Thanks Prog Coordinator,
But if everybody just discards the application once they see the "fail", then how can I still be a viable candidate????
And if somebody say does decide to call for an interview, by overlooking the step 3 result, and say the interview goes fabulously, and they love the candidate, then how much would the step 3 result matter during their final selection ranking???
Please help....
Let me break this down because I wasn't as clear I can be...
- Filters aren't permanent. We still have access to any submission that happens to be filtered during a particular search.
Example: I can filter candidates in or out based on step scores, residency program, med school...almost anything.
A candidate could be filtered out based on scores, yet appear again when filtered to only include candidates who
have trained with a particular residency program.
- Deactivation isn't permanent. We still have access to any submission that we deactivate.
- We can't literally "discard" anyone so long as ERAS is still active.
- At the end of the season -- weeks after the match -- we download and archive applicant information from ERAS; basically a demographic database, not actual documents. Around the same time we'll shred any submissions that had been made into hard copies for review/interviews. We file the newly-matched fellows' hard copy submissions. These are foundations for their training files.
A candidate with a failed step can still be a viable candidate for programs that:
(A) Don't review step scores
(B) Aren't necessarily considered to be among the most competitive
I totally cringe at stating (B) as it probably comes off as elitist and I hate that. The reality is that the most competitive
programs typically receive upwards of 700 applications. There's only time to interview ~10%. They're only looking
to match ~2% or less.
If a candidate has failed a step (or insert any other facet that may be generally considered to be less than stellar) and is still invited to interview, it means that the program believes that the candidate has merit for their program. Each candidate who has been interviewed will be discussed during ROL ranking. If we're talking about a program that doesn't adjudicate step scores, this topic is moot. For the programs that do review USMLE results, the failure or low score will be discussed along with the interview feedback and the original file review notations.
Blah, blah, blah...yadda, yadda, yadda. If you are invited to interview, you have a shot to match with that program.
What else I miss?