I posted this on the IM forum, but nobody would respond. I am wondering what kind of score on Step I is needed to get a residency at a University program for IM. I know there are a lot of other factors that go into it such as LOR and interview and grades, but I am just trying to get an idea of the score needed if everything else in pretty good. I hear all sorts of "magic number" scores for other disciplines such as Ortho, Derm, ER, and Radiology, but I have never heard about IM. If some of you would not mind, I would love to know your score, or maybe that of a classmate, that went into IM and did their Residency at a University based program. Thanks a lot.
I know plenty of people in the past who have entered respected university IM programs with barely passing board scores. The thing about IM is that there are so many spots that the match for it is not that competitive. Sure it's hard to get into the IM programs at all the Harvard affiliates, but if a university program is all you want, then a university program (so long as you're an American MD school graduate) you shall have. Good luck.
I, too, would like a little more specific information on criteria for matching into the more "high-powered" academic programs. Whenever you read about selection factors/cutoffs for IM residencies, it is for the entirety of IM, from small community to big academic, from preliminary to primary care to categorical. They always say things like "AOA doesn't matter, research doesn't matter, and just pass the boards," because you can always get into some IM residency, but this is such a broad category that this info is useless. What I'd really like to know is, are the criteria for top academic IM programs more like those for the "hypercompetetive" specialties, i.e. AOA, AOA, AOA, and high board scores? Or is it just a more stringent version of the general IM criteria, with a little more emphasis on board scores and research? I hope it's the latter, because I don't think AOA (or even basic science honors) is happenin' for me
The only cutoff I've ever seen for an IM program was the University of Pennsylvania if my memory is correct. I was surfing various IM program websites and found that UPenn required 80% on Step I.
I was discussing this recently with a group of classmates. Based on their interviews, and their (self-reported) stats, I would say this: For top IM residencies, AOA, and strong letters from well known IM people are musts. I'm talking about Mass Gen, UCSF, Wash U., etc... There aren't that many top programs though in IM, relative to the total number of programs. So, the feeling that I get is that as long as you have passed in the preclincal years, hopefully honored your medicine block, and passed step I on the first go 'round, then as Tim Wu put it "a university program you shall have". I see a lot of these posts in all the forums asking about cutoffs. Unfortunately unless the prgram tells you what these cutoffs are, we can only speculate. The best strategy is just to do your absolute best in everything, and not worry about cutoffs. If you need help formulating a list of programs to apply to based on your credentials, you should probably talk to your advisor. Good luck.
I think each year, the cutoffs in IM get lower and lower. But if you're talking Mass General, it's been in the 90% in the past, but I'm not even sure that this is still true.
The two-digit score is not a percentage score. It's not even a percentile. When I took step I in summer 2001, the mean 2 digit score was 85, and the mean 3 digit score was 215...
Even when IM was very competitive several years ago, from my medical school(a top 20 school), a friend of mine with below national mean board score ended up matching there.
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