Selecting Sites for Away Rotations

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radwithabaddiagnose

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Hi all. New poster, long time lurker. Third year student really interested in psychiatry. I get that the general consensus is to do aways at residencies you'd otherwise not have a shot at. I'm compiling a list: small preference toward major coastal cities (LA, NYC) and other 'big name programs'. Please feel free to recommend a few good programs that are otherwise a huge reach for me.

Stats:
Step 1: 235
Grades: Pre clinical: Mostly honors and HP's. Clinical: straight P's with a few HP's in the mix.
Research: a little psych research, small publication.
Volunteering: psych related


Working list:
UCLA (i'm going to apply to all 3 for aways since i'm assuming they're out of reach
Dartmouth
Cornell
Columbia
Yale
USC


Any more?

thank you in advance.

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Not sure how much things have changed but away rotations aren't typically competitive. Most of the big academic sites will typically have numerous rotations for visiting students. The downside is if you apply to all 6 programs for your aways, you may have to turn down 4-5 programs which can look awkward when you apply to their residencies in the fall. Then again, a lot of times the same people processing your away apps aren't the same ones looking at your eras profile, so...
 
I think you're overthinking this. Are you a DO or IMG? If so you may want to pick a program that has taken at least a few DOs or IMGs in the recent past, as some programs are just not going to take any no matter what. If you are a US MD, then just pick programs you're interested in. Psych aways are not mandatory at all, so they are therefore not particularly competitive to get.

I can only speak to the east coast programs on your list but Dartmouth, while a respected program, is much less competitive than the other ones you have listed. Their location makes them less desirable to a lot of people and most people would not consider them a 'big name program' compared to Yale, Cornell, and Columbia.
 
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thanks for the reply all. US MD. i was just trying to gauge which residencies would be super competitive for me so that I can do an away rotation there.

again much appreciated
 
If a program is super competitive for you then doing an away rotation may be a waste of your time. doing aways at "reach" programs is different that "completely out of you reach". It is true that there are very occasional situations where a student on an away rotation makes such a positive impression they go from being someone who would never have gotten an interview to being highly ranked, but these are rare. They also require you to do a rotation where you actually work closely enough with an attending for it to make a difference, make a very positive impression, and most importantly, that said attending actually has some importance in the process. Each medical school is different. at some (like mine) the program director reviews each application for away rotations and only accepts visiting students that we might possibly be interest in accepting. at other programs, the residency program has absolutely no interest/awareness of visiting students.

I can tell you the residency program here never asks me what I think about our visiting students. but you can be sure as hell that I tell them if we have someone who we consider completely unsuitable.

You can only a few away rotations (or you should only do a few, dont spend your whole year doing psych rotations, it doesn't look good), so focus on those programs that you think you really would like to go to. you haven't given us enough information to tell you what is or is not a "reach" or "super competitive" for you.
 
If a program is super competitive for you then doing an away rotation may be a waste of your time. doing aways at "reach" programs is different that "completely out of you reach". It is true that there are very occasional situations where a student on an away rotation makes such a positive impression they go from being someone who would never have gotten an interview to being highly ranked, but these are rare. They also require you to do a rotation where you actually work closely enough with an attending for it to make a difference, make a very positive impression, and most importantly, that said attending actually has some importance in the process. Each medical school is different. at some (like mine) the program director reviews each application for away rotations and only accepts visiting students that we might possibly be interest in accepting. at other programs, the residency program has absolutely no interest/awareness of visiting students.

I can tell you the residency program here never asks me what I think about our visiting students. but you can be sure as hell that I tell them if we have someone who we consider completely unsuitable.

You can only a few away rotations (or you should only do a few, dont spend your whole year doing psych rotations, it doesn't look good), so focus on those programs that you think you really would like to go to. you haven't given us enough information to tell you what is or is not a "reach" or "super competitive" for you.

thank you for the heads up. Without having my psych rotation or step 2 out of the way i guess it's a bit preemptive.
 
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