question about competitiveness

[scopicfrog]

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hi,

i'm a female applicant with a couple of issues. the first, and probably biggest, is that i'm couples' matching, and i'm unsure of how this will affect me really in the match in general.

ultimately, i'm interested in radiology. i'm a 4th year at a competitive school, and it seems like all the radiology applicants from my school have great grades and awesome step 1 scores (like 250+). i have no idea how to calculate my gpa, but i think that i'm probably an average to above average student (like prolly top 50% but not top 25%). my board score is 242. i've published 1 paper and 3 abstracts from ob/gyn research. i'm also currently taking a year off to continue this line of research.

i'm planning on contacting the radiology residency people at my school, but i'm afraid that i'd be laughed out of their offices. seriously, i have no idea of what would be considered competitive as far as rads residencies, as i only figured out that i was interested in the past few months.

what do you guys think?

thanks!

 

[ears]

i'm planning on contacting the radiology residency people at my school, but i'm afraid that i'd be laughed out of their offices. seriously, i have no idea of what would be considered competitive as far as rads residencies, as i only figured out that i was interested in the past few months.

You've got the right idea, and you must get over the intimidation thing. Your board scores are good, the research thing is cool, the fact that you're at a competitive school is also a plus. Being female probably helps, too. You will definitely not be laughed out of anyone's office. Rads is competitive, but it's not derm or rad onc; at the end of the day, there are 1000 spots. (Couples matching makes it harder, but not that hard.)

Talking to advisors about how to put your application together is one of the most important things you can do, and soon.

You'll be fine, you just need to find good mentors.

 

[f_w]

5cents from a radiology fellow:

- Don't get intimidated by all the competitiveness chest thumping on this and the auntminnie medstudent board. At the end of the day, the average score for people who matched into radiology is somewhere in the low 230s (if I remember correctly). While there are some applicants with these 250+ scores, they remain the exception rather than the rule.

- Think about not doing the couples match thing. Consider doing a 'regional match' by selecting an area with plenty of residencies and both going through the match independently from each other. You might end maybe 80mi apart, but at least you don't have to wonder for 4 years where you could have gone if you hadn't been held back by the couples match (we had a girl who couples matched with her hubby in another moderately competitive specialty. Despite ranking us, she hated to be at our program and moved on to greener pastures the moment her hubby was done with his 3 year residency)

> i'm planning on contacting the radiology residency people at my
> school, but i'm afraid that i'd be laughed out of their offices. seriously,

Have you done an elective ? Will you have a letter of recommendation from someone in your 'home' radiology department ?

Contact radiology faculty at your school, I can promise you, nobody will laugh you out of their office. More likely than not, some will give you good pointers regarding other programs in the area, places they did their fellowship at etc. Radiology is a relatively small field, people know people. Have a copy of your academic CV, in paper and electronic form. Chances are you will find someone who will send some emails on your behalf.

 

[scopicfrog]

hey guys,

thanks for the advice! i'm not 100% sure about radiology yet, but i'm interested more every day. i'm just worried, like all 4th years, that i won't match anywhere. but i have a year to think about it, since i'm taking this year off now.

thanks again!

sf