Official Eternal IM WAMC Thread

[Redpancreas]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hey guys! Have not been getting any direct answers from my school so wanted to see what people here thought. I got to a t5 level school and wish to remain at a similar caliber of IM residency program as I am aiming to ultimately pursue cardiology in an academic setting.

Metrics:
Core Clerkships are P/F but all P.
SubI: Honors
1 IM elective graded at Honors
Step 2: 255
Research: This is where I am less certain. I have 2 abstracts/poster presentations published. Have 3 currently in submission/ review, one being a 1st author manuscript.

Everything else is subjective (PS, activities, etc) and I have been told ultimately doesn't matter as much, but would assume I am in the average range there as well.

Should I still attempt to focus in on t4 IM residencies or does research output disqualify me from these places?

Overall, you've slightly above average at a top medical school. Sure, you're not published yet, but most aren't. I would project maybe a top 10 residency and from there just focus on performing well clinically and finding research mentors as letters and research accomplishments are the major things for fellowship in addition to residency name. I wouldn't stress too much as your cake is already baked at this point, but I understand that you're in a very competitive environment which makes that difficult. Try to stay off the spreadsheets and get something productive done with the spare time you have.

 

[asdf192]

Med School: Top ~30 USMD, typically strong match list compared to rank
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: 3/6 honors, 3 high pass
M4 grades: Honors Sub-I, Honors on other rotations
Class rank: Predicting 2nd quartile
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: ~250
AOA: TBD
GHHS: TBD
Demographics: White/Asian
Research: 2 papers from college, 1 podium and poster presentation from regional conference in NE, 1 manuscript in process, 2 separate research projects in the works that will likely be submitted for publication before next fall when I apply
Extracurriculars: Dual masters program (MD-MBA) currently in MBA year, President of medical school fraternity, part of Med-Ed Scholars group as am interested in teaching in the future
LORs: IM attending from Sub-I, GI attending from elective
Geographic Signaling: NE and West Coast
Red flags: None
Career goals: GI - Ideally looking to maximize fellowship matching chances, so open to location but ideally NE or CA. Interested in private practice down the line and some non clinical (VC, biotech) part time after residency

I assume most of you have done a lot of research into competitive programs and due to being a dual degree applicant my school has not given me a whole lot of information on where I should apply or how competitive I will be. Wondering if my step 2 score will hold me back from applying into top tier (MGH, UCSF, Hopkins, etc.) or second tier options. Home is in the NE and have family out in CA so would prefer to stay on the E or W coast if possible.

 

[Desert_Gaara]

Overall, you've slightly above average at a topic medical school. Sure, you're not published yet, but most aren't. I would project maybe a top 10 residency and from there just focus on performing well clinically and finding research mentors as letters and research accomplishments are the major things for fellowship in addition to residency name. I wouldn't stress too much as your cake is already baked at this point, but I understand that you're in a very competitive environment which makes that difficult. Try to stay off the spreadsheets and get something productive done with the spare time you have.

Thank you for the response!

 

[Akrylix]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I'm a third year medical student at a low-tier USMD program. I am really interested in GI, and I have heard from others that if you want to pursue a competitive fellowship, that you should ideally try to match to an academic IM program that has an in-house fellowship program for the one you are pursuing.

I have a red-flag on my application, in that I was going through a lot of family problems when I was studying for STEP1. While I was passing on my practice exams with a solid margin, unfortunately I was like one or two points off from passing the exam according to the graph they showed me. Felt very horrible, but there's nothing I can change about it now. While I was able to recollect myself and pass on the second attempt, ultimately I still failed my first attempt, which will have a huge impact on the programs I am able to get into.

I don't know where else I should ask, but do I no longer have a shot at something like GI now? GI has routinely been my favorite subject throughout undergrad and medical school and the one I have always excelled the most in. Most of the mentors I have come across as a student whom I have related to and respected the most have been gastroenterologists. But I recognize how competitive GI is as a fellowship.

But going back, based on what mentors and others have told me, I should try to match to an academic IM program. With my current red flag, would it even be possible for me to match to a low or mid-tier academic IM program? I have heard that most programs screen out applicants who don't pass STEP1 on the first attempt, so what do I even do at this point? If there is still a sliver of hope, would anyone be able to recommend some advice for me from now until when I apply in 4th year?

As for other information, don't think I can provide much since I just recently started third year, but I'm an overall average student. Haven't failed any of my preclinical classes, but haven't honored either. Have only finished one rotation in third year, and I passed that, not sure yet if it is a high pass or honors yet. Have done some research and presentations, and leadership of a few organizations on campus.

If I can provide any other information that would be helpful, please let me know. Thank you so much for anyone who is able to help me!

 

[bonnaroo.88]

Hi all, first-time poster here, I appreciate all the help I can get!

Med School: T30 USMD program - state school in the Midwest
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: 3/7 honors (honors in IM, FM, surgery), 3 high pass, 1 pass (OB/GYN)
M4 grades: Honors in SubI
Class rank: Unknown (expected to be 1st quartile)
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 270
AOA: No
GHHS: No
Demographics: South Asian
Research: 1 submitted publication (will have three more submitted before applying that will all be first author) + 2 published abstracts, 9 posters/abstracts (all IM). The majority are from a project that I have been curating for over two years, currently stuck in edits/reviewing for some of the papers.

Extracurriculars: Free clinic service, President of IM-related interest group, ADCOM, tutoring and mentorship organization - all fairly standard

LORs: 1 from IM chair, 2 ICU (from fourth-year sub I), 1 hospitalist, 1 from research mentor, all should be solid but not groundbreaking

Geographic Signaling: East North Central, South Atlantic, Middle Atlantic

Red flags: None

Aiming to be competitive for cards fellowship so want to match to the best place possible with some consideration for schedules. Ideally want to end up in Chicago, but not sure if I am really that competitive without AOA.

(S) = silver; (G) = gold
SAFETY: Ohio State University (S), University of Cincinnati (S), Case Western (S), Indiana University
TARGET: Washington University (S), Rush University (S), Vanderbilt University(G), University of Virginia (S), Emory University (S), University of Maryland (S), University of Pittsburgh (S), Cleveland Clinic (S)
REACH: University of Chicago (G or S), Northwestern (G or S), University of Michigan (G), University of Pennsylvania (S)

 

[Calizboosted76]

Hey everyone, crazy that I am posting this. It seems like just yesterday I was on my reinvention path.

