Radiology 2012 applicants

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bigdoc12 said:
I've gotten 0 invites so far, any advice?

DO applicant
Top 5% of class
Step 1 245+ step 2 265+
Clinicals: 50/50 honors/hp
Some minimal non-rads research, 0 publications though
Issues: No official rads rotations yet (scheduled for early 2012) and no rads LORs yet, both bc changed my career choice late in app season
ECs: bunch of volunteer, a few leadership positions, etc

Applied to 20ish progs in Midwest, obviously now thinking I need to add a bunch more across country
Thanks for any advice
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I would just make sure you applied to some "lower tier" programs and didn't just shoot for the stars. There probably isn't too much of a point in applying to highly competitive programs now, but I would consider applying to some middle and lower competition programs.
 
bigdoc12 said:
I've gotten 0 invites so far, any advice?

DO applicant
Top 5% of class
Step 1 245+ step 2 265+
Clinicals: 50/50 honors/hp
Some minimal non-rads research, 0 publications though
Issues: No official rads rotations yet (scheduled for early 2012) and no rads LORs yet, both bc changed my career choice late in app season
ECs: bunch of volunteer, a few leadership positions, etc

Applied to 20ish progs in Midwest, obviously now thinking I need to add a bunch more across country
Thanks for any advice
Click to expand...

You should apply to at least 50 programs.. and at least 20-30 of them should be 'lower tier'
 
PokerDoc said:
You should apply to at least 50 programs.. and at least 20-30 of them should be 'lower tier'
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I agree, unfortunately for them, it seems that most of the "lower tiers" have already sent out their interview invites. Best case scenario would be getting some waitlist interviews as people cancel.
 
DrBowtie said:
I agree, unfortunately for them, it seems that most of the "lower tiers" have already sent out their interview invites. Best case scenario would be getting some waitlist interviews as people cancel.
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there will be a tremendous amount of turnover I feel
 
PokerDoc said:
there will be a tremendous amount of turnover I feel
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There will be. Friends of mine who applied to a good number of "lower" tiered programs are chomping at the bit for the MSPE to be released so they can start to cancel some of those. There are applicants on AM who have 15+ interviews already
 
2012mdc said:
There will be. Friends of mine who applied to a good number of "lower" tiered programs are chomping at the bit for the MSPE to be released so they can start to cancel some of those. There are applicants on AM who have 15+ interviews already
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yeah im definitely in that boat. I applied to 75 programs freaking out back in august.. I've received 20 invites as of today. I want to cancel most of them, but ill prob cap myself between 12-15 at the end. I have 8 that I actually consider strong, the rest are small, or in bad areas.
 
MedManU said:
I would just make sure you applied to some "lower tier" programs and didn't just shoot for the stars. There probably isn't too much of a point in applying to highly competitive programs now, but I would consider applying to some middle and lower competition programs.
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ok, thanks for the help. Do you think I'll start to get more invites after nov 1??
 
bigdoc12 said:
ok, thanks for the help. Do you think I'll start to get more invites after nov 1??
Click to expand...

yes, but I think you should add about 20 programs (most if not all low tier) in the midwest and other areas you might like.
 
To the person who is applying with no radiology elective or letter -- have you thought about sitting out the year? It sounds like you have very strong stats and a year of elective + research could make you a strong candidate rather than (let's face it) a relatively weak one. It seems you have a real weakness (no rads rotation or letter) that you can easily address with just a bit of time -- I think that's a situation a lot of people with more permanent weaknesses (e.g.; bombing the boards) would envy.

Just food for thought.
 
DrBowtie said:
First rejection! (of many I'm sure)
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Probably not. It seems like many more programs stay silent than send rejections. I haven't heard anything from 10 programs who have sent invites and only have 2 rejections (4 invites)

I'm just guessing here but I think programs don't like to send rejections because they can't take it back. Programs are willing to reject you early if they feel you're just not good enough no matter what (not enough research, low tier med school, weak Step 1) or they know you are likely to rank them lowly, either because of strong numbers or no regional ties.
 
5 interviews, 2 rejections and a whole lot of nothing from the other 50+ places I applied to. I'm sure most of them already sent out invites to the superior canidates and just don't have the decency to send me a reject notice. I don't want to read auntminnie or this forum to find out if invites went out because it would only make me cry.

