2008 Rank Order List!!!!

[Path or bust]

Ok kiddos, here it is:

1. U Michigan
2. U Alabama- Birmingham
3. Beth Israel Deaconess
4. Cleveland Clinic
5. U Iowa
6. Indiana University
7. U Utah
8. U Texas- Houston
9. U Texas- Galveston
10. U Oklahoma



I keep flipping 1 & 2....but I am reasonably confident this is the order that I will choose. Feedback?

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[docbiohazard]

I know its a tradition to have a ROL thread, but I just wanted to throw out the question - is this a great idea? It seems like ROLs are intensely personal, and a great deal of people have a lot of personal ego tied into getting their first pick. One of the great things about your final ROL is that it's confidential. I interviewed at a lot of great places and met a lot of great people. Once I'm matched, I want to be slightly less anonymous on the forums and be able to tell people about my program, etc. I'd rather not have posted for all to see (and possibly take offense at) how I ranked various programs. Also if one of us didn't get their top pick it might be "embarassing" and be a disincentive to posting here in the future, and I'd hate to lose any of our current crop of applicant posters.

Just a thought. A lot of these sentiments are similar to the folks who decided against posting their interview schedules... just wanted to mention it at the outset and explain why I wouldn't be posting my ROL.

BH

 

[b&ierstiefel]

I know its a tradition to have a ROL thread, but I just wanted to throw out the question - is this a great idea? It seems like ROLs are intensely personal, and a great deal of people have a lot of personal ego tied into getting their first pick. One of the great things about your final ROL is that it's confidential. I interviewed at a lot of great places and met a lot of great people. Once I'm matched, I want to be slightly less anonymous on the forums and be able to tell people about my program, etc. I'd rather not have posted for all to see (and possibly take offense at) how I ranked various programs. Also if one of us didn't get their top pick it might be "embarassing" and be a disincentive to posting here in the future, and I'd hate to lose any of our current crop of applicant posters.

Just a thought. A lot of these sentiments are similar to the folks who decided against posting their interview schedules... just wanted to mention it at the outset and explain why I wouldn't be posting my ROL.

BH

Yeah, I think posting ROLs is good for satisfying people's curiosities but that's about it. In the recent years, I've paid little attention to it except the few cases where I know people's identities, deemed them to be "heros" or "zeros", and thought it would be nice to see them rank us or not rank us highly...but that's all really.

I remember that in my class of applicants, quite a few of us posted our ROLs. However, when you reveal what you ranked and where you matched, your anonymity becomes severely compromised. Some of them probably don't post anymore for some of the reasons you presented...hopefully, they're doing well.

Your points with regards to disincentives for posting ROLs are quite valid. It's one of those things where you post your ROL and where you matched at your own risk.

 

[oxygen]

did you get any positive reply from the programs before you made this ROL? I did not hear anything from the programs I applied. I am really freaking out.

 

[sweetymd]

did u email any of the programs after ur interview to express further interest. if so, did u hear back?

 

[Path or bust]

I know its a tradition to have a ROL thread, but I just wanted to throw out the question - is this a great idea? It seems like ROLs are intensely personal, and a great deal of people have a lot of personal ego tied into getting their first pick. One of the great things about your final ROL is that it's confidential. I interviewed at a lot of great places and met a lot of great people. Once I'm matched, I want to be slightly less anonymous on the forums and be able to tell people about my program, etc. I'd rather not have posted for all to see (and possibly take offense at) how I ranked various programs. Also if one of us didn't get their top pick it might be "embarassing" and be a disincentive to posting here in the future, and I'd hate to lose any of our current crop of applicant posters.

Just a thought. A lot of these sentiments are similar to the folks who decided against posting their interview schedules... just wanted to mention it at the outset and explain why I wouldn't be posting my ROL.

BH

I agree with you on some of your points, but to not post my list because someone might be offended? Come on this is an informational forum; that's the kind of rationalization that is used by dictatorships to suppress societies. Information should be shared and learned from. If I happen not to match in my top few choices maybe it will help someone else a few years down the line. I have several PMs asking for thoughts on certain programs over others; this is the networking that the Student Doctor "Network" hopes to inspire. It also stands to reason that people are at least somewhat curious, as seen by the fact that there are over 250 views in less than 12 hours. As you said, it has been done every year so I don't see why this year is different from any other. This is just my viewpoint and the fact that I am anonymous of course makes my decision much easier. As Biersteifel said, you post at your own risk (generally understood) I do not see the purpose of a post that outlines the reasons on why you will not post. If you don't agree that's fine, but why discourage others?

 

[MirkoCrocop]

I CANNOT believe you are even considering ranking UAB number one. dont even think about it, bad idea.

