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Please, only vote if you matched this year (i.e. today). People find these polls interesting, and it is more anonymous for the paranoid among us. 
Where on your rank list did you match?
- Thread starter yaah
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Fourth... Not ideal, but not too shabby...
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Whoops. I forgot to put scrambling as an option. ****. Oh well.
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First choice...go figure.
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Has it been three years?? *groan*
I am nearly halfway through my stay in the States. Sobering thought.
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Holy **** I;m faded right now. I love me someirish car bombs. But I have to say, I think its semi- unreasonable to just say "where on your ROL did you match?" I mean come on some people aren;t trying for the uber competitive slots while others are. I don;t think this poll is as useful as we might think based on the fact that some people are looking for certain things in a program while others aren't.
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Even though I'm ~7 years from needing to worry about matching, I was a little suprised at this poll too. It seems about as arbitrary as asking how many folks matched into a "top 10" residency program.
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Even though I'm ~7 years from needing to worry about matching, I was a little suprised at this poll too. It seems about as arbitrary as asking how many folks matched into a "top 10" residency program.
Yeah, it certainly is arbitrary. I am still interested in it though - just morbid curiosity I guess.
I went through the match a year ago and matched at my #2. Things turned out very well (personally I think for the best) but I admit I had an ego-blow. Also, it was made worse by everybody saying, "Congrats! Was Michigan your #1 choice?"
Congrats to all of you! I agree with yaah's earlier statement that even if you didn't get your #1 choice things will work out fine.
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Huge congrats quant!!!
I am thrilled that you got your first choice, though selfishly we will miss you at Michigan.
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Please, only vote if you matched this year (i.e. today). People find these polls interesting, and it is more anonymous for the paranoid among us.
I matched at my first choice, your school. It seems like there are more MD/PHDs this years. Probably the rest have masters. I will likely do my fellowship there considering its at least Top 20. As an aside, I wonder if I should get a condo (despite the market). (PS: I did ranked us above BID, Dart, Brown, Pittsb, Emory, etc. I really had a positive interview experience. Maybe I met you at the lunch).
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deleted113029
agreed!
man, did i sure take advantage of no clinical responsibilities yesterday. guinness was my friend last night along with some blue moon and the ever necessary orange slices.
i have to also agree.
furthermore, i don't see the point of the poll given that we all listed our rols in feb and if someone was truly interested, they could figure out where it sat on our list.
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hahaha...I don't even remember making that post last night. Good times.
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Like Yaah said, it is an estimation of how competitive pathology is.
And people don't always rank "top" programs first. They rank their top program. Plus most people's top5 are pretty close. Certainly my top 3 was nearly a coin toss.
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Even though I'm ~7 years from needing to worry about matching, I was a little suprised at this poll too. It seems about as arbitrary as asking how many folks matched into a "top 10" residency program.
It's not arbitrary. It is trying to find out if people are matching at the place they want. It has very little to do with whether programs are competitive, or which are "top ten" or whatever. It's "did people get what they want" which is the most important thing. Clearly not everyone has the same rank list, if they did then this poll would be less interesting.
I don't think I said it was a useful poll. I said it was interesting. As for it being easy to find out since people posted their rank list, I think everyone underestimates the number of lurkers and others who may post somethings but not ROL or match location. I think it can be helpful for people entering the match next year to see that many people get their top choice.
There is very little point to any poll. But I find it hard to believe that anyone would be more interested in arbitrary "top 10" lists than a poll on whether people were actually matching at their top choices.
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Let's see, # of MD/PhDs in each class
2007: 3
2008: 1
2009: 1
2010: 3
2011: 2 (your class)
I don't think people have masters. I'm glad to hear we're at least top 20 though. I could have met you, I dunno.
As for whether to get a condo, since Pfizer cut and run there are lots of places for sale (or will be soon), so you are likely to get a good deal. But I don't know if it will increase in value a ton either. It's kind of a crapshoot. I would buy, but that's me.
