What matters for applying to competitive specialties/programs (and how much are they each weighed)

[deleted1199414]

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[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

This is an impossible question and varies school to school for every factor. Generally, S1 pass and S2 score are by far most important, with research second, and everything else a distant combined last place.

 

[Goro]

sup. I've been exploring how residency "admissions" works the past couple of days to prep for ms1 this year. The below is a list of what seems to matter for applications. If we could just for the case of this post pretend derm/nsgy is the target since they're competitive specialties - how much do each of the below really matter for matching a top program? If anyone could walk through an example I'd greatly appreciate it (and try to quantify things if possible). Like for instance, let's say all else is equal between 2 candidates other than one being at a T5 med school while the other is at a T100 or something. How many step 2 points would that T5 be worth (all else qual). Would a 250 step2 T5 med student be more favored vs a 265 T100 in that scenario? If not, at what point is the T5 med student winning out - 255 step2? etc.

Networking

 

[Dragonite7]

How many step 2 points would that T5 be worth (all else qual). Would a 250 step2 T5 med student be more favored vs a 265 T100 in that scenario?

Stuff like this is impossible to answer. You keep asking for extreme specifics in things that vary heavily and don't have objective quantifiable rules.

I've been exploring how residency "admissions" works the past couple of days to prep for ms1 this year.

It's good to be prepared but looking at your profile, calm down. No one has every single thing perfectly weighted and planned out before they even start med school.

 

[operaman]

Yeah you’re never going to find the granular data you want for this because there’s too much variance between programs and there’s too much overlap between the data points. You can pubmed search some surveys that have been done on this to get some sense of the relatively ranking but that’s as good as it gets.

In the end, it all matters and no individual thing matters. S2 score doesn’t really matter when all the applicants have 255+ scores, ie nobody is parsing numbers saying that a 260 is not quite as good an applicant as a 265 or 270. And how do you compare this to grades when the 260+ folks are probably all going to have higher grades anyhow. And they tend to be smarter and therefore have more bandwidth for research and networking than the person who is struggling to pass.

The truth is it’s extremely rare to see wildly disparate performance across metrics. Strong students tend to do well across the board. Weaker students don’t. Sadly, it’s not usually possible for weaker students to strategize such that they can crush something like step score and research while letting all the rest be mediocre. If you can land a 280 on step, you’ve probably aced your class and shelf exams too and are probably known and well liked by faculty. You just don’t see people with lackluster performance in one area totally kill it in another.

The fluffier stuff on your list only matters if the big stuff is solid. The 230 and all P applicant isn’t making the short list where anyone will even see the interesting ECs or other unique factors. Plenty of applicants have all the numbers AND hit other interesting metrics too.

In the end, turn in the very best performance you possibly can and get involved in your desired field early on. That’s the best anyone can do.

 

[LucidSplash]

i do

Great way to find things crashing down when your perfect plan goes sideways with one test.

Also overuse of the word brah suggests otherwise.

 

[lagunabeach26]

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dude you need to take a breath and not be so standoffish to other (much more respected) members of this community - this level of neuroticism and standoffish behavior is gonna make you a really stressed-out medical student. nobody can answer all these questions and you need to quit spamming the message board. Log off and enjoy your free time before medical school

 

[LucidSplash]

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Yes, as you’ve pointed out I joined as a premed, the year before starting med school, and am now well established in my career on the far side of the journey you are attempting to embark upon. It’s possible that people like me have something to offer in terms of experience and wisdom if you are interested in receiving it.

 

[LucidSplash]

what am I here for

Excellent question. Right now it seems like memes and snarky replies to people who offer you helpful feedback and insight into what lays ahead of you. Maybe you got off on the wrong foot and would like to start over.

 

[Dral]

Go for a good Step 2 score, but over a certain threshold (probably varies from program to program a little) score becomes less of an issue. Honestly, brand name means a lot either fortunately or unfortunately. A Yale 250 will likely get more interviews at higher tier places than someone with a 265 from let's say EVMS or an equivalent school.

We want to see that people are smart, work hard, and can pass future board exams. However, we understand that there isn't really too much of a difference between a 250 and a 265. Now a 225 vs 255? Yes, we could consider that a significant difference. Applying to a competitive specialty, that 255 would be expected to fair better with interview invites than the 225 regardless of schools.