When did you decide?

[bowlofmushypeas]

So much getting into derm advice starts from day 1 of med school. However, we had a classmate who luckily matched after deciding only a few months before applications to pursue derm. I was just curious how late people have been in deciding prior to actually applying.

 

[asmallchild]

So much getting into derm advice starts from day 1 of med school. However, we had a classmate who luckily matched after deciding only a few months before applications to pursue derm. I was just curious how late people have been in deciding prior to actually applying.

Not really true

I decided at the very beginning of my MS4 year

The basic foundation to be a competitive applicant for any competitive specialty starts on Day 1 but you certainly don't have to decide at that moment.

 

[molmol]

i decided in july -- at the beginning for fourth year. def doable if your stats and other pubs are solid.

 

[MonsterAddict]

what if your stats are solid but absolutely no research?

 

[dermpom]

I also decided in May/June of beginning of my 4th year

 

[molmol]

depends where you want to match.
if you are hoping for a harvard, sf, penn, etc., then you may want to consider taking a year to add pubs.
otherwise, write some case reports and maybe a review -- you'll match someplace.

 

[doc MD]

So much getting into derm advice starts from day 1 of med school. However, we had a classmate who luckily matched after deciding only a few months before applications to pursue derm. I was just curious how late people have been in deciding prior to actually applying.

I decided late of MS3 as well. So did 2 other colleagues I know of that matched, but we all had solid stats which includes above avg derm step1 scores, great clinical scores and publications. The latter was not necessarily derm related. We later all picked up some derm research but did not all publish.

It is doable, there is hope... but take it with some realistic expectations as well.