OKAP Scores DO matter for Fellowship!

[JBurns]

I used to think that OKAP scores did not matter at all when it came to fellowship applications. But more than midway through the process of interviewing, I am coming to realize that it probably DOES matter a lot more than I thought!

It's annoying that many of these programs ask for your OKAP scores "after-the-fact" meaning that this requirement isn't published in their SFMatch application requirements description, but that they ask you for the scores when they invite you to interview. I really wish I did better on my OKAPs last year. I only used some old review books like Chern, while my classmates were using ophthoquestions which they seemed to like much more. I wonder why the fellowship directors care so much about this dumb exam, but they do!

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[MR1]

Agree it is ridiculous that they ask for them. According to AAO they are not to be used for that purpose so that is why they ask outside of SFMatch for them. It just depends on the kind of fellowship and program. Some care, others don't.

 

[JMK2005]

I used to think that OKAP scores did not matter at all when it came to fellowship applications. But more than midway through the process of interviewing, I am coming to realize that it probably DOES matter a lot more than I thought!

It's annoying that many of these programs ask for your OKAP scores "after-the-fact" meaning that this requirement isn't published in their SFMatch application requirements description, but that they ask you for the scores when they invite you to interview. I really wish I did better on my OKAPs last year. I only used some old review books like Chern, while my classmates were using ophthoquestions which they seemed to like much more. I wonder why the fellowship directors care so much about this dumb exam, but they do!

Matters more for competitive fellowships. So many applicants look good on paper and everyone has good letters of recommendation that it is hard to differentiate sometimes.

 

[alleyesonme]

Although OKAPS are an important predictor for success on the written boards (especially 3rd year scores), in my experience for retina fellowship interviews, I have not been asked for scores once. This has been my experience so far, but it may be different in other subspecialties.

 

[MstaKing10]

Although OKAPS are an important predictor for success on the written boards (especially 3rd year scores), in my experience for retina fellowship interviews, I have not been asked for scores once. This has been my experience so far, but it may be different in other subspecialties.

This must have changed since I applied three years ago. Almost half of programs asked for my OKAP scores. Of course, it was never a topic of conversation during the interview but it was part of my application.

 

[Vretina]

I applied for Retina fellowship 4 years ago and matched at competitive program. I found the OKAP scores only mattered for a handful of programs. I interviewed at many of the competitive programs and scores only came up at one. In general, I found that only a few programs asked for the scores before interviews and hardly anyone asked about it during the interviews.

Bottom line in my experience OKAP scores did not matter.