Residencies for "Average" Applicants?

[Cliff Huxtable]

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I was wondering what the "lower tier" residencies are for applicants that are not SDN superstars.

I know to apply broadly but I don't want to waste money on applying to places like Johns Hopkins where I have no chance of getting an interview.

For the sake of argument, let's say of all the radiology applicants, if I was the worst in terms of stats, what schools should I rule out in order to save money?

Please don't say "you spent x dollars already on school, what's another 1K?"

There are 187 residencies and if I applied to all of them, it would cost roughly 5K. Each one off the list would save me $30.

Thanks!

(I am an average student and would be very pleased to match anywhere.)

 

[Taurus]

What are your stats?

You're already behind because this is already the end of the second week of September. Many people apply first few days of open.

You don't want to hear it but no one knows which program you will have the best shot at. The programs are very individualistic and depends on the personality of the program director. Apply broadly. What's 5k to apply if lose a year's salary ($400-500k) because you have to sit out for 1 year? Do you know how painful doing medicine or surgery residency is? I'm doing floor medicine right now as part of my TY and it's freaking painful.

 

[Cliff Huxtable]

What are your stats?

You're already behind because this is already the end of the second week of September. Many people apply first few days of open.

You don't want to hear it but no one knows which program you will have the best shot at. The programs are very individualistic and depends on the personality of the program director. Apply broadly. What's 5k to apply if lose a year's salary ($400-500k) because you have to sit out for 1 year? Do you know how painful doing medicine or surgery residency is? I'm doing floor medicine right now as part of my TY and it's freaking painful.

I'm actually a 3rd year student currently. I know what you mean about medicine / surgery being painful.

The reason I say I am average is because of the following:

Step 1 = low 220s
Step 2 = will take early and hopefully do better

I have my eyes set on one hospital in particular on the east coast and it is a community hospital that is not very "popular" like Harvard or Hopkins (not to take anything away from the hospital, I think it's a sleeper) so I really would love to match there (and hopefully have a better shot at it than most other places).

Any tips on how I can beef up my resume? Obviously rocking 3rd year will help and doing an away rotation there.

 

[Taurus]

Do as well as you can in 3rd year. Crush Step 2.

Apply broadly and early. Go to every interview you get. Rank every program. That's all that you can do pretty much. 220's is not too bad. You'll match somewhere if you follow my formula.

 

[Cliff Huxtable]

Do as well as you can in 3rd year. Crush Step 2.

Apply broadly and early. Go to every interview you get. Rank every program. That's all that you can do pretty much. 220's is not too bad. You'll match somewhere if you follow my formula.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[untildawnbreaks]

agreed with taurus. i did the couples match. my husband matched with <220, average (for rads) step II and okay grades. he applied to 85 programs (135 total programs for us both), worth every penny.

 

[Cliff Huxtable]

agreed with taurus. i did the couples match. my husband matched with <220, average (for rads) step II and okay grades. he applied to 85 programs (135 total programs for us both), worth every penny.

If you don't mind me asking, how many interviews did he get out of 85?

Thanks?

 

[Green Grass]

agreed with taurus. i did the couples match. my husband matched with <220, average (for rads) step II and okay grades. he applied to 85 programs (135 total programs for us both), worth every penny.

holy crap, how much did that end up costing you (after apps, interviews, etc.)?

congrats though!! And I completely agree with you, WORTH EVERY PENNY!👍👍🙂

 

[untildawnbreaks]

it was 85 total with prelim yrs and a 2nd speciality as backup so i think it was 55-60 rads. He got 16 interviews, 6 were academic programs.

It cost us about 6000 (i did peds and they pay for travel/hotels so we'd go on the same day to the same city-- that helped a lot, also drove to all interviews)

The more you apply to the more chances you have of getting interviews. Check out the AAMC match stats for 2009, it's the best resource out there.

 

[Cliff Huxtable]

it was 85 total with prelim yrs and a 2nd speciality as backup so i think it was 55-60 rads. He got 16 interviews, 6 were academic programs.

It cost us about 6000 (i did peds and they pay for travel/hotels so we'd go on the same day to the same city-- that helped a lot, also drove to all interviews)

The more you apply to the more chances you have of getting interviews. Check out the AAMC match stats for 2009, it's the best resource out there.

Thanks.

 

[Phishfood]

so...no input as to what actual "average applicant" residency positions are?

 

[Labslave]

so...no input as to what actual "average applicant" residency positions are?

There are unfortunately a lot of factors that make this a hard question to answer. First, radiology has a strong regional bias. I know a person from my school last year (Midwest) that was 250+ Step 1, 270+ Step 2, AOA, research out the wazoo and didn't get interviews at ANY of the Cali schools. Second, there's no telling where you'll get interviews because the process has a certain element of randomness to it. Third, applying for residency isn't like applying for med school where you have an established, legit ranking list (the system just isn't conducive). On top of this, you have to factor in an applicant's personal biases (location, academics, etc.), variations in competitiveness from year to year, and blah blah blah, the list goes on and on.

Bottom line is that you should apply wherever you want to apply, yet cast a very broad net.

 

[meister]

Would you suggest a broad regional net? Or could an average applicant just blanket the east coast and northeast with applications as an average candidate?

I'm guessing the answer is that if you're an average candidate you better apply to midwest spots, but I'm just curious.

 

[Labslave]

Would you suggest a broad regional net? Or could an average applicant just blanket the east coast and northeast with applications as an average candidate?

I'm guessing the answer is that if you're an average candidate you better apply to midwest spots, but I'm just curious.

Just from a practical standpoint, it makes sense to apply to a handful of "safety" programs in your region (these could be less well known community programs or the like). You can easily justify why you would want to go there and it would cost you little to no money in traveling expenses.

Outside of that, carpet bomb your apps wherever you want. Odds are still good that you'd match without the above strategy, but why not play it safe and have an ace up your sleeve?

 

[untildawnbreaks]

midwest doesn't mean less competitive. they interview and take people with connections to MW preferentially.

the NE has a lot of community programs, look into all of them if you're from there and have less than average stats. also make sure you look at which programs are on probation.

 

[Cliff Huxtable]

Do you think picking up some volunteer experience during my 3rd year would be worthwhile (I have none in med school) in terms of beefing up my resume? I also have no research.

 

[Labslave]

midwest doesn't mean less competitive. they interview and take people with connections to MW preferentially.

the NE has a lot of community programs, look into all of them if you're from there and have less than average stats. also make sure you look at which programs are on probation.

Agreed, although I don't think anyone was implying that the Midwest was less competitive. That being said, the "top programs" in the MW are probably easier to get into on the whole as an outsider than the top coastal programs as an outsider.

 

[Labslave]

Do you think picking up some volunteer experience during my 3rd year would be worthwhile (I have none in med school) in terms of beefing up my resume? I also have no research.

Research will be a bigger bang for your buck if you can make contacts that will result in a good LOR. Otherwise, if the rest of your application is strong I wouldn't imagine volunteer work would make too much of a difference. Anything that takes away from time devoted to doing well in third year is not worth the effort IMHO. Do as well as you can!

 

[SomeDoc]

whoops, my post belonged in a FAQ sticky.