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This poll does indirectly bring up the rather arbitrary question of how many people based their number 1 choice on said programs reputation and how many based it on true love, love of family/SO nearby, love of program, but NOT love of programs reputation. I wonder, how many folks said to themselves, I attended X top Med school USA so I MUST attend X top residency? Or the opposite, I didn't attend X top med school USA so I must attend X top residency?? Or my personal favorite, I love my mother-in-law so I'm applying to "not highly ranked" program USA? Not to offend, but since this is a thread about ones "curiousities" I just thought I'd ask.
Primary motivations were for selecting thier #1 choice could be quite useful. That way, if it comes back that a schools rep is driving the decision making process, then we can all assure ourselves that in the not too distant future, the field of Pathology will soon be locked jamed with folks whose personalities are better suited to Surgery!
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What is also true is that people will often rank programs higher if they think they stand a better chance at matching there. Oddly, they will rank down "reaches" even if they still would like to go there. I guess it's an odd, psycho-social quirk. I think most people understand that the match algorithm works in their favor, although there are probably some who think they are helping their chances by ranking a program higher (or hurting their chances by putting a program lower).
Program reputation does have a huge impact, it's not an arbitrary consideration at all. But most people won't use reputation at the expense of other factors. I have met people in my life though who will rank programs solely based on other peoples' recommendations, and not on their own. Probably happens more for med school applications, though.
I would be willing to bet that almost everyone's rank lists depend to a certain extent on all of the factors you mentioned, including reputation. There were a couple of programs I visited that I had a great interview day at, but I ranked lower because they were too small, or the residents didn't impress me that much, or that I ranked higher because the academic history was very strong there. In the end though it was an overall consideration.
I would also be willing to bet that the top motivating factor for people in picking a residency program is not "how prestigious is the program" but in fact, "How does it suit my career goals," "how much did I like my interview day," or "Did I like the people there?"
In terms of your last point, there are plenty of dinguses in pathology. Maybe there are more than there used to be, maybe less. Maybe they congregate at certain programs, maybe they don't. The main point with that is that there is enough variation everywhere to carve out your own niche and be your own person, for the most part, provided that YOU are not the dingus!
Program reputation does have a huge impact, it's not an arbitrary consideration at all. But most people won't use reputation at the expense of other factors. I have met people in my life though who will rank programs solely based on other peoples' recommendations, and not on their own. Probably happens more for med school applications, though.
I would be willing to bet that almost everyone's rank lists depend to a certain extent on all of the factors you mentioned, including reputation. There were a couple of programs I visited that I had a great interview day at, but I ranked lower because they were too small, or the residents didn't impress me that much, or that I ranked higher because the academic history was very strong there. In the end though it was an overall consideration.
I would also be willing to bet that the top motivating factor for people in picking a residency program is not "how prestigious is the program" but in fact, "How does it suit my career goals," "how much did I like my interview day," or "Did I like the people there?"
In terms of your last point, there are plenty of dinguses in pathology. Maybe there are more than there used to be, maybe less. Maybe they congregate at certain programs, maybe they don't. The main point with that is that there is enough variation everywhere to carve out your own niche and be your own person, for the most part, provided that YOU are not the dingus!
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i think there's also an element of people saying to themselves: "i'd rather match at my #1 and be able to say that than put a more competitive place #1-3 and risk having to say to myself and others that i ranked at my #3, even though i'd rather go to that #3 than a less competitive #1." perhaps there's also an element of people that don't truly understand, or believe, that the match algorithm favors applicants as yaah suggested. price, even just self-pride, can be a very strong driving force i think.
i do agree that, while not the best representative sample, that it does help us future applicants to see that lots of people are getting their #1. i would also add that of 7 people in my med school's match class of this year that went to path, i think about 4-5 got their #1 according to the water cooler talk i've heard over the last few days.
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I've heard it said that SDN types are usually the gunner, top of the class types, ect types folks. If that's true, I'm not sure exactly how helpful a poll like this is. Or maybe I like the idea of considering the thoughts of the person who got their 6th pick on the ROL given that the overwhelming number of folks appear to have gotten their 1st picks.
So at the end of this debate, all were really left with are ASSumptions about how ROL's are determined and a$$holish people who end up in path. Either way, it all ends up smelling like a$$. Unless of course, you're going into derm where it doesn't matter or GI where I imagine distinctions are made between a$$es and a$$holes.