Med School: DO
M1-M2 grades: A's/B's (mostly B's) and 2 C's (Screw you OPP)
M3 grades: A's / B's
M4 grades: So far A's
Class rank: 4th quartile yikes
Step 1: n/a
Comlex1: Pass
Step 2: n/a
Comlex 2: 587 72nd-75th percentile
AOA: No
GHHS: No
Research: 10 oral presentations. 4 Poster presentations. 4 case reports with 3 more about to be submitted. 1 scoping review. Few other projects.
Extracurriculars: leadership in multiple student orgs, started a committee at my school, local board member in the community for a specific sport, Peer mentor, foundation board member for a certain disease, Team captain of Intramural sports org. Decent amount of volunteering.
LORs: 1 from IM PD, 1 from FM Hospitalist, 1 from IM subspecialty, 1 from my school's IM chair
Geographic Signaling: South Atlantic (would really like to get down to Orlando area)
Red flags: 4th quartile, no USMLE exams.
Goal: Cardiology to Interventional Cardiology. I would like to do residency in Florida and more specifically at a program down around Orlando.

Any suggestions on a school list and which programs I am competitive for? I already have a preliminary list but would love suggestions from you all.


Edit: Here is my signal list as of now

Gold: UCF/HCA (Greater Orlando), Advent Health Orlando, Orlando Health.

Silver: UCF/HCA (lake monroe), Mayo Clinic, UF Jax, Broward Health, Broward Health North, FAU, University of Miami/Jackson Health System Program, Palmetto General Hosp, Cleveland clinic, Mount Sinai (Florida), NCH healthcare, and for the last I am between SEH and FSU Tally.

 

[TexasMed22]

Hi all, first-time poster here, I appreciate all the help I can get!

Med School: T30 USMD program - state school in the Midwest
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: 3/7 honors (honors in IM, FM, surgery), 3 high pass, 1 pass (OB/GYN)
M4 grades: Honors in SubI
Class rank: Unknown (expected to be 1st quartile)
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 270
AOA: No
GHHS: No
Demographics: South Asian
Research: 1 submitted publication (will have three more submitted before applying that will all be first author) + 2 published abstracts, 9 posters/abstracts (all IM). The majority are from a project that I have been curating for over two years, currently stuck in edits/reviewing for some of the papers.

Extracurriculars: Free clinic service, President of IM-related interest group, ADCOM, tutoring and mentorship organization - all fairly standard

LORs: 1 from IM chair, 2 ICU (from fourth-year sub I), 1 hospitalist, 1 from research mentor, all should be solid but not groundbreaking

Geographic Signaling: East North Central, South Atlantic, Middle Atlantic

Red flags: None

Aiming to be competitive for cards fellowship so want to match to the best place possible with some consideration for schedules. Ideally want to end up in Chicago, but not sure if I am really that competitive without AOA.

(S) = silver; (G) = gold
SAFETY: Ohio State University (S), University of Cincinnati (S), Case Western (S), Indiana University
TARGET: Washington University (S), Rush University (S), Vanderbilt University(G), University of Virginia (S), Emory University (S), University of Maryland (S), University of Pittsburgh (S), Cleveland Clinic (S)
REACH: University of Chicago (G or S), Northwestern (G or S), University of Michigan (G), University of Pennsylvania (S)

Curious to hear everyone's opinion on this persons application. Seems very strong, so wondering about target vs reach distinction

 

[HydropicChange]

Curious to hear everyone's opinion on this persons application. Seems very strong, so wondering about target vs reach distinction

Not a particularly helpful comment but I have a very similar application, though I am mostly focusing in a different region. For the ones we do overlap the target vs reach distinction looks good to me.

 

[blurb_123]

Curious to hear everyone's opinion on this persons application. Seems very strong, so wondering about target vs reach distinction

Some aspects are for sure. The step score is great, but no AOA and no peer-reviewed publications will make some of the upper-echelon places tough. I still think OP will end up at a T20 residency potentially (T30 worst case), but it's hard to say which one.

 

[bonnaroo.88]

Some aspects are for sure. The step score is great, but no AOA and no peer-reviewed publications will make some of the upper-echelon places tough. I still think OP will end up at a T20 residency potentially (T30 worst case), but it's hard to say which one.

Thank you for the insight!

 

[whataweirdo]

Would appreciate feedback on my list, really not sure if I’m competitive for the top-tier places with my obvious lack of pubs but decent research activities otherwise.



Med School: Regional campus of a T20 US MD—i guess its considered mid tier?

Step 1 / Level 1: Pass

Step 2 / Level 2: TBD (exam soon, scores in 265-270 range)

Clerkship grades: 7/7 Honors

Class rank: No rankings at my school.

Research: 12 entries total. 3 posters at national conferences (1st author on one i presented, 2nd author on two i didnt present.) 2nd author on a palliative care reflection piece in AAMC’s journal. an abstract publication in ASH. manuscript that will be submitted at time of app (first author). other entries are poster presentations at school research day/local conferences with a mix of case reports, clinical research, med-ed.

LORs: One from Heme/Onc fellowship chair at my institution (should be particularly strong, as he is also my mentor), combined letter from IM clerkship director and IM resident chair, one from FM attending whom I spent a ton of time with, one from peds heme/onc attending.

Gold Humanism: N/A at my school

AOA: N/A at my school

ECs: enjoy writing and had one of my pieces published in a college textbook, presented a med-ed workshop at a national conference, served as class representative for 1 year, co-chair of weightlifting club for 1 year, lots of free clinic volunteering all years, apart of mentoring program for local & low SES college students all years, peer mentor for M1s, solid amount of social determinants of health-ish work before med school.

Story: Feel-good ‘american dream’ story lol. Low SES, no family in medicine, my parents are immigrants and never went to college, I went to NYC public schools my entire life, father drove yellow cab to support us. yada yada.

Red flags: none.

Career goals: Heme/Onc

School list:

Reaches: MGH, BWH, UPenn, Hopkins, Columbia, UCSF, Stanford
Target: Mt. Sinai, Cornell, NYU, BIDMC, Northwestern, UChicago, Yale, UVA, UMich, Mayo (MN), Pittsburgh, Brown
Safety: Georgetown, GWU, BU, Jefferson, Brown, Tufts, VCU, Hofstra, RWJ, Monte

Ended up with a 279 on Step 2. Don’t think it changes much for me because my rate limiting factor is # of publications—but I am working on submitting 3 manuscripts before ERAS. Was wondering if anyone could let me know how competitive I am for my targets and reaches with this score and the 3 submissions. Thanks again guys.

 

[blurb_123]

Ended up with a 279 on Step 2. Don’t think it changes much for me because my rate limiting factor is # of publications—but I am working on submitting 3 manuscripts before ERAS. Was wondering if anyone could let me know how competitive I am for my targets and reaches with this score and the 3 submissions. Thanks again guys.