I kinda of want to just withdraw my app and just apply to path in 2013.
 
SGuttenberg said:
5 interviews, 2 rejections and a whole lot of nothing from the other 50+ places I applied to. I'm sure most of them already sent out invites to the superior canidates and just don't have the decency to send me a reject notice. I don't want to read auntminnie or this forum to find out if invites went out because it would only make me cry.

I kinda of want to just withdraw my app and just apply to path in 2013.
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I know you don't want to read the AM forum but close to half of all programs haven't sent out invites yet including most of the more competitive ones.

I'm at 4 invites so I know how you feel
 
3 invites, 2 rejections, 1 waitlist
48 programs total, more than half haven't sent anything out yet. I'm hoping to get some more IVs from the west coast programs where I'm from and pick up some later waves when people start canceling. I have no problem feeing on the carrion of unwanted rads interviews.
 
SGuttenberg said:
5 interviews, 2 rejections and a whole lot of nothing from the other 50+ places I applied to. I'm sure most of them already sent out invites to the superior canidates and just don't have the decency to send me a reject notice. I don't want to read auntminnie or this forum to find out if invites went out because it would only make me cry.

I kinda of want to just withdraw my app and just apply to path in 2013.
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I wouldn't get too down on yourself. There are a lot people in the same boat. Spots will open up after applicants with 15+ invites start cancelling some. After the MSPE release, I expect there to be a lot of invite musical chairs going on between both applicants and programs.

Also, # of interviews can be misleading.

2012mdc said:
It seems like many more programs stay silent than send rejections. I haven't heard anything from 10 programs who have sent invites and only have 2 rejections (4 invites)

I'm just guessing here but I think programs don't like to send rejections because they can't take it back.
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Tend to agree. I was looking at last year's rejection thread that someone posted on AM, and it seemed like only a handful of places send out rejections. This could be due to people not reporting all of their rejections or that most places just don't send em' out, and instead, have a "large waitlist" that they'll pull applicants from as spots open. I tend to think it's the latter.
 
Our career services dept had a document listing what %s of interviews each program extended last year by Nov 1. About 50% of programs had extended 25% or less of their interviews by Nov 1, and almost 25% of programs had extended 0% of interviews before Nov 1. People need to chill. He said not to worry until it's the 2nd week of November.
 
drizzt3117 said:
Our career services dept had a document listing what %s of interviews each program extended last year by Nov 1. About 50% of programs had extended 25% or less of their interviews by Nov 1, and almost 25% of programs had extended 0% of interviews before Nov 1. People need to chill. He said not to worry until it's the 2nd week of November.
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That's interesting information. I had no idea that the programs that had sent out invites were sending the invites out to such a small %.

I figured that that many of the programs that extend invites pre-MSPE and post-MSPE don't have their post-MSPE invite dates updated on AM because people are only worried about the new programs.
 
First, I agree with the general "people need to chill" feeling. Most of the interviews are not out there yet! And lots of spots do open up. Second, you don't have to be a passive actor in this process! I was a bit bummed about having four invites so far (albeit really good places) and missing out on three I really wanted. So I called them, told them I was really interested, sent an e-mail saying as much, and voila -- two more interviews. It's not a guarantee but you have to realize that everyone applies so broadly that PDs don't always know if your app is really serious. Sometimes, if you just let them know you're interested you'll get an interview.

I look forward to seeing you guys on the trail! We're all gonna do great!
 
2012mdc said:
I know you don't want to read the AM forum but close to half of all programs haven't sent out invites yet including most of the more competitive ones.

I'm at 4 invites so I know how you feel
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I have 4 invites as well and I applied to 45 rads programs. No rejections yet. I'm not going to worry until the second week of November.
 
zuiikin said:
First, I agree with the general "people need to chill" feeling. Most of the interviews are not out there yet! And lots of spots do open up. Second, you don't have to be a passive actor in this process! I was a bit bummed about having four invites so far (albeit really good places) and missing out on three I really wanted. So I called them, told them I was really interested, sent an e-mail saying as much, and voila -- two more interviews. It's not a guarantee but you have to realize that everyone applies so broadly that PDs don't always know if your app is really serious. Sometimes, if you just let them know you're interested you'll get an interview.

