, but no pubs
AOA: No
Community and Leadership: student clinic, multiple patient and medicine academic/teaching programs, leadership in several interest groups

WAMC at interviewing at top 30 IM programs?
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Sorry to break it to you, there will be no interviews at any top 30 medicine programs.
😆

If you didn't realize, I'm being sarcastic
 
aafisahar said:
what are your goals? fellowship? any good university program should set you up. hospitalist? probably doesn't matter other than any tertiary care center.

the equation changes if you want academic medicine. once you make that bad decision, you should be hunting pedigree.

honestly, it doesn't really matter. now that I've finished residency, it's all the same everywhere. I got the fellowship I wanted and after 3 years, done with academics forever, **** academics.
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The problem is I’m not sure what I want post residency in terms of academics vs private practice, so I feel like I should be hunting pedigree for now so I have all options available to me.
 
Posted a while back but curious now that I am almost done with third year - WAMC?
Step I 239
Grades: H in Peds, Neuro, HP everything else including IM
6 Published Papers (1 first author 1 second), 1 Pub abstract, 10+ Posters
Will not be AOA
Strong ties to NY, Philadelphia, FL
Want to stay on the east coast. Chances of getting interviews at the big schools in NY, Boston, Philadelphia, NC, FL?
 
I'm kind of geographically limited--aiming for big cities in the NE and midwest like NYC, Boston, Chicago, etc. WAMC at top tier programs there? I know they care a lot about research and that that's the weakest part of my app. Ultimately I probably want to do a fellowship like pulm/ccm or heme/onc. Not sure if I want to practice in academics or not.

Step 1: 255
Step 2: 259
Grades: all P preclinical (P/F curriculum), H in IM, EM, neuro, family, peds, OBGYN; HP in psych; P in surgery. ICU and AI grades pending.
Research: poster (presented not by me) from undergrad, 2 surgery poster presentations, 1 surgery podium presentation, 1 surgery poster at an international conference (presented not by me), 1 IM poster presentation, 1 IM abstract submitted to a conference.
ECs: lots of service stuff, some light med-ed stuff, am bilingual/interpret at a student clinic and in the hospital
 
scoops619 said:
I'm kind of geographically limited--aiming for big cities in the NE and midwest like NYC, Boston, Chicago, etc. WAMC at top tier programs there? I know they care a lot about research and that that's the weakest part of my app. Ultimately I probably want to do a fellowship like pulm/ccm or heme/onc. Not sure if I want to practice in academics or not.

Step 1: 255
Step 2: 259
Grades: all P preclinical (P/F curriculum), H in IM, EM, neuro, family, peds, OBGYN; HP in psych; P in surgery. ICU and AI grades pending.
Research: poster (presented not by me) from undergrad, 2 surgery poster presentations, 1 surgery podium presentation, 1 surgery poster at an international conference (presented not by me), 1 IM poster presentation, 1 IM abstract submitted to a conference.
ECs: lots of service stuff, some light med-ed stuff, am bilingual/interpret at a student clinic and in the hospital
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As has been discussed ad infinitum in this thread, you have a good, but not great app. You need something to make you stand out if you're looking for invites from the NYU, Cornell, Columbia, MGH, BWH, UC, NW, etc group. And you haven't shown any of that here.

AOA would help. A highly ranked med school will help. Not much else you can do about your app at this point to buff it. Not saying you shouldn't aim for those places, because you should. But I wouldn't expect to get more than a couple of invites from that group at the most.

The good news is that there are roughly hojiggety thousand other good programs in those places that will get you what you need.
 
JJB123 said:
Hey guys! Need some advice, places to start looking.
Low/mid tier? MD school in south
Step 1: 211
Step 2: NA
Clerkship grades: HO in IM, OB, Psych, Surg. waiting on FM, peds. Can probs HO FM, will most likely HP peds. Grades are grossly overinflated with ~50-60% HO.
AOA: LOL
Pubs: 1 middle author for a chapter from undergrad., related to major. 1 case report. 2 more working. national poster presentation x1. state poster presentation x2. podium presentation at school x2. posters at school x3.
1 case report is non IM related, state poster is public health, 2 school posters are mental health. Rest are IM.
Rank: Probs 3rd quartile, maybe 4th.
LOR: 1 def super strong. 1 may be okay, I think he'll explain my grades/scores are not equal to clinical performance. Hoping to get 1 from Sub-I. 1 from chair. Maybe one from someone I did research + clinicals with but he hasn't written any/many before.
ECs: volunteer at free clinic, probs >100hrs, leadership for a volunteer group and lots of misc volunteering. Part of the group that gives premeds tours and interviews them x2yrs. Part of a curriculum review group for 1 yr. Mentee-d premeds for 3 yrs. Part of a scholarship review committee 2 years for a national org.