Insanely good step score. That being said, I don't know how much it helps above 265-270 based on what I saw last application cycle. Try to get those manuscripts in. Not saying you can't match T20 without peer-reviewed publications but it very much helps from what I've seen. Still think you are good bet for one of your targets. I think the reaches will be tough without more substantive research IMHO. They generally take a lot of MD/PhD, T5, T20 with heavy research.

 

[whataweirdo]

Insanely good step score. That being said, I don't know how much it helps above 265-270 based on what I saw last application cycle. Try to get those manuscripts in. Not saying you can't match T20 without peer-reviewed publications but it very much helps from what I've seen. Still think you are good bet for one of your targets. I think the reaches will be tough without more substantive research IMHO. They generally take a lot of MD/PhD, T5, T20 with heavy research.

Thank you for the honest feedback.

 

[howdidienduphere]

Hey everyone! Just trying to gauge my competitiveness and review my program list, any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Med School: Low tier MD school in the northeast
Preclinical: all pass
M3 grades: 5/7 honors (including IM), 1 HP, 1 P
M4 grades: couldn't get a sub-I before ERAS but all honors so far in IM subspecialties
Class rank: Top quartile, but didn't get AOA
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 266
AOA: No
GHHS: No
Demographics: ORM
Research: 2 publications in bench research (1 first-author, 1 middle-author). 2 more first-author papers will be submitted before ERAS (hopefully accepted in time). 4 poster presentations, 1 oral presentation.
Extracurriculars: 2 leadership positions. Standard volunteering and hobbies.
LORs: IM subspecialty, IM hospitalist, FM PCP, Department Chair
Geographic Signaling: Middle Atlantic, Northeast, and East North Central
Career Goals: most interested in ID and cards as of now (opposite ends of the competitiveness spectrum)

Here are my signals so far (I have a lot of reaches since I'd be happy at my home program which historically ranks their students very highly):
- Reach: Cornell (G), NYU (G), Columbia (S), Beth Israel Deaconess (S), UChicago (S), Northwestern (S), UPenn (S)
- Target: Mt Sinai (G), Montefiore/Albert Einstein (S), Boston U (S), UPitt (S), Brown (S)
- Safety: Rutgers RWJ (S), Sidney Kimmel TJUH (S), Tufts (S)

 

[OncOncOnc]

Med School: new school with strong students but no name recognition - maybe mid or low tier?
M1-M2 grades: P/F: all pass
M3 grades: 6/6 honors
M4 grades: 4/4 honors, including sub-i’s in IM and ICU
Class rank: top 10%
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 268
AOA: not offered
GHHS: Not offered
Demographics: East Asian
Research:
4 pubmed indexed pubs (3 first author, 1 second author. 2 are case reports tho).
2 first author manuscripts under review (one in a high IF journal but neither will be published in time)
2 first author abstracts
16 total oral presentations/ posters, most of them first author. 4 are at school related events tho, so 12 real ones
Research output are kinda a mix of different specialties but none are very specific to IM

Extracurriculars: president of a couple student groups (though one is for a specialty that I’m not applying for), some school related education stuff, miscellaneous volunteering, nothing special

LORs: 1 IM department letter, 1 IM, 1 ICU, 1 obgyn. Not sure about strength of department letter. individual letters should all be pretty strong but none are very well known in the field.

Geographic Signaling: west coast, tristate, New England

Red flags: None

However, I switched to IM relatively late and did sub-is in other specialties, which I’m worried may deter some programs. For one of the other specialties, I was also president of the student interest group. Is this worth mentioning as a leadership activity or should I leave it out?

Mostly need help with signaling strategy and if my current signals are too top heavy. I’m a bit worried about my interview yield with my current list, and I’ve been told to not count on getting interviews at places that I don’t signal. Would ideally like to go to a top academic program bc I’m interested in academic IM and possibly fellowships in pulm crit or GI, but a bit worried about the lack of school name, AOA and GHHS not being offered, and research output (only 4 pubmed indexed pubs, 2 of which are case reports)

Signal list:

GOLD
Reach:

• Stanford
• UCLA

Target:

• UCSD

SILVER
Reach:

• UCSF
• Either MGH or Brigham

Target:

• Sinai
• Cornell
• NYU
• U Washington
• Harbor UCLA
• BIDMC

Safety:

• Scripps clinic/ scripps green
• Cedars
• UCI
• Kaiser SF

Also if anyone has other programs to suggest adding to my list, would love to hear. Our school wants us to apply to 30-40 ish programs in total. Much love, appreciate y’all ❤️

Your med school performance has been great, but this is definitely a top heavy list, especially for an applicant from a new school - I think a lot of your target schools are actually reaches and you should add more mid-tier and upper-mid-tier academic programs. I don’t understand signaling but I’d add some of the following (based on your apparent geographic preferences): OHSU, UC Davis, USC, Tufts, BU, Montefiore. I’d also consider applying to some strong but less geographically desirable programs.

 

[OncOncOnc]

Hey everyone! Just trying to gauge my competitiveness and review my program list, any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Med School: Low tier MD school in the northeast
Preclinical: all pass
M3 grades: 5/7 honors (including IM), 1 HP, 1 P
M4 grades: couldn't get a sub-I before ERAS but all honors so far in IM subspecialties
Class rank: Top quartile, but didn't get AOA
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 266
AOA: No
GHHS: No
Demographics: Asian
Research: 2 publications in bench research (1 first-author, 1 middle-author). 2 more first-author papers will be submitted before ERAS (hopefully accepted in time). 4 poster presentations, 1 oral presentation.
Extracurriculars: 2 leadership positions. Standard volunteering and hobbies.
LORs: IM subspecialty, IM hospitalist, FM PCP, Department Chair
Geographic Signaling: Middle Atlantic, Northeast, and East North Central
Career Goals: most interested in ID and cards as of now (opposite ends of the competitiveness spectrum)

Here are my signals so far (I have a lot of reaches since I'd be happy at my home program which historically ranks their students very highly):
- Reach: Cornell (G), NYU (G), Columbia (S), Beth Israel Deaconess (S), UChicago (S), Northwestern (S), UPenn (S)
- Target: Mt Sinai (G), Montefiore/Albert Einstein (S), Boston U (S), UPitt (S), Brown (S)
- Safety: Rutgers RWJ (S), Sidney Kimmel TJUH (S), Tufts (S)

Totally reasonable list, assuming you’re right about your home program ranking its own highly. Would add Yale unless you really don’t want to be in New Haven.

