Where can I find match statistics to compare?

[MedicalAuthor]

I know I shouldn't care about school name/prestige but I'm admittedly letting that bug get into my head.

Anywho, I was wondering if there's a website that compares the match statistics (percentage of people matching into first choice, etc) of different medical schools.

Thanks

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[sinombre]

I know I shouldn't care about school name/prestige but I'm admittedly letting that bug get into my head.

Anywho, I was wondering if there's a website that compares the match statistics (percentage of people matching into first choice, etc) of different medical schools.

Thanks

inb4"dontlookatmatchlists"

Seriously though, this data shouldn't affect your decision at all. How well students do is a function of their individual work ethic, not of the prestige of the school they attend.

 

[MedicalAuthor]

I know, but I keep hearing conflicting things, to be honest. Currently perusing old SDN threads and it seems like people say certain schools will 'change your life' (Stanford, UCSF, Hopkins, etc) and then others say it doesn't matter.

So far I've been going on my gut feeling, which is Sinai and Columbia, but just want to make sure I make the most informed decision...however that might be.

To give a little more perspective, I'm currently interested in surgery or EM, but am totally open to other specialties and see it just as likely for me to switch to something else if interests go that way.

More information than I wanted to give, and this thread might now turn into a 'prestige versus etc etc' thread, but just trying to get some perspective.

 

[tomhaverford]

I know I shouldn't care about school name/prestige but I'm admittedly letting that bug get into my head.

Anywho, I was wondering if there's a website that compares the match statistics (percentage of people matching into first choice, etc) of different medical schools.

Thanks

Consensus on comparing match data is that it is not a good measure of a school's quality. If a school advises "smart" choices for residency (ie. less competitive specialties or programs), then their "first choice" match data might look great as a side effect but is not actually as impressive as another schools'. Similarly, you can't just look at how many "competitive" programs people went into because that may just be an artifact of the classes' actual interests--some people do not want to pop pimples all day just to say they got into a dermatology program--or perhaps they went to a less prestigious residency program to follow their spouse. Simply a flawed process without more data.

What you can usually count on is that many students will stay at their school's hospitals for residency. So if you want to do your residency at Hopkins, then you might want to consider going to medical school there because it will give you an edge. Otherwise, the top schools (10, 25) have fairly similar match lists across the board, and the differences would just come down to nitpicking (which I would argue no analysis can do quite so well without interviewing every single medical student who came out of that program to correct for any misconceptions about intent).

 

[tomhaverford]

I know, but I keep hearing conflicting things, to be honest. Currently perusing old SDN threads and it seems like people say certain schools will 'change your life' (Stanford, UCSF, Hopkins, etc) and then others say it doesn't matter.

So far I've been going on my gut feeling, which is Sinai and Columbia, but just want to make sure I make the most informed decision...however that might be.

To give a little more perspective, I'm currently interested in surgery or EM, but am totally open to other specialties and see it just as likely for me to switch to something else if interests go that way.

More information than I wanted to give, and this thread might now turn into a 'prestige versus etc etc' thread, but just trying to get some perspective.

If you're interested in surgery, Columbia is the clear choice in my opinion.

 

[Trastuz]

Simple answer: these data compiled from a single, objective source, do not exist.

 

[deleted127837]

You should ask people to compare the schools, since many schools don't release match list data, especially not at the detail level you'd need to make such a decision.

In your case, I'd lean heavily UCSF, followed by Columbia. UCSF is only climbing the rankings, and is essentially in a run-off with Harvard and Hopkins for best overall medical school in the country. Choosing Mount Sinai over those if you're at all concerned with prestige, etc., would be a mistake. You don't say "I'm letting the bug get in my head" and then choose the #3 school in NYC alone.

If location is important, and you really want to go to NYC, you'd be better off with Columbia...again, if you care at all about prestige or rankings. You don't need to see the match list data to know which school has more prestige. If your concern is that you significantly prefer Mount Sinai (benefit of schools accepting people early, it builds loyalty 😛), will it hurt you in the long run? Depends. Some people at MS will be trying to match into NY-Presb-Columbia, while people at Columbia will be thinking of it as their backup match and looking to other places. That's the biggest difference I can think of, unless you're interested in something like radonc.

Finally: prestige does make a difference, if you care about prestige. As in, it will likely not make a huge difference in terms of your ability to match, but will make a difference if you try to match at competitive and prestigious programs. People at bottom 30 programs who get high board scores match into radonc every year - but even with a 270, they don't match at Harvard.

Edit: only using radonc because it's pretty much the most competitive thing out there right now. fill in the blank with whatever you want

 

[ChiDO]

Match lists don't mean anything...read the sig.

 

[sinombre]

Out of the 18 current neurosurgery residents at MGH, 3 went to non-top med schools (Loyola, Tulane, UCI).

http://residents.neurosurgery.mgh.harvard.edu/CurrentResidents.html

 

[Girly X]

Out of the 18 current neurosurgery residents at MGH, 3 went to non-top med schools (Loyola, Tulane, UCI).

http://residents.neurosurgery.mgh.harvard.edu/CurrentResidents.html

Go Loyola!

 

[nabilesmail]

Out of the 18 current neurosurgery residents at MGH, 3 went to non-top med schools (Loyola, Tulane, UCI).

http://residents.neurosurgery.mgh.harvard.edu/CurrentResidents.html

Aren't those all mid tiers? Still good schools

 

[sinombre]

Aren't those all mid tiers? Still good schools

Yeah, they're all good schools. I guess I was just pointing out that it's very possible to end up in a "top" program from a non-top place, even in a hyper-competitive specialty.

 

[Barcu]

Match lists are hard to use because they are more about the preferences of the students. Just because someone matches somewhere (even if it's a top residency) does not mean that they wanted to match there. And people who match at lower-tier residencies maybe could have gone elsewhere but wanted to be near family. Match lists also show strong regional bias (due to students being from that area and connections made in the area while at school).

The info you are looking for does not exist.

Yeah, they're all good schools. I guess I was just pointing out that it's very possible to end up in a "top" program from a non-top place, even in a hyper-competitive specialty.

It's possible, but not likely. Prestige does matter and don't let people tell you otherwise. I don't believe that people should go as prestigious as possible if they don't like the school (and clearly there isn't a huge difference between number 3 versus number 15). However, if you are interested in something competitive, going to the more prestigious school will help.

The example you quoted was 17% from non-top tier, and the majority of the schools in the country are not top tier. You have to be something special to be those exceptions. People think they could be. And of course, the majority are not. Every little bit helps.

 

[quiltlady]

Official 2013 Anesthesiology Rank Order Lists (Multi-page thread 1 2 3 4)

Take a look at this thread. In it you can see that students prefer different residencies for different reasons. One person's first choice is someone else's 10th choice. As a pre-med, you have no idea which of these is "top ranked" or why. It doesn't matter which medschool they went to, when the ranking depends on other issues. That's why choosing a school on the basis of where someone matched makes little sense. You may think Hopkins is the tops in everything, but it isn't and if you have no desire to live in Baltimore, and don't like the working conditions, it doesn't matter what the rank is.