Overall, I'm doing better on NBMEs for clerkships, scoring generally above the mean given. Taking 3wks dedicated for CK. Hoping to go to a academic program (reach I know) b/c currently interested in pulm/CC +/- hospitalist. Also, location is an issue for SO - she needs to be in a tech-available place which isn't my current med school (hard I know).

Idk even where to look. Thought I'd be at least looked at by my home program since they have 40-50% IMGs - turns out their cut off is 220 (but they look at all home students). Help on getting started? I've been looking at places where they have IMGs/DOs (ie UNM, UConn). Oh and # I should apply to? Heard 40-60 from school advisors. Awaiting that sweet sweet STAR data.
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I had a similar step 1 (albeit several years ago, so things have gotten more competitive). Here is what you need to do.

1. You need to take CK as soon as feasible and have the score ready to go when apps open. Aim for 30-40 point increase (doable with aggressive study).
2. You need to arrange for a medicine sub-I as soon as feasible (first or second rotation of MS4) and absolutely kill it (as a plus have your attending write an LOR)
3. I hate to break it to you, but honestly the research and the ECs, although good, are not going to keep you from being filtered out at a TON of programs. Research/EC only matter if you make it to the interview stage.

For tech in general I think the best places in the country is Norcal and NYC. Norcal is gonna be hard (several community possible though).

I would apply to 60-80 programs, with a mix of 40% community and 60% academic.

I would probably apply like this:
-look through your med school match list in the last 5 years and make a spreadsheet of all the IM matches. Apply to all of those programs (within reason -- you can safely skip MGH)
-for california (norcal) I would apply to Santa Clara Valley, California Pacific, all the Kaisers (Oakland, SF, Santa Clara), UC Davis. Valley and Cal Pacific are very good community programs and they function like academic centers to be honest, with good local matches for fellowships.
-as an aside the rest of California has pretty good community programs in general (at least better than some very bad ones in Brooklyn for example), so if you want to live in Cali you can try to apply to most community programs there and see where you end up
-for NYC (the other area for tech) I would apply to RWJ, Northwell, Montefiore, Downstate, Lenox Hill, Stony Brook, NYMC, SLR to name a few.
-look at your state and the surrounding states and pick programs that you have heard about that you haven't already included from your school's match list
-go through the map and identify metro areas you can live in, apply to every mid-tier and low-tier academic, as well as selected community programs (see below)

I would caution against solely using IMG percentage as a criteria because many programs accustomed to taking IMGs (often community) actually have a HIGHER step 1 filter for their applicants (like your home program) as they are used to an applicant pool with higher step scores. You can always apply and see what happens, but I wouldn't say that just because a program has a high IMG percentage it means you are automatically considered a more favorable applicant as an AMG.

Good luck! It's gonna be tough but I you'll make it!
 
JJB123 said:
Hey guys! Need some advice, places to start looking.
Low/mid tier? MD school in south
Step 1: 211
Step 2: NA
Clerkship grades: HO in IM, OB, Psych, Surg. waiting on FM, peds. Can probs HO FM, will most likely HP peds. Grades are grossly overinflated with ~50-60% HO.
AOA: LOL
Pubs: 1 middle author for a chapter from undergrad., related to major. 1 case report. 2 more working. national poster presentation x1. state poster presentation x2. podium presentation at school x2. posters at school x3.
1 case report is non IM related, state poster is public health, 2 school posters are mental health. Rest are IM.
Rank: Probs 3rd quartile, maybe 4th.
LOR: 1 def super strong. 1 may be okay, I think he'll explain my grades/scores are not equal to clinical performance. Hoping to get 1 from Sub-I. 1 from chair. Maybe one from someone I did research + clinicals with but he hasn't written any/many before.
ECs: volunteer at free clinic, probs >100hrs, leadership for a volunteer group and lots of misc volunteering. Part of the group that gives premeds tours and interviews them x2yrs. Part of a curriculum review group for 1 yr. Mentee-d premeds for 3 yrs. Part of a scholarship review committee 2 years for a national org.

Overall, I'm doing better on NBMEs for clerkships, scoring generally above the mean given. Taking 3wks dedicated for CK. Hoping to go to a academic program (reach I know) b/c currently interested in pulm/CC +/- hospitalist. Also, location is an issue for SO - she needs to be in a tech-available place which isn't my current med school (hard I know).