 

[flufighter]

I'm not sure if this is allowed to be posted or not, but last year anesthesia had a similar model to this year's internal med signaling. They had 5 gold signals and 10 silver signals similar to internal med this year with 3 gold and 12 silvers. It seemed that a majority of people only received interviews within their 15 signals. Those who got interviews from places without signals the 3% and 1% we should keep in mind that home programs have been known to tell students not to signal and still extend an interview. Though extrapolating the data might not be 100% accurate I think it can be helpful in predicting how this cycle may go. Hopefully this helps some of the docs that have been giving us advice!

 

[blurb_123]

Your med school performance has been great, but this is definitely a top heavy list, especially for an applicant from a new school - I think a lot of your target schools are actually reaches and you should add more mid-tier and upper-mid-tier academic programs. I don’t understand signaling but I’d add some of the following (based on your apparent geographic preferences): OHSU, UC Davis, USC, Tufts, BU, Montefiore. I’d also consider applying to some strong but less geographically desirable programs.

Agree. The unfortunate truth is that it definitely matters where you go to school and even if you have a strong app, if the programs you apply to value AOA, not having it can hurt even if it's not offered. YMMV but from a low-tier/newer school it's good to apply broad.

 

[OncOncOnc]

Hi all, on a throwaway so I don't get doxxed, would appreciate any feedback on safety/target/reach ratio! No AOA and low tier-MD is definitely confusing me. Thank you

Med School: Low Tier USMD, East Coast
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: 4/7 honors (honors in IM), 3 high pass
M4 grades: Honors on Medicine Sub-I, Honors in MICU elective
Class rank: 2nd quartile
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: ~270
AOA: No
GHHS: Yes
Demographics: ORM
Research: 2 published manuscripts, one first author, 1 first author case report pending. 2 published abstracts, 1 oral presentation, 6 poster presentations
Extracurriculars: Strong leadership in two school subspecialty clubs and GHHS
LORs: IM chair letter, 3 inpatient attendings from AI and MICU
Geographic Signaling: Will overlap with my Silver/Gold's
Red flags: None
Career goals: Want to go to an academic residency to maximize my chances of matching into fellowship but keeping an open mind at the moment.
Golds: U Chicago, BIDMC, Emory
Silvers: Northwestern, Michigan, Yale, Boston University, Case Western, Brown, University of Rochester, UPMC, Hopkins Osler, Duke, UNC, Georgetown
Others:
Reach: MGH, Brighams, Sinai, Mayo (Rochester), NYU, Columbia, Penn, Vanderbilt, WUSTL
Target: Baylor, Cleveland Clinic, MUSC, Montefiore (Moses/Weiler), Ohio State, Virginia, Hopkins Bayview
Safety: George Washington, Rush, Rutgers, Thomas Jefferson, Tufts, University of Cincinnati, University of Florida, University of Maryland, Wake Forest

Overall an ambitious-but-okay list, but I think (based on my limited understanding of signaling) you may be hurting yourself by giving too many signals to reach programs and basically none to safeties.

 

[throwmeaway1]

Overall an ambitious-but-okay list, but I think (based on my limited understanding of signaling) you may be hurting yourself by giving too many signals to reach programs and basically none to safeties.

True, fair enough! So in my signals just substitute 1-2 big reaches for true safeties. Thank you

 

[turkleton12]

Agree. The unfortunate truth is that it definitely matters where you go to school and even if you have a strong app, if the programs you apply to value AOA, not having it can hurt even if it's not offered. YMMV but from a low-tier/newer school it's good to apply broad.

Totally makes sense and kinda confirms what I was worried about - appreciate you both!!

 

[premed738297]

Med School: Mid-ish Tier USMD
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: All honors
M4 grades: Honors on SubI, Honors on electives, strong eval comments
Class rank: 1st quartile
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 274
AOA: Yes
GHHS: Yes
Demographics: white
Research: 5 pubs in palliative care, nothing major. 1 onc poster, 2 MedEd posters, 1 gen IM oral presentation and abstract presentation.
Extracurriculars: Mentoring, med ed program/teaching, exec board of large volunteering organization
LORs: Department chair, a hospitalist (APD), a subspecialist (excellent letter), outside specialty letter
Geographic Signaling: South def, North East? idk
Red flags: None
Career goals: Hospitalist? Maybe fellowship? But regardless, I want to stay in academics/MedEd.
Golds: Duke, Vanderbilt, UNC or Hopkins?
Silvers: Miami, Emory, MUSC, UF, UVA, VCU, UAB, BIDMC, Hopkins/UNC, Wake Forest, thinking about adding UPenn & Northwestern?

Others: MGH, Georgetown, Kentucky, USF, Mayo Jacksonville, Brown, Tulane, Penn State (do I need to apply to more?)

Q's: - In med school in Florida. I really want to stay at a large academic center in the south, shooting for Tennessee & NC region for family reasons. So choosing programs outside the south has been hard. Anything else I should consider or add? How many programs should I apply to with my app?

 

[blurb_123]

Med School: Mid-ish Tier USMD
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: All honors
M4 grades: Honors on SubI, Honors on electives, strong eval comments
Class rank: 1st quartile
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 274
AOA: Yes
GHHS: Yes
Demographics: white
Research: 5 pubs in palliative care, nothing major. 1 onc poster, 2 MedEd posters, 1 gen IM oral presentation and abstract presentation.
Extracurriculars: Mentoring, med ed program/teaching, exec board of large volunteering organization
LORs: Department chair, a hospitalist (APD), a subspecialist (excellent letter), outside specialty letter
Geographic Signaling: South def, North East? idk
Red flags: None
Career goals: Hospitalist? Maybe fellowship? But regardless, I want to stay in academics/MedEd.
Golds: Duke, Vanderbilt, UNC or Hopkins?
Silvers: Miami, Emory, MUSC, UF, UVA, VCU, UAB, BIDMC, Hopkins/UNC, Wake Forest, thinking about adding UPenn & Northwestern?

Others: MGH, Georgetown, Kentucky, USF, Mayo Jacksonville, Brown, Tulane, Penn State (do I need to apply to more?)

Q's: - In med school in Florida. I really want to stay at a large academic center in the south, shooting for Tennessee & NC region for family reasons. So choosing programs outside the south has been hard. Anything else I should consider or add? How many programs should I apply to with my app?

You have a really strong shot at big 4 if you want it. I'd be aiming a lot higher if you care about that kind of thing.