I look forward to seeing you guys on the trail! We're all gonna do great!
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I feel like a lot of that is better done after the MSPE is released, if only because you'll have a better idea of how things are going. I did send an update to programs I was interested in telling them about a newly accepted pub and presentation, which may or may not have helped.
 
drizzt3117 said:
I feel like a lot of that is better done after the MSPE is released, if only because you'll have a better idea of how things are going. I did send an update to programs I was interested in telling them about a newly accepted pub and presentation, which may or may not have helped.
Click to expand...

Drizz, go outside. Stop publishing. We get it. Jesus. :laugh:

I'm at 15 out of 22..23? that have offered interviews, with another 20 or so I'm still waiting on. Cancelled a few rads already. 5 TY and 5 Prelim interviews scheduled, cancelled a few more.

Joking aside I'm actually waiting on the status of a manuscript myself and I think that's a great way to re-establish contact with programs you care about.
 
Radiculous said:
Drizz, go outside. Stop publishing. We get it. Jesus. :laugh:

I'm at 15 out of 22..23? that have offered interviews, with another 20 or so I'm still waiting on. Cancelled a few rads already. 5 TY and 5 Prelim interviews scheduled, cancelled a few more.

Joking aside I'm actually waiting on the status of a manuscript myself and I think that's a great way to re-establish contact with programs you care about.
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Are you really going to go on 10 prelim/ty interviews? How many interviews total are you planning to go on? 30? That seems like a lot. I'm prolly gonna end up going to 15-18 rads and 6ish prelim surg.
 
drizzt3117 said:
Are you really going to go on 10 prelim/ty interviews? How many interviews total are you planning to go on? 30? That seems like a lot. I'm prolly gonna end up going to 15-18 rads and 6ish prelim surg.
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capped myself at 10 prelim/ty --- i will cancel one of the ones i have now if i get sloan kettering which is all i'm waiting on at this point -- and 15-18 rads. So, 25-28 total. that's a lot but i have all of Nov, Dec, and Jan to interview.
 
drizzt3117 said:
Are you really going to go on 10 prelim/ty interviews? How many interviews total are you planning to go on? 30? That seems like a lot. I'm prolly gonna end up going to 15-18 rads and 6ish prelim surg.
Click to expand...

I'm probably going to go on 12-15 rads and 6 or 7 prelim unless I end up getting sloan kettering, scripps, and st. luke's denver.

Although I have some time to interview in November it looks like the majority of my invites will be post-MSPE I will have to fit them in December and mostly January.

right now i have 5 prelim/ty scheduled and probably won't cancel any of them (2 prelim IM scheduled next week, TY's later)
 
I probably should have applied to some TYs in addition to prelim med. Ugh the idea of matching rads but having to scramble for an internship makes me kinda ill.
 
meister said:
I probably should have applied to some TYs in addition to prelim med. Ugh the idea of matching rads but having to scramble for an internship makes me kinda ill.
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Usually it's the other way around. Prelim meds aren't competitive and are usually backups for TY's. How many did you apply to?
 
I applied to 12 prelim med programs, all of them competitive university programs. Not sure what I was thinking, honestly.

I just tacked on some TYs so hopefully that'll help. I called a few of them and they don't have application deadlines until January and a couple of them laughed when asked if they were still giving out invitations to interview so I guess I need to take a chill pill.
 
A word to the wise: look at the schedules closely. I have 5 Prelim and 5 TY, but I actually chose to cancel 3 TY and only 1 Prelim. Some prelims are "TY-like" in terms of schedule flexibility, and some TYs are actually quite brutal. Choose wisely.
 
meister said:
I applied to 12 prelim med programs, all of them competitive university programs. Not sure what I was thinking, honestly.

I just tacked on some TYs so hopefully that'll help. I called a few of them and they don't have application deadlines until January and a couple of them laughed when asked if they were still giving out invitations to interview so I guess I need to take a chill pill.
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Why don't you add on some less competitive prelim med? TY's are typically more competitive

But Radiculous is right, it's important to check schedules. Personally, location and schedule are the only things that matter to me for intern year.
 
