So screwed for residency apps...need some advice

[oddvacado]

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[bcat85]

So maybe it's all the match day fervor, but residency applications are coming up for me and then match next year and I am feeling completely dejected.

I go to a bottom tier medical school, and had a crappy last year of some major family issues that have gotten in the way of doing well.

Super low step 1 score 77/193, only marginal passes/satisfactory passes on 3 of the clerkships. I've completely screwed it all up.

Now the only hope I have is to do well on my internal medicine clerkship and step 2.

All I want is an internal med residency, not at all a prestigious one but literally any program, and i'm climbing myself out of the deep hole I've dug but I don't know if it's too late.

Could I even get any interviews? Can I do anything to turn my situation around this late in the game?

I know there's a 1000 posts like this and trust me, i'm looking at those. but I just needed to type one out and attempt to calm down my own anxiety.

If you go to a US allopathic school, you have a good shot at an IM residency. Last year, for people who scored from 191-200 on Step I, 257 matched into IM and 34 did not. As long as you haven't failed anything and you apply broadly, you'll be fine. Also, rock step II. Good luck.

http://www.nrmp.org/data/chartingoutcomes2011.pdf

 

[AlexMorph]

If you go to a US allopathic school, you have a good shot at an IM residency. Last year, for people who scored from 191-200 on Step I, 257 matched into IM and 34 did not. As long as you haven't failed anything and you apply broadly, you'll be fine. Also, rock step II. Good luck.

http://www.nrmp.org/data/chartingoutcomes2011.pdf

I echo this completely. If you go to US school, you will definitely find an IM residency.

 

[oddvacado]

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[myhandsarecold]

you should probably destroy the remaining shelves. pretest and/or case files + UWorld should help. i thought going through UWorld more than once is very helpful. MKSAP 4 for IM shelf is also good. People swear by step up to medicine and step 2 but i thought they were so so and supplementing them with questions is good.

 

[dd128]

Like others have mentioned step 2 is going to be your best bet at this point. It may be a good idea if at all possible to take a vacation month to study for the test. Taking it early so the score is in before apps go out could be important so they aren't just judging you by your step 1 score. Our medicine program at our school actually took people who failed step 1 and passed on second time around, so you definitely aren't on the bottom of the barrel if it's any consolation. My step 1 score was less than stellar also, but I know step 2 helped me out a lot, so there is hope.

 

[oddvacado]

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[TenderRender]

So follow-up question, in my personal statement and in any (if I actually get any) interviews, how much detail would you guys recommend going into about the crap that happened in my personal life? Because saying everything out sounds like such a "feel sorry for me!!!" melodramatic line, and yet, it's also kind of true because they did happen and it did affect me. Don't know how specific to be to help me vs. going overboard into pity/scapegoat-land.

Lowly pre-MS1 here, but have you considered talking to your Dean about it, and maybe he can write about it in his Dean's letter? Just saying that it probably won't come from that awkward "Feel bad for me!" angle if he it primarily showed up in his letter. This is just echoing my experience with my pre-med advisor letter; I had some issues Freshman year, and he wrote some explanatory things about my performance that year, and I feel like it helped me out come interview season.

 

[oddvacado]

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[Chakrabs]

Don't sweat it. Do as best as you possibly can in your remaining rotations and Step 2. Consider possibly taking a year off to do research or something to bolster your resume. In 4th year you could maybe do an away rotation at a couple programs that you could realistically match into. My med school is in Brooklyn NY and I think we have a solid program here but we do get our share of foreign grads and DOs mainly due to location. Its an academic program so possibly consider here. There are plenty of strong community programs as well that you certainly have a realistic shot of matching into as a US grad.

 

[Beta Cell]

Does "contiguous ranks" simply mean the number of schools to which one applied to or does one need to have interviews to be able to rank a school?

 

[NewAndImproved]

Does "contiguous ranks" simply mean the number of schools to which one applied to or does one need to have interviews to be able to rank a school?

You can only rank programs where you interview.