 

[RSVBT]

Med School: Mid-Tier USMD (East coast)
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: All honors
M4 grades: Honors on 2x IM SubI, Honors on electives
Class rank: N/A
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: low-mid 270s
AOA: Yes
GHHS: No
Demographics: ORM
Research: 11 pubs (mostly review articles, 3 first-author, many in solid journals), 4 poster pres, 3 oral pres. several abstracts.
Extracurriculars: Good and interesting ECs. Research year
LORs: Department chair, a clerkship director, IM prof/assistant dean, and letter from PI from research year
Geographic Signaling: New England, mid Atlantic, pacific
Red flags: None
Career goals: academics, med Ed, clinical/translational research
Golds: Brigham, Yale, Penn
Silvers: UCSF, Hopkins, Columbia, Duke, BIDMC, Stanford, UCLA, NYU, Northwestern, Sinai, Cornell, Northwell

Others: MGH, Monte, all CA schools, Emory, UWashington, UNC, Medstar, UPMC, Chicago, Colorado, BU, Michigan, UTSW, CCLM, UMD, UVA, Vandy

Q's: - Thoughts on signals? Am I wasting gold on Brigham when they mostly take MDPHD from mid tier? Likewise should I sub yale gold with another program? I love that program but if its likely I can get an interview with silver let me know…

 

[blurb_123]

Med School: Mid-Tier USMD (East coast)
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: All honors
M4 grades: Honors on 2x IM SubI, Honors on electives
Class rank: N/A
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: low-mid 270s
AOA: Yes
GHHS: No
Demographics: ORM
Research: 11 pubs (mostly review articles, 3 first-author, many in solid journals), 4 poster pres, 3 oral pres. several abstracts.
Extracurriculars: Good and interesting ECs. Research year
LORs: Department chair, a clerkship director, IM prof/assistant dean, and letter from PI from research year
Geographic Signaling: New England, mid Atlantic, pacific
Red flags: None
Career goals: academics, med Ed, clinical/translational research
Golds: Brigham, Yale, Penn
Silvers: UCSF, Hopkins, Columbia, Duke, BIDMC, Stanford, UCLA, NYU, Northwestern, Sinai, Cornell, Northwell

Others: MGH, Monte, all CA schools, Emory, UWashington, UNC, Medstar, UPMC, Chicago, Colorado, BU, Michigan, UTSW, CCLM, UMD, UVA, Vandy

Q's: - Thoughts on signals? Am I wasting gold on Brigham when they mostly take MDPHD from mid tier? Likewise should I sub yale gold with another program? I love that program but if its likely I can get an interview with silver let me know…

Not a waste. Would gold something instead of Yale. You don’t need to for them.

 

[HeyGuys1]

Med School: Mid-tier, Northeast
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: Honors, 1 pass (peds)
M4 grades: Honors (incl. SUB-I), HP on ICU rotation
Class rank: No school rankings, but upper quartile.
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 257
AOA: No
GHHS: No
Research: 8 submissions/publications [3-4 published (1-2 first author), 6 submitted (4 first author)], 7 abstracts/presentations (not presenter for majority); will graduate with a Distinction in Research.

Extracurriculars: employed school tutor, peer mentor, president of multiple interest groups/clubs, nothing exciting here

LORs: 1 letter surgical sub-specialty (research), 1 IM elective or ICU letter, 1 IM 3rd year rotation letter, dept. chair letter

Red flags: None
Career Goals: Heme/Onc

Geographic Signaling: Middle Atlantic, Northeast, and South East

Here are my signals so far; I feel like I have no idea how competitive I am and if I am underselling or overshooting.

- Reach: Sinai (G), Cornell (G), Beth Israel Deaconess (S), Vanderbilt (S), Emory (S)
- Target/Safety: Montefiore/Albert Einstein (S), Boston U (S), UPitt (S), Brown (S), Rutgers RWJ (S), Sidney Kimmel TJUH (S), Tufts (S), Georgetown (S), Virginia (S)

- Can I apply to NYU and/or Columbia? Has anyone heard anything about Rochester and UMD?
- I'm afraid of adding more reaches, but would love stay in the NE.

- And any advice on which three programs to gold?

 

[student121212]

Hi everyone! Really looking for some help with signaling and just gauging my general competitiveness at certain programs.

Med School: Low-tier USMD, previous match lists have been decent considering rank
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: 5/7 honors, 2 high pass (non-IM rotations)
M4 grades: Honored all rotations (IM sub-specialties), Sub-I grade most likely won't be in before submitting apps
Class rank: 1st quartile
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 252
AOA: Possibly
GHHS: No
Demographics: Asian
Research: 3 published peer-reviewed journal articles, 5 poster presentations
Extracurriculars: President of a few clubs, a lot of tutoring experience, research position, former college athlete
LORs: 3 IM sub-specialties, 1 hospitalist, 1-2 might be really good and the rest will probably be good/average
Geographic Signaling: NE, Midwest, West Coast -- I'm willing to move anywhere, so ideally looking at the best program fit
Red flags: None
Career goals: Would like to match into GI for fellowship, looking at programs with a strong fellowship match list, good research opportunities/connections to help with fellowship match

BIDMC (gold), UCSD (gold), Rush (gold), silvers -- UIC, Michigan, Wisconsin, UMass Chan, OHSU, UC Irvine, Colorado, Loyola, Georgetown, Brown, Boston U, Ohio State

Will plan on applying to other community programs in my region as well, but would like to get an idea of if I'm competitive for the places I'm planning to signal, or if I have too many reach programs in there. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[premed738297]

You have a really strong shot at big 4 if you want it. I'd be aiming a lot higher if you care about that kind of thing.

Do you have any suggestions for which programs? Should I shoot higher on one of my golds? I was originally thinking to keep UNC on there as more of a target/safety, but maybe I should use that slot for a stronger program. Thank you for your advice!

 

[blurb_123]

Do you have any suggestions for which programs? Should I shoot higher on one of my golds? I was originally thinking to keep UNC on there as more of a target/safety, but maybe I should use that slot for a stronger program. Thank you for your advice!

Brigham UCSF etc whichever you want

 

[throwawayforschoollist]

Med School: Mid-tier, Northeast
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: Honors (4/7) IM, Surgery, Psych, and OBGYN, HP Neuro, Peds, FM
M4 grades: Honors in SubI
Class rank: Unsure, probably 2nd quartile based on 4/7 honors
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: Mid 270
AOA: Yes
GHHS: No
Research: 20 "publications", 1 first author pub submitted, 8 other manuscripts (some second authors), 11 abstracts

Extracurriculars: school tutor, peer mentor, club founder,

LORs: 2 IM faculty, 1 research mentor, 1 chair

Red flags: None
Career Goals: Cards fellowship

Geographic Signaling: Middle Atlantic, Northeast, and ?

I'm worried about my lack of honors being an issue/have gotten this feedback. Curious if anyone would be able to help with my list. I mostly want to be northeast but have a few schools in other locations...