2012mdc said:
Why don't you add on some less competitive prelim med? TY's are typically more competitive

But Radiculous is right, it's important to check schedules. Personally, location and schedule are the only things that matter to me for intern year.
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Agreed. I'm leaning towards doing my prelim year near home so i can live rent/food free for the year and build up my savings account. So that when I start residency I can put a down payment on a place instead of paying rent for 4 years and having nothing to show for it.

But I won't live at home if it means my schedule will suck balls.
 
Good news on the rads front. 5th interview invite. I only have one prelim med invite and one categorical which combines with a ty for pgy1 year. are the ty and prelims lagging our what?
 
2012mdc said:
That's interesting information. I had no idea that the programs that had sent out invites were sending the invites out to such a small %.

I figured that that many of the programs that extend invites pre-MSPE and post-MSPE don't have their post-MSPE invite dates updated on AM because people are only worried about the new programs.
Click to expand...

Here's some more data. I think many will find it reassuring. In the words of drizzt, everyone should just chill. Lots of invites still to come. 👍

View attachment 1.jpg
 
Man, this Step 2 crap is really starting to get on my nerves. Passed CS but that was the biggest waste of time and $1500 of medical school. Zero educational value, and a 3% chance as an AMG that you randomly fail and your professional life is destroyed (yeah you can say that PDs know the test is B.S., but you know damned well that it if any of us were unlucky to fail and had a big F sitting on our USMLE transcript that most PDs inundated with qualified applicants would just toss us out unceremoniously, no matter how stellar our prior achivements). Of course, if you pass, it means absolutely nothing and you are simply herded through the system like cattle.

Now CK. A little bit more control because if I blow it I can just hide the score and some/most programs are unlikely to care too much, but damn -- I killed myself for my Step 1 score. What if I "drop" and only get in the 240s/250s because I have other, much more productive and meaningful things to do in my life than memorize lysosomal storage diseases and developmental milestones? I feel like I'm constantly defending the hard work and achievement up to this point (step 1, clinical grades, research, letters, whatever) -- this portfolio of success I've built up to this point -- and a single bad test day could eviscerate it. To add insult to injury, my school requires that we sit for both Step 2 CS and CK before the end of the calendar year. This is great for them because it ensures that everyone has time to retake and can get their degree, no administrative headaches, but an UNNECESSARY RISK for individual competitive applicants who do not need to "put themselves on the line" again with Step 2 CK.

F*ck this. I can't wait until I'm learning for my own sake rather than to satisfy the prerogative of licensing idiots.

/rant
 
I hear ya man. I'm starting my CK studying soon as I take it one month from now. I take CS at the very end of December. I can't believe there is a 3% fail rate by AMG's, that is messed up, I thought it was even lower. Oh well, time to buckle down and do it again.

Radiculous said:
Man, this Step 2 crap is really starting to get on my nerves. Passed CS but that was the biggest waste of time and $1500 of medical school. Zero educational value, and a 3% chance as an AMG that you randomly fail and your professional life is destroyed (yeah you can say that PDs know the test is B.S., but you know damned well that it if any of us were unlucky to fail and had a big F sitting on our USMLE transcript that most PDs inundated with qualified applicants would just toss us out unceremoniously, no matter how stellar our prior achivements). Of course, if you pass, it means absolutely nothing and you are simply herded through the system like cattle.

Now CK. A little bit more control because if I blow it I can just hide the score and some/most programs are unlikely to care too much, but damn -- I killed myself for my Step 1 score. What if I "drop" and only get in the 240s/250s because I have other, much more productive and meaningful things to do in my life than memorize lysosomal storage diseases and developmental milestones? I feel like I'm constantly defending the hard work and achievement up to this point (step 1, clinical grades, research, letters, whatever) -- this portfolio of success I've built up to this point -- and a single bad test day could eviscerate it. To add insult to injury, my school requires that we sit for both Step 2 CS and CK before the end of the calendar year. This is great for them because it ensures that everyone has time to retake and can get their degree, no administrative headaches, but an UNNECESSARY RISK for individual competitive applicants who do not need to "put themselves on the line" again with Step 2 CK.

F*ck this. I can't wait until I'm learning for my own sake rather than to satisfy the prerogative of licensing idiots.

