Psych competitiveness

[OtisRSB]

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I hear how psych is much less competitive than most residencies, but I'm not sure what that translates to in numbers, i.e., step scores, grades, research. How tough is it to go where you want as a middle of the road student? Are there things I should be doing now to help boost my chances?

Along those lines...I am wondering if I should take Step 2 before applying or after. Any advice would be helpful! Thanks.

 

[drwatson]

The NRMP has posted it's match data:
http://www.nrmp.org/matchoutcomes.pdf

As far as things to improve your chances, I'm sure that a few good letters of rec and maybe a little research will help out.

 

[Caetano-MD]

Psych is "low competitive" when it comes to the match--but there's a catch.

The catch is--it's hard to match the "more competitive" programs. So a couple words of advice...

PRESTIGE VS LOCATION: Most psych applicants go for location. A good rule of thumb is "train where you want to work". An exception: academics. If you're destination is to be an "Esteemed Professor of Psychiatry" doing a lot of research at a University, going to a more "research-driven Prestigious Residency" will help you get there.

COMPETITIVENESS OF PROGRAMS: hard to guage and easy to argue about. In general, if you've decided on an area (geographical), apply to all the programs in that area (WARNING: DC and CA residencies tend to be harder to get into...apply to a goodly number of "safeties"). An example, an AMG middle of his/her class with Steps about 210 should apply to around 40 programs and will get around 23-28 interview invitations.

RESEARCH HELPS: I didn't really see this one coming, but EVERY residency I have interviewed at asks me about my research interests. (Residencies have a publication/presentation requirement). Worth thinking about during 2 and 3rd years (if you have time).

STEPS: My medschool makes us take step 2 before our interviews, so I can't really say much about that.

A WEBSITE TO TRY: fmgamerica.com/psychiatry in the # of fmg"-column will tell you how many "fmg's" go to a program and this will VERY ROUGHLY tell you if a program is higher or lower competitive than others. (High fmg=lower competitive... all other things being equal). This can only roughly predict competitiveness but it gives you an inkling.

I wish you all the luck in the world

Cheers!👍

 

[espresso]

x

 

[espresso]

As an American grad I don't think you need to apply to 40 programs- I applied to 15 and decided to go on 10 interviews (recieved 12 invitations) and will likely rank 9 of them... If you have average numbers, good letters of rec, a good personal statement and solid CV I see no reason to apply to more then 16 programs.
I know no american grad who has gone on 20+ interviews.

My two cents.

 

[Caetano-MD]

I hear how psych is much less competitive than most residencies, but I'm not sure what that translates to in numbers, i.e., step scores, grades, research. How tough is it to go where you want as a middle of the road student? Are there things I should be doing now to help boost my chances?

Along those lines...I am wondering if I should take Step 2 before applying or after. Any advice would be helpful! Thanks.

I am an American grad and applying to more programs puts you in the driver's seat when it comes to choosing your interviews.

Of the 26 (or so) interviews I was offered I chose to go to 13 of them--cancelling the less desirable interviews as the more desirable ones popped up. (and honestly cancelling interviews I "thought" would be interesting but as the grueling interview season wears on, and my enthusiasm wanes...).

But a "generic" number of interviews is not helpful--regions play a large part in the game--as I said above, CA and DC are "pickier" regions to match in.

If you are mid-level in your class from a US school, i advise applying to 30-40 programs and ACCEPTING 12-14 interviews and RANKING around 8 programs. Ranking that number should give you a 96% (approx) chance of matching.

Again, applying to more programs costs more money...but "saving" money in this process could be the WORST money you ever save in your life.😱

BTW, the "fmg" site is a good way of approximating program competitiveness no matter what your status, fmg or amg.👍

 

[RustNeverSleeps]

I'm sorry, but an AMG (who has not failed step 1) applying to 40 programs in psychiatry is ridiculous. I know no one who has done this, including both my classmates and others I have met while interviewing, and I have not heard of anyone having trouble getting enough interviews. I applied to 16 programs and regretted it when I then had 16 interview requests to deal with and schedule.

Program directors on the interview trail have suggested only interviewing at 2-4 places -- I don't think they would be that far off on how competitive psych is. I think suggesting that people need such a high number of interviews could potentially have a deleterious effect. Programs have limited number of interview slots, and it would be better for both programs and applicants to have people who are actually interested attending the interview days rather than people who want to schedule 10+ interviews due to anxiety over not matching.

Also, why is DC tough to match in? Just curious because I have heard about CA, NYC, and Boston being tough regions, but I have not heard the same about DC. It would be strange if DC were that competitive, because the programs there are only okay, compared to the CA and Northeast regions which have some of the most 'prestigious' programs.

 

[sga430]

i am an img and have 6 ivs in CA and none in DC nor Philly. of course 3/4 of my LORs r from cali. 1 in chicago and 1 in boston. a few in the NYC area.

 

[slope]

and, sga, how many programs did you apply to?