- Gold: Penn, BIDMC, Yale
-Silver: Cornell, Sinai, RWJ, Georgetown, Jeff, Brown, BU, Virginia, UNC, Michigan, Cleveland Clinic, UPMC

I've avoided Columbia, NYU, and Brigham based on school advice. Otherwise, am I fine here? Should I change the gold signaling? Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[blurb_123]

Med School: Mid-tier, Northeast
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: Honors (4/7) IM, Surgery, Psych, and OBGYN, HP Neuro, Peds, FM
M4 grades: Honors in SubI
Class rank: Unsure, probably 2nd quartile based on 4/7 honors
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: Mid 270
AOA: Yes
GHHS: No
Research: 20 "publications", 1 first author pub submitted, 8 other manuscripts (some second authors), 11 abstracts

Extracurriculars: school tutor, peer mentor, club founder,

LORs: 2 IM faculty, 1 research mentor, 1 chair

Red flags: None
Career Goals: Cards fellowship

Geographic Signaling: Middle Atlantic, Northeast, and ?

I'm worried about my lack of honors being an issue/have gotten this feedback. Curious if anyone would be able to help with my list. I mostly want to be northeast but have a few schools in other locations...

- Gold: Penn, BIDMC, Yale
-Silver: Cornell, Sinai, RWJ, Georgetown, Jeff, Brown, BU, Virginia, UNC, Michigan, Cleveland Clinic, UPMC

I've avoided Columbia, NYU, and Brigham based on school advice. Otherwise, am I fine here? Should I change the gold signaling? Thanks in advance for the help.

Columbia is very doable for you. I would give it a go if you really want to go there. You can match at yale with a silver signal IMHO

 

[IMthrowaway]

Hi everyone! Would really appreciate some help with signaling! Couples matching as well, my partner into IM (but at T20 with >275 Step 2 & all H)

Med School: Mid-tier USMD
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: 2/6 Honors (IM, psych), 4 High-Pass
M4 grades: Honors in IM elective, Honors in IM Sub-I, no other grades in before apps I think
Class rank: N/A
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 257
AOA: No chapter
GHHS: No chapter
Demographics: White
Research: 36 research items (2 Oral Presentations, 4 Poster Presentations, 9 papers (2 first-author papers published), and 2 more first author papers will be submitted before ERAS is due, 19 peer-reviewed abstracts)
Extracurriculars: MD/MBA program, QI project, Founded service non-profit, Peer tutoring, interned at medical device company for a summer, hospice volunteering
LORs: 1 IM subspecialty elective, 1 from Subi, 1 chair letter, 1 from research PI - will probs be strong
Geographic Signaling: Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, North East Central (IL, OH, etc)
**Hometowns: New England & Texas (Partner's Hometowns: Midwest & Texas)
Red flags: None
Career goals: Want to match into GI for fellowship! Looking for academic programs with good research opportunities and preferably a home program

Gold: Rush (target), either BIDMC or Boston University/BMC (reach), Yale (reach)
Silver:
- Reaches: Sinai-Morningside, BIDMC or Boston University/BMC
- Targets: Case Western, Montefiore, Tufts, Loyola, Pennsylvania Hospital of UPenn, Jefferson, McGovern/University of Texas at Houston, Brown
- Safeties: Temple, University of Illinois School of Medicine

Options I have thought about but unsure: Cook County (safety), Tower Health-Drexel (safety), UMass Chan (target- don't really want to live in Worcester though), Lahey (safety - but want to be in city), RWJ (target - like but far from options for couples match), Cooper Rowan (safety/target), Sinai- Beth Israel (safety/target)

Partner will be trying to go to >T30 programs. Would LOVE any input or thoughts you have about my signals! Thank you so much!

 

[TexasMed22]

Noticed that mass gen vs brigham has been mentioned a few times. Is the brigham meaningfully less competitive than mass gen? Or are both of these programs on their on stratosphere compared to all other IM programs? Also how does BIDMC fit into that scale?

 

[blurb_123]

Noticed that mass gen vs brigham has been mentioned a few times. Is the brigham meaningfully less competitive than mass gen? Or are both of these programs on their on stratosphere compared to all other IM programs? Also how does BIDMC fit into that scale?

They are ridiculously competitive. Those 2 and UCSF are very tough to match at historically if you are not some combination of T5, T20 with AOA, or PhD. Just take a look at the match lists and see. BIDMC is a nice program but not in the same stratosphere of competitiveness.

 

[Isomerase]

Med School: Mid Tier USMD, Top ~40-50
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: 4/7 honors (honors in IM), 3 high pass
M4 grades: We have to do 2 SubI's, Pass on the first, Honors on the second
Class rank: 2nd quartile
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 269
AOA: No
GHHS: No
Demographics: white
Research: Not much, I hate reserach. A few low commitment projects with little to no output. Have 1st author review article from undergrad, just a case report in med school, working on a manuscript that won't be submitted in time.
Extracurriculars: nothing too notable
LORs: IM chair, a couple hospitalists from my SubI's (hoping to soften up the P on the first SubI)
Geographic Signaling: Will overlap with my Silver/Gold's
Red flags: None
Career goals: Heme/onc. Want to go academic residency to maximize my chances of matching heme/onc, but have no interest in academics or research for my actual career.
Golds: Oregon, USC, Colorado
Silvers: UCSD, UPMC, Cincy, Ohio State, Case Western, Cleveland Clinic, Utah, UC Davis, UC Irvine, Harbor-UCLA, Cedars Sinai, UWashington
Others: will apply to a ton of others, mostly lower tier academic places within my GEO signal + a few local community programs

Bumping as I didn't get any input first time around. Just want to make sure I'm aiming at the right level on my signals.

 

[gutonc]

Merged above post with WAMC where it belongs.

 

[throwawayforschoollist]

Med School: Mid-tier, Northeast
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: Honors (4/7) IM, Surgery, Psych, and OBGYN, HP Neuro, Peds, FM
M4 grades: Honors in SubI
Class rank: Unsure, probably 2nd quartile based on 4/7 honors
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: Mid 270
AOA: Yes
GHHS: No
Research: 20 "publications", 1 first author pub submitted, 8 other manuscripts (some second authors), 11 abstracts

Extracurriculars: school tutor, peer mentor, club founder,

LORs: 2 IM faculty, 1 research mentor, 1 chair

Red flags: None
Career Goals: Cards fellowship

Geographic Signaling: Middle Atlantic, Northeast, and ?

I'm worried about my lack of honors being an issue/have gotten this feedback. Curious if anyone would be able to help with my list. I mostly want to be northeast but have a few schools in other locations...

