Programs for a average 3rd year

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minhaj

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Hey everyone,

I am very interested in ophtho. I just wanted to see which programs would be within my reach based on my stats. Here they are:

- Top 50% in preclinical and clinical years at top 15 school. Honors in Medicine, neuro, possibly peds (not sure yet), great evaluations from other rotations but not honors.

- 244 step 1

- 2 publications from undergrad, working on three ophtho projects over the next two months

- Co-chair of the med school orientation committee, some volunteer experience during med school.

My real question is where should I be doing away rotations? at a school that would be reach like baylor, wills, BP or schools where I would be competitive. Also, my advisor wants me to take step 2 before applying.

I would really appreciate your input!
 
Your stats are really similar to mine (246, top 25%) but I'm not coming from UAB. I interviewed there though, good program. This is the advice I got and found it to be really useful:

1. Find somewhere that you think you'd want to go for residency.

2. Figure out if that program takes away rotations into consideration when deciding who to interview. Some do, some don't. So building a relationship is nice but there are some programs where it will just plainly not matter if you spent a month there or not. You'll just have to ask around.

3. Apply there, and go. Don't apply to more aways than you can go on, because if there's 3 schools you really like and you apply for aways at all 3 but can only do 1. Because if you end up being offered aways at all of them, there are some occasions where you'll be remembered as the guy/gal who was offered an away and didn't take it.

You're a good applicant so you probably don't have to worry about doing away rotations at super-safety schools with the goal of creating a place that you're confident you can match with, assuming you are applying broadly and including plenty lower/mid tiers to be safe. I found a solid mid-tier school that I was really interested in due to location and did an away there to solidify my chances at getting an interview at that specific place. There were plenty of other similar mid-tier schools where I didn't get interviews. Sometimes it just seems random which places give you an invitation so if there's a place where you really want an interview and think you would have a decent shot at matching I'd recommend doing the away there. Then again I didn't want to go to Bascom or Wills, so we may be looking for different things.

Why does your advisor want you to take Step 2 first?

TL;DR - My advice? Go where you want.
 
ophthope said:
Your stats are really similar to mine (246, top 25%) but I'm not coming from UAB. I interviewed there though, good program. This is the advice I got and found it to be really useful:

1. Find somewhere that you think you'd want to go for residency.

2. Figure out if that program takes away rotations into consideration when deciding who to interview. Some do, some don't. So building a relationship is nice but there are some programs where it will just plainly not matter if you spent a month there or not. You'll just have to ask around.

3. Apply there, and go. Don't apply to more aways than you can go on, because if there's 3 schools you really like and you apply for aways at all 3 but can only do 1. Because if you end up being offered aways at all of them, there are some occasions where you'll be remembered as the guy/gal who was offered an away and didn't take it.

You're a good applicant so you probably don't have to worry about doing away rotations at super-safety schools with the goal of creating a place that you're confident you can match with, assuming you are applying broadly and including plenty lower/mid tiers to be safe. I found a solid mid-tier school that I was really interested in due to location and did an away there to solidify my chances at getting an interview at that specific place. There were plenty of other similar mid-tier schools where I didn't get interviews. Sometimes it just seems random which places give you an invitation so if there's a place where you really want an interview and think you would have a decent shot at matching I'd recommend doing the away there. Then again I didn't want to go to Bascom or Wills, so we may be looking for different things.

Why does your advisor want you to take Step 2 first?

TL;DR - My advice? Go where you want.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice! I am currently looking UF at gainesville for an away. I think its a mid-tier program but I am not sure. It has great surgical numbers and a good fellowship match rate. What do you think?

My advisor wants me to take step 2 to show the programs that even though I am P2 or top 50%, I am "smart". I have historically done well on standardized tests and I am hopeful that I will do well on it as well.
 
minhaj said:
Thanks for the advice! I am currently looking UF at gainesville for an away. I think its a mid-tier program but I am not sure. It has great surgical numbers and a good fellowship match rate. What do you think?

My advisor wants me to take step 2 to show the programs that even though I am P2 or top 50%, I am "smart". I have historically done well on standardized tests and I am hopeful that I will do well on it as well.
Click to expand...

I have heard a lot of positive things about that program, seems like a good plan to me. Good luck on Step 2! Make sure to take it early when you don't have interviews or anything because once the Ophthalmology interviewing cycle ramps up you're going to be distracted and tired. I've seen people who dropped their scores quite a bit.
 
Your step 1 matters more than your top 50% and P2. I don't see why it's necessary for you to take Step 2 early. Your step 1 is solid and above the average for ophtho. Sometimes advisors don't always have the best advice, but maybe someone else can comment.

UF is solid and has great numbers. I know someone who matched there without doing an away there, so I don't think that's an important component, tho may solidify interview offer. With your numbers and coming from the south, especially if you are a Florida resident you have a good chance of getting an interview there anyways.
 
DrZeke said:
Your step 1 matters more than your top 50% and P2. I don't see why it's necessary for you to take Step 2 early. Your step 1 is solid and above the average for ophtho. Sometimes advisors don't always have the best advice, but maybe someone else can comment.
Click to expand...

My score was just a couple of points higher and my advisor told me I should definitely wait. Most other applicants were doing the same thing. I hate to contradict a program director somewhere, but if I was OP I would be waiting.
 
I'd recommend waiting unless you feel lucky and think you can do better.
244 is a good score and I'd recommend waiting for step 2.
 
Last edited:
Thanks the replies guys! I was wondering what if I took the test in August and only send it in if it is higher than my step 1 score. You guys think that would work?
 
Not sure if programs have the ability to see your test score whether you send it in or not. If you take it in August and get your score back before interviews begin, you should assume that programs may know about it (better to play it safe). Really, with your Step 1 score, there is really no good reason to take it earlier unless your school requires it. I took mine in June and did fairly well (though about 15 pt drop), and though it was great to get it out of the way, I kinda regret not pushing it back until after interviews are over because I didn't have a chance to get rested between 3rd and 4th year and I lost potential time for away rotations. The main thing is, no programs really care about your Step 2 score if you did well on Step 1. Being on the other side, if your Step 1 is good, your Step 2 will not benefit you in other way, and may actually harm you if you have a significant drop in your score. Do not listen to your main advisors about this; my advisors recommended the same to me during medical school, and now I realize half of what they said was flat out wrong. Trust your peers in this issue; we've been through the grinder and know what really happens.
 
So if you did well on step 1, what month should you ideally take step 2?
 
You can choose to automatically send Step 2 or not IF apply before you take it. So yes you can take in late August and then choose later to send it. That's what I'm doing. Just make sure to mark the correct option!
 
Hemichordate said:
So if you did well on step 1, what month should you ideally take step 2?
Click to expand...

If you don't plan to take it in the summer, I would say to take it in either September/October or Feb-March; the first part is because interviews won't start usually coming in until late October, and Feb-March so most of your prelim/TY interviews are over. Really, once you secure your interviews, Step 2 is pretty meaningless other than to graduate in our field. I only think my Step 2 was mentioned once during interviews, and the interviewers noted not my score, but how I got it out of the way so early.
 
Great. I think I will just delay taking step 2 then. Thanks for all your help!
 
239 for now, most probably 240 for next year if the trend follows.
 
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