the truth about stats and peds

[michigangirl]

hi!

I just wanted to throw something out there for you future peds peeps who are wondering about what it takes to get into a competitive program.

There were a couple posts under the thread "Who's heard from Peds" about what it takes to get into a CHOP, Boston Children's, or Hopkins. People replied and said you must be AOA, Step I> 235....

Whatever!!! I started freaking out when I first read the post, because I wanted to go to one of those places and I had board scores just below the mean and didn't get AOA.

Now I'm going to one of those places..I'm not tooting my horn, I'm just writing this so that people know that:

1.) Don't put too much store in these forums, because after all, most of these are people who are in the same boat as you who know the same amount as you giving you advice...it's all speculation.

That being said, take my comments with a grain of salt

2.) There are no restrictive stats in peds. that's the beauty of it. You just have to show you're a strong candidate however you can, and kick ass in your interview, and demonstrate a passion for your future career.

Don't make the same mistake I did.
GOOD LUCK!

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[jdog]

Also, remember that many top teir programs are biased against the lowly peasants attending state medical schools. Again, not tooting my horn, I was denied interviews from a few top programs with well above average board scores, (1 std dev). So if you come from a school not nationally known, your scores will get you most interviews, but there will always be some schools who want to private school crowd. For example, I got an interview at CHOP but not at U of Chicago. When I called their program director to find out why they gave me some amazing BS answer and then I asked, "does this have anything to do with where I went to medical school" and she said, "well, maybe a little".

So again, if you come from a less known school nationally be prepared to deal with some bullsheet like this. I don't need them hoes. I am going to a top 10 peds program.

Peace

 

[mhdousa]

Great post Michigangirl! I agree -- peds is great like that. It's much more
about who you are than what your stats say you are. Without actually realizing
it explicitly, that's one of the things that drew me to the field (and I suspect, drew
many of the rest of you) -- many more of the pediatricians that I encountered
just seemed, for lack of a better word, real.

Jdog, that's interesting -- I was flushed by CHOP (and Boston and UCSF). I assumed it was because of my med school (a lesser known state school), but never thought to ask. It's all a crap shoot, I guess. Where did you match? Glad the match turned out well for you.

Anyway, to all those applying next year: shoot for what you want, not what
other people tell you you can get.

-M

 

[nychick]

One caveat: IMGs. As high as your scores are etc., unless you are a known variable (i.e. you have a connection or did an elective somewhere or whatever) and/or have some US experience/letters, it is unlikely that you will receive an interview at top-tier places. Not impossible, but unlikely. It doesn't mean you shouldn't try--I certainly did. I'm just saying don't get your hopes up. I think that with ERAS, it's easy to screen people -- for scores, provenance, visa/immigration status, whatever -- so the programs that get overwhelmed with applications will use "easy" criteria to eliminate candidates right off the bat. Unless these programs have a reason to pull up your file, i.e. someone told them, they won't.

That said, I think the hard thing for me as an IMG was to get to the interview stage. Once you're there, it's up to you to make an impression, and I perceived the playing field as being pretty level.

 

[wat]

nychick, I couldn't agree with you more!
From my exprience the single, most important factor in an IMG application is his/hers US connection. With medium scores (high 80's) and good American LOR's you can get further than with high scores and being totaly unknown. The best thing is to have someone from a specific program you apply to that knows you (from a prior rotation).