- Gold: Penn, BIDMC, Yale
-Silver: Cornell, Sinai, RWJ, Georgetown, Jeff, Brown, BU, Virginia, UNC, Michigan, Cleveland Clinic, UPMC

I've avoided Columbia, NYU, and Brigham based on school advice. Otherwise, am I fine here? Should I change the gold signaling? Thanks in advance for the help.

Wondering if anyone can comment on CCF? Worth applying to, or should I replace it with an additional top tier program?

 

[throwawayschoollist]

Hello all! Would really appreciate some input on my proposed IM signal list.

Med School: Low Tier USMD, East Coast
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: 5/7 honors, 2 HP (Surg, Peds)
M4 grades: Honors on ID Elective and Sub-I. Hopefully can get another Honors in GI elective.
Class rank: 1st quintile
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 269
AOA: No
GHHS: No
Demographics: East Asian
Research: 2 pubs, one first author. One pub accepted/in-press. 2 pubs pending.
13 Posters (2 more upcoming), 6 abstracts. Involved in 1 oral presentation (1 more upcoming).
Extracurriculars: Leadership in 5 clubs, one all 4 years. Some mentoring and volunteering. Leader in school's free health clinic.
LORs: IM chair letter, IM Sub-I, Research PI (also saw me do clinical work), Free health clinic head.
I have a couple of others but debating on using them (ID Elective, GI Elective)
Geographic Signaling: Will overlap with my Silver/Gold's
Red flags: None
Career goals: Not entirely sure, but my goals is to match at the best place I can to keep the door open for fellowship / career flexibility. I would like to be in NYC (where I'm from) if possible, but really it's to be in a larger city (also NYC is hard haha).
Golds: Cornell, Sinai, SKMC Jefferson
Silvers: BIDMC, NYU, UPMC, Brown, BU, Maryland, Temple, Montefiore, Tufts, Zucker/Northwell, Miami, X

Others I'm considering or will apply to w/o signal:
Reach: MGH, Brighams, Penn, Case Western, Columbia, Penn, UCLA, Yale, Emory, Northwestern
Target: Georgetown, George Washington, Rutgers RWJ, Hopkins Bayview, Mount Sinai Morningside West, USC

I have a free signal as I might not do my home institution (I feel bad but I don't think I want to be in the city that it's in). Any suggestions for what tier of program I should indicate for my signal? Should my list trend higher / lower? I'm feeling pretty pessimistic about matching in my golds / the top given school tier (and previous match lists) and no AOA.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you so much! And I hope this provides some assistance / data to everyone else in this process.

 

[HeyGuys1]

Med School: Mid-tier, Northeast
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: Honors, 1 pass (peds)
M4 grades: Honors (incl. SUB-I), HP on ICU rotation
Class rank: No school rankings, but upper quartile.
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: 257
AOA: No
GHHS: No
Research: 8 submissions/publications [3-4 published (1-2 first author), 6 submitted (4 first author)], 7 abstracts/presentations (not presenter for majority); will graduate with a Distinction in Research.

Extracurriculars: employed school tutor, peer mentor, president of multiple interest groups/clubs, nothing exciting here

LORs: 1 letter surgical sub-specialty (research), 1 IM elective or ICU letter, 1 IM 3rd year rotation letter, dept. chair letter

Red flags: None
Career Goals: Heme/Onc

Geographic Signaling: Middle Atlantic, Northeast, and South East

Here are my signals so far; I feel like I have no idea how competitive I am and if I am underselling or overshooting.

- Reach: Sinai (G), Cornell (G), Beth Israel Deaconess (S), Vanderbilt (S), Emory (S)
- Target/Safety: Montefiore/Albert Einstein (S), Boston U (S), UPitt (S), Brown (S), Rutgers RWJ (S), Sidney Kimmel TJUH (S), Tufts (S), Georgetown (S), Virginia (S)

- Can I apply to NYU and/or Columbia? Has anyone heard anything about Rochester and UMD?
- I'm afraid of adding more reaches, but would love stay in the NE.

- And any advice on which three programs to gold?

Hey, bumping to see if anyone could comment on my list.

Gold Signals: UPMC, Sinai, Cornell

Silver Signals: Columbia (Is this too many reaches?), BIDMC, Montefiore, Jefferson, UMD, RWJ, Tufts (I havent heard much about tufts), Brown, Georgetown, UNC (vs Emory or Vandy, appreciate advice here), Virginia

 

[Ok_Radio]

Med School: Mid Tier USMD
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: 5/7 honors (honors in IM), 2 high pass
M4 grades: Honors
Class rank: 1st quartile
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: Low 260s
AOA: No
GHHS: Yes
Demographics: White
Research: Not much. 1 pub from before med school, worked on stuff for awhile but hasn't made it to publication
Extracurriculars: A lot of service to community-type stuff
LORs: IM chair, Research Lab Attending, Hospitalist, Pulmonary Division director
Geographic Signaling: Will overlap with my Silver/Gold's
Red flags: None
Career goals: Academic IM -> Pulm/Crit Care or GI
Golds: NYU, Sinai, Penn
Silvers: RWJ-NB, Temple, Jefferson, Montefiore, Maryland, Brown, UPMC, BU, Cornell, Georgetown, Wake Forest, Tufts
Others: Prob another 15 in the NYC/NJ/Philly region.

Thanks!

 

[gutonc]

Med School: DO
M1-M2 grades: passed all classes
M3 grades: Honor all core rotations
M4 grades: Honored my rotations so far
Class rank: 1st Quintile
Step 1: Pass
Comlex1: Pass
Step 2: 26x
Comlex 2: 7xx
AOA: No
GHHS: No
Research: Multiple publications
Extracurriculars: Moderate ECs
LORs: 4 strong letters.
Geographic Signaling: Northeast, New England, and South Atlantic
Red flags: None
Goal: Heme/Onc

Golds: NJMS, TJUH, Upenn

Silvers: GW, Dartmouth, MedStar Georgetown, Cleveland Clinic, Pennsy, Temple, Rochester, Cooper, Penn State, Einstein Philly, brown, nearby community program

Struggling to know if my Silver's are adequate. I'm considering dropping Allegheny for a better midtier, but don't really know which. Suggestions appreciated. Also:

1. Between putting NJMS or Rochester as Gold. I wanted one "safety" in my Gold but Rochester has my eyes more than NJMS.

Why isn't RWJ on your list?