Idk even where to look. Thought I'd be at least looked at by my home program since they have 40-50% IMGs - turns out their cut off is 220 (but they look at all home students). Help on getting started? I've been looking at places where they have IMGs/DOs (ie UNM, UConn). Oh and # I should apply to? Heard 40-60 from school advisors. Awaiting that sweet sweet STAR data.
Click to expand...

Oh and forgot to mention. Take all of the cutoffs from FRIEDA (do people still use that?) with a grain of salt. I got invites from places I was supposed to be filtered out at. You miss 100% of the shots that you don't take, and also if there's a place that you are super interested in and you haven't heard back by the time that people are getting invites, email them (PD and cc the PC) expressing your interest and sometimes you can circumvent the filter (or your weak application) that way and finagle an invite.
 
Thank you @lulu09!!!

Yeah, I noticed that quickly about the IMG/DO ratio. An advisor told me to use that but it's very clearly not a true representation.

Planning CK in mid July with Sub-I in August. Def planning a letter from my sub-I.
 
Question about my chances this upcoming cycle
School: standard midwest state school
Step 1: 248
Step 2: TBD
Grades: HP in IM, H in rest (1 left)
AOA: yes
Research: one 3rd author pub submitted, could have a few more submissions by application time, 1 abstract, 2 posters
Rank: 1st quartile

Do I need to have an IM subI before September to redeem my HP in medicine?

Also WAMC with the following school list in no particular order:
WashU
UTSW
Baylor (houston)
Colorado
Vandy
UNC
Duke
Rush
Uchicago
Northwestern
UVA
OHSU
Cleveland clinic
Case Western
Mayo
Umichigan
UPenn
Pitt
Emory
Wisconsin
Indiana
Iowa
Yale
Brown
BostonU
NYU
UCSD
UCLA
Cedars
OU
KU
Mizzou
 
timthetoolmantaylor said:
Question about my chances this upcoming cycle
School: standard midwest state school
Step 1: 248
Step 2: TBD
Grades: HP in IM, H in rest (1 left)
AOA: yes
Research: one 3rd author pub submitted, could have a few more submissions by application time, 1 abstract, 2 posters
Rank: 1st quartile

Do I need to have an IM subI before September to redeem my HP in medicine?

Also WAMC with the following school list in no particular order:
WashU
UTSW
Baylor (houston)
Colorado
Vandy
UNC
Duke
Rush
Uchicago
Northwestern
UVA
OHSU
Cleveland clinic
Case Western
Mayo
Umichigan
UPenn
Pitt
Emory
Wisconsin
Indiana
Iowa
Yale
Brown
BostonU
NYU
UCSD
UCLA
Cedars
OU
KU
Mizzou
Click to expand...

I bet you'll get interviews at more than half of this list, probably all the midwest ones. Remember the top of IM is a crap shoot.. I'd say do your sub-I as early as you can. Then rock step 2 in time to get your score by Oct 1 and you'll be in good shape
 
Are aways/auditions a big deal at academic centers (like in EM) if I wanted to match at a place like Sinai, Cornell, Columbia etc?
 
WAMC for a residency in Southern CA?

I am from LA originally, went to UCB . My whole family is in the area and I would like to be close to them for residency

-step 1 (250) , step 2 TBD, go to a good school (top 30) and my clinical grades are about average for my school (only give honors to top 10-15%, HP to next 1-15%)- HP in IM , H in Psych, Neuro, pass in rest
-Average-Decent research
-Average ECs
-No AOA,
-probably 2nd or 3rd quintile rank (somewhere in middle)

Thinking of applying to all academic/ hybrid programs;
UCLA, UCSF, Stanford, (know i have zero chance at these lol), UCI, UCSD, Harbor, Olive View, Scripps Green, Scripps Mercy, Kaiser LA , Cedars, USC, UCD

Also will be applying to programs in other states like Nevada , Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Utah , but would strongly prefer to be close to family
 
WAMC for a top 20ish program in the Northeast (i.e. BIDMC, Penn, Mt. Sinai, Columbia)? Step 1 254, eligible for AOA (hasnt been decided yet), nearly even mix of H/HP in third year, all thats left is IM (obviously this is huge). Three pubs in non-IM fields, two more on the way in IM subspecialty. School is a well respected mid tier northeastern school.
 
LouDog1989 said:
I bet you'll get interviews at more than half of this list, probably all the midwest ones. Remember the top of IM is a crap shoot.. I'd say do your sub-I as early as you can. Then rock step 2 in time to get your score by Oct 1 and you'll be in good shape
Click to expand...
Do you guys recommend getting letters solely from IM/IM specialties or ok from other disciplines if they know you well
 
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