/rant
Click to expand...
 
drizzt3117 said:
Nobody gives a f about step 2 except UCSF who requires that you pass it because it's an institutional requirement. My cousin got 217 on step 2 last year after getting 255+ on step 1 and will be starting at a top west coast program, it's just not a big deal.
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Good news, although I still feel the need to push myself to a score at least beating the national average of 230 or whatever it is (typical med student mentality, I know). But definitely good news.👍
 
badasshairday said:
I hear ya man. I'm starting my CK studying soon as I take it one month from now. I take CS at the very end of December. I can't believe there is a 3% fail rate by AMG's, that is messed up, I thought it was even lower. Oh well, time to buckle down and do it again.
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It was 2% last year. My dean said at our program no one had failed in like 3 years, so it's not that common.
 
yeah, i had a run of v tach when i opened the CS .PDF. it's weird, i was more anxious about that than step 1 because with step 1 i knew i had at least passed and it wasn't as subjective, whereas CS.... lol.
 
i suspect the invites will pick up again later this week, not immediately, since programs need at least a day or two after MSPE release to sort through them, throw them down a flight of stairs and choose the applicants that land on the bottom step, etc.
 
Radiculous said:
i suspect the invites will pick up again later this week, not immediately, since programs need at least a day or two after MSPE release to sort through them, throw them down a flight of stairs and choose the applicants that land on the bottom step, etc.
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Ha. I expect the invites will pick up on Thursday and Friday as well. Although I hope they don't until Monday because I'll be traveling and interviewing those days
 
you should forward them a zip file with all the invitations you're going to get from top programs in the next two weeks and be like "i can't accept your waiting list spot right now but if i cancel enough interviews maybe I can. enjoy the cheese and weather."
 
Dohle said:
I did the unthinkable and failed step 2 CS. Otherwise I'm a strong applicant: step 1 270s, junior AOA, 3rd year - 5 H, 2 HP, good LOR, etc. Why didn't I wait until December to take it?!?! I've already taken it again and expect a passing score on Dec 7th. I did not automatically resubmit the USMLE transcript so programs have no idea I failed it. I over-applied so I have plenty of interviews from top tier to lower tier programs.

I haven't been panicking but am trying to come up with a good strategy to match. I figure the interview will go one of three ways:
1. They won't ask about step 2, and I won't have to bring it up so long as I pass before starting residency.
2. They'll ask but will view it as one bad day in 4 years of excellent work and/or see the test as a scam anyway.
3. They'll think I'm a know-it-all with no communication skills and not rank me as there are plenty of other great applicants who passed on the first try.

I'm aiming for 25 radiology and 5 prelim interviews to maximize the number of programs that fall into #1 or #2 and scramble into a prelim year if necessary. Right now I have 17 rads interviews and still have room for 8 more. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Nobody will ask you about CS. Just don't submit your score and you're good to go. I wouldn't go on more than 15 radiology interviews (even that is excessive with your CV).
 
Dohle said:
I did the unthinkable and failed step 2 CS.

I'm aiming for 25 radiology and 5 prelim interviews to maximize the number of programs that fall into #1 or #2 and scramble into a prelim year if necessary. Right now I have 17 rads interviews and still have room for 8 more. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

OP, I have a friend at one of the top 10 programs in the US. He failed step 2 CS around the same time. He did not release his step 2 scores right away.

What he did instead was retake it asap and passed it. Even then, he didn't release any step 2 scores (it shows if you had to retake it). If programs asked about his step2ck score, he emailed them it or told them in person at the interview. But he never actually released any results. No one asked him about CS, but if they did, he was going to tell them that he passed (which is technically true, he just wouldn't mention that it took two tries).

This obviously won't fly for a program like UCSF who wants the results actually released to them, but for the few programs that may ask about step 2 results at your interview, it seemed to work well for him. Like I said, he matched to a very prestigious place. You can PM me if you want to know more.

My .02 would be to do something similar. I would not release your step 2 results under any circumstance. If that means missing out on UCSF, so be it. If you do release your step 2 results, it could get you needlessly dinged come rank time (as ridiculous as the test is).

edit: agree with the above, I would not go on 25 radiology interviews. seems really high. 15 is my max, and even that number is somewhat high.
 
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