 

[gutonc]

Do you think Brown is a reasonable silver for me or should I replace it? @gutonc

I don't know WTF these signals mean so you're asking the wrong person.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Brown has 1 DO out of 3 years so it’s seems like it would be a waste

 

[strugglinmuggle]

MD from mid tier TX school

• step 2: 274
• honors: got AOA and GHHS
• rank: tied for 1st in my class
• grades: honored all clinical and preclinicals
• LOR: solid letters from IM attendings, including a program director and dean of my med school
• research: no peer reviewed pubs, 1 pub in online health magazine, 3 abstracts, 5 case reports, 1 oral presentation, 10 poster presentations
• experiences: significant involvement in advocacy around public policy (specifically LGBT issues) including resolutions to the AMA. was on national AMA committee on LGBT affairs.
• volunteering: unique experiences related to the LGBT community + standard other activities

My concern is my ability to break into top programs due to research. Most of my app is centered around advocacy related to HIV care.

Thoughts on if signaling Yale, Stanford, Beth Israel, UTSW, and Baylor are reaches?
Also interested in hearing ideas as to if I'm competitive at T20 programs?

 

[blurb_123]

MD from mid tier TX school

• step 2: 274
• honors: got AOA and GHHS
• rank: tied for 1st in my class
• grades: honored all clinical and preclinicals
• LOR: solid letters from IM attendings, including a program director and dean of my med school
• research: no peer reviewed pubs, 1 pub in online health magazine, 3 abstracts, 5 case reports, 1 oral presentation, 10 poster presentations
• experiences: significant involvement in advocacy around public policy (specifically LGBT issues) including resolutions to the AMA. was on national AMA committee on LGBT affairs.
• volunteering: unique experiences related to the LGBT community + standard other activities

My concern is my ability to break into top programs due to research. Most of my app is centered around advocacy related to HIV care.

Thoughts on if signaling Yale, Stanford, Beth Israel, UTSW, and Baylor are reaches?
Also interested in hearing ideas as to if I'm competitive at T20 programs?

Your research isn't great but your app is strong. Signal wherever you want to go.

 

[bbldoc]

USDO
268 step 2 score
4 publications/5 posters

MCW , christ (chicago), lutheran(chicago), U chicago northshore, loyola(gold), UIC(gold), rush(gold), Miami, temple, Georgetown, George Washington , LSU, phoenix, Penn, USF

Was considering swapping Rowan into one of these spots or NYU brooklyn

 

[Señor S]

MD from mid tier TX school

• step 2: 274
• honors: got AOA and GHHS
• rank: tied for 1st in my class
• grades: honored all clinical and preclinicals
• LOR: solid letters from IM attendings, including a program director and dean of my med school
• research: no peer reviewed pubs, 1 pub in online health magazine, 3 abstracts, 5 case reports, 1 oral presentation, 10 poster presentations
• experiences: significant involvement in advocacy around public policy (specifically LGBT issues) including resolutions to the AMA. was on national AMA committee on LGBT affairs.
• volunteering: unique experiences related to the LGBT community + standard other activities

My concern is my ability to break into top programs due to research. Most of my app is centered around advocacy related to HIV care.

Thoughts on if signaling Yale, Stanford, Beth Israel, UTSW, and Baylor are reaches?
Also interested in hearing ideas as to if I'm competitive at T20 programs?

None of those are reaches for you (not saying you'll get interviews at all of them, but they're not reaches). You should apply to every top 20 program (regardless of how you define the top 20).

 

[bawkbawk]

Med School: Low Tier USMD
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: 1/7 honors, 5/7 high pass, 1 pass (IM pass)
M4 grades: H on IM SubI, H in all IM subspecialties
Class rank: 2nd Quintile
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: Low 260s
AOA: No
GHHS: No
Demographics: Asian
Research: 17 pubs - multiple first and second author publications in very high impact journals (research year)
Extracurriculars: Service based stuff
LORs: IM chair, Research Lab PI, IM Subspecialist
Geographic Signaling: Pacific, Mid-Atlantic, New England
Red flags: None
Golds: UCSF, UCLA, Yale (all categorical)
Silvers: OHSU, UW, WashU, Mayo, USC, Stanford, Cornell, Columbia, BIDMC, Brigham, UPenn, Hopkins (All categorical)

Was led to believe that I'd have a very strong application by deans because of research, they didn't mention how detrimental pass IM clerk and not having AOA/GHHS would impact me coming from a no name school and ultimately they thought this list was good. Was I misguided by my deans/mentor?

 

[gutonc]

Med School: Low Tier USMD
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: 1/7 honors, 5/7 high pass, 1 pass (IM pass)
M4 grades: H on IM SubI, H in all IM subspecialties
Class rank: 2nd Quintile
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: Low 260s
AOA: No
GHHS: No
Demographics: Asian
Research: 17 pubs - multiple first and second author publications in very high impact journals (research year)
Extracurriculars: Service based stuff
LORs: IM chair, Research Lab PI, IM Subspecialist
Geographic Signaling: Pacific, Mid-Atlantic, New England
Red flags: None
Golds: UCSF, UCLA, Yale (all categorical)
Silvers: OHSU, UW, WashU, Mayo, USC, Stanford, Cornell, Columbia, BIDMC, Brigham, UPenn, Hopkins (All categorical)

Was led to believe that I'd have a very strong application by deans because of research, they didn't mention how detrimental pass IM clerk and not having AOA/GHHS would impact me coming from a no name school and ultimately they thought this list was good. Was I misguided by my deans/mentor?

Your list seems extremely top heavy. Depending on what you really mean by "low tier", you need something easy to focus on like AOA or a PhD to make your app standout. The IM pass is definitely a bummer and will hurt you a bit, but hard to say how much. The publication record will help a bit, but also hard to say how much. You'll get some interviews from this list, but it wouldn't hurt you to add some mid-tier programs.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Med School: Low Tier USMD
M1-M2 grades: Pass/Fail; all pass
M3 grades: 1/7 honors, 5/7 high pass, 1 pass (IM pass)
M4 grades: H on IM SubI, H in all IM subspecialties
Class rank: 2nd Quintile
Step 1: Pass
Step 2: Low 260s
AOA: No
GHHS: No
Demographics: Asian
Research: 17 pubs - multiple first and second author publications in very high impact journals (research year)
Extracurriculars: Service based stuff
LORs: IM chair, Research Lab PI, IM Subspecialist
Geographic Signaling: Pacific, Mid-Atlantic, New England
Red flags: None
Golds: UCSF, UCLA, Yale (all categorical)
Silvers: OHSU, UW, WashU, Mayo, USC, Stanford, Cornell, Columbia, BIDMC, Brigham, UPenn, Hopkins (All categorical)

Was led to believe that I'd have a very strong application by deans because of research, they didn't mention how detrimental pass IM clerk and not having AOA/GHHS would impact me coming from a no name school and ultimately they thought this list was good. Was I misguided by my deans/mentor?

Depends on what you mean by low tier. At my low tier, you need AOA to match top tier IM and big 4 is basically unheard of regardless of application