PS- I do often wonder what it would be like if med school employed a similar system. I could see it now, besides the MCAT45T lisence plates, there would be a few #1ROL plates too!
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I completely agree with you here, as someone who didn't match at their #1, even with a very strong application, there is a twinge of disappointment.
mlw03 said:
The poll is entertaining (I guess?), but I disagree that it is helpful at all, mainly because you aren't seeing where people matched to. Without trying to appear to be a complete jerk, if I had ranked any community program #1, I'm almost positive I would have matched there. If someone is applying strictly to "high-caliber" academic programs in "more desirable" locations, it makes it less likely that they'll match #1, plain and simple. People have a perception that path is "easier" to match into, which when compared to some other specialties, it is. I think people seem to forget that its still very difficult to match to the "big name" places, similar to what goes on in the other specialties. There are so many other factors that go into whether or not you match, at #1 or lower, I think its simplistic to use this to "see" anything. I think more helpful info for applicants could be had in the "post match" thread, but no one wants to be forthcoming about anything, which is interesting, considering this is supposedly an anonymous board (and there are several people on this board who know who I am, but I posted anyway
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I matched at my #2 and despite a minor shot to my ego (I pride myself on many, many things), ironically I ended up matching at the best program for me. If I matched at my #1, I think I would have regretted ranking it as such.
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b&ierstiefel
Amen! People need to realize this...kinda takes me back to the days when I was looking at medical schools.The poll is entertaining (I guess?), but I disagree that it is helpful at all, mainly because you aren't seeing where people matched to. Without trying to appear to be a complete jerk, if I had ranked any community program #1, I'm almost positive I would have matched there. If someone is applying strictly to "high-caliber" academic programs in "more desirable" locations, it makes it less likely that they'll match #1, plain and simple. People have a perception that path is "easier" to match into, which when compared to some other specialties, it is. I think people seem to forget that its still very difficult to match to the "big name" places, similar to what goes on in the other specialties. There are so many other factors that go into whether or not you match, at #1 or lower, I think its simplistic to use this to "see" anything. I think more helpful info for applicants could be had in the "post match" thread, but no one wants to be forthcoming about anything, which is interesting, considering this is supposedly an anonymous board (and there are several people on this board who know who I am, but I posted anyway
I think most of us remember looking at one particular stat when comparing medical schools...and that was regarding the # of folks that match in their top 3 programs. What a stupid statistic that was because it wasn't stratified with respect to the specialties and the types of programs people were ranking in their top 3.
The same goes in this situation...although there is less stratifying to be had but you're not seeing where people are going. One overall trend is encouraging to see though (for future applicants)...most folks here, although representing ~10% of the total matched path residents, are matching in their top 3.
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b&ierstiefel
In terms of your last point, there are plenty of dinguses in pathology. Maybe there are more than there used to be, maybe less. Maybe they congregate at certain programs, maybe they don't. The main point with that is that there is enough variation everywhere to carve out your own niche and be your own person, for the most part, provided that YOU are not the dingus!
I think every path department needs a cohort of dinguses
No seriously, interdepartmental politics have huge implications for how the pathology department will run. Acquiesce too much and the departments who give you business will run all over you. Resist too much and you lose business.
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I don't care that the poll doesn't matter. I just like to see the gossip, but then again, I take stupid myspace quizzes all the time. So that shows how much I value a poll for its "scientific merit"!
I plan to interview all over the place next year, and I bet that I won't get anywhere near my top choice because I like the super-academic programs even though I'm not a super-competitive candidate.
I'm sure, like previous posters, that my ego will be bruised. As long as I match, I'll be happy!
Definitely getting ahead of myself. Still gotta finish 3rd year, pfew.
I plan to interview all over the place next year, and I bet that I won't get anywhere near my top choice because I like the super-academic programs even though I'm not a super-competitive candidate.
I'm sure, like previous posters, that my ego will be bruised. As long as I match, I'll be happy!
Definitely getting ahead of myself. Still gotta finish 3rd year, pfew.