 

[mlw03]

I know its a tradition to have a ROL thread, but I just wanted to throw out the question - is this a great idea? It seems like ROLs are intensely personal, and a great deal of people have a lot of personal ego tied into getting their first pick. One of the great things about your final ROL is that it's confidential. I interviewed at a lot of great places and met a lot of great people. Once I'm matched, I want to be slightly less anonymous on the forums and be able to tell people about my program, etc. I'd rather not have posted for all to see (and possibly take offense at) how I ranked various programs. Also if one of us didn't get their top pick it might be "embarassing" and be a disincentive to posting here in the future, and I'd hate to lose any of our current crop of applicant posters.

Just a thought. A lot of these sentiments are similar to the folks who decided against posting their interview schedules... just wanted to mention it at the outset and explain why I wouldn't be posting my ROL.

BH

i don't think the above discourages people from not posting their ROLs; rather it explains docbio's reasons why he isn't. there is a group of us that's been posting together for a few years now, and i understand why he wouldn't want to share his ROL. i too am a frequent poster in this year's class and i won't be sharing my ROL either. i haven't yet decided whether i'll post where i end up, because i too may decide to make myself a little more anonymous in the future. whatever the case, i respect whatever choice people make and think we should all do likewise.

 

[Path or bust]

I CANNOT believe you are even considering ranking UAB number one. dont even think about it, bad idea.

ok, what is happening here....Let me know, I specifically want feedback (unless you are an applicant too ). They were great though, you have the option of doing a fellowship during your 4th year (GI, Surg, Gyn) plus they take their own for every fellowship imaginable (yes people, even dermpath--2spots oh my). Faculty were great and the residents were probably some of the most friendly people I've met (I couldn't stop laughing sometimes). I had a good time, everything is here.

Michigan is just as awesome. They don't have the opportunity to do a non accredited fellowship which is a very nice option to have with all this over training and such.

 

[106174]

with the smiley after his message, i think mirko is ranking UAB number 1 and does not want other people to get in his way

UAB is an outstanding program - in fact, i think it is underrated. i have heard people say that in the southeast, UAB is actually the best (better than emory). i thought that was interesting.

 

[sinnet]

did u email any of the programs after ur interview to express further interest. if so, did u hear back?

I am also one of those few people who is very worried about not hearing from the programs. I emailed the PDs about 1-2 weeks ago, thanking them and expressing my interest in their programs, and have not heard back from a single one. Not even a simple acknowledgement!

Does this mean that none of the programs like me and will not rank me?! This is currently looking very disappointing and frustrating

 

[Tiki]

I'll post my rank list, as soon as the deadline passes for submitting them. I don't care if I'm anonymous or not. I'm just a wee bit superstitious about posting it early. Although several people on here already know who my number one is anyway.

 

[gbwillner]

I am also one of those few people who is very worried about not hearing from the programs. I emailed the PDs about 1-2 weeks ago, thanking them and expressing my interest in their programs, and have not heard back from a single one. Not even a simple acknowledgement!

Does this mean that none of the programs like me and will not rank me?! This is currently looking very disappointing and frustrating

It doesn't necessarily mean anything... it surely doesn't sound good but there could be reasons why they haven't contacted you, such as they're still interviewing applicants or they are out of town.

Hey, what's done is done... hopefully you'll match to one of your top places- but that's the nature of the game. Not everyone is on a program's "rank-to-match" list, but that doesn't mean you won't match there.

 

[docbiohazard]

i don't think the above discourages people from not posting their ROLs; rather it explains docbio's reasons why he isn't. there is a group of us that's been posting together for a few years now, and i understand why he wouldn't want to share his ROL.

This is the main reason I posted what I did above - to explain why I wouldn't be posting my ROL since I've been participating in the other applicant threads. To each their own.

BH

 

[schrute]

1. Eva Longoria
2. Lois from 'Family Guy'
3. Star Jones
4. that chic from Springer who's baby dady isn't really her baby daddy... "Oh no you dih'ent"

Sorry, I agree with the non-posters...I don't feel comfortable putting my ROL on here....I'd probably change my mind after posting it anyway.

 

[docbiohazard]

Sorry, I agree with the non-posters...I don't feel comfortable putting my ROL on here....I'd probably change my mind after posting it anyway.

Glad to see I'm not the only one. Even if I was going to post my ROL, I would wait until after the ROL deadline had passed to do so...

BH

 

[BamaAlum]

with the smiley after his message, i think mirko is ranking UAB number 1 and does not want other people to get in his way

UAB is an outstanding program - in fact, i think it is underrated. i have heard people say that in the southeast, UAB is actually the best (better than emory). i thought that was interesting.

That's pretty good company. Emory is a great program. I do think that our program is underrated. All of my fellow residents seem happy and we all get along well. Some of us second years are already starting to jockey for certain fellowships, so we'll see how our camaraderie holds up through the application process. I think the one thing we are currently lacking is a surgical pathology superstar, like Page at Vandy or Weiss at Emory. Other than that, I think our AP is good and our "CP is strong." (See other thread for what that means).

 

[yaah]

That's pretty good company. Emory is a great program. I do think that our program is underrated. All of my fellow residents seem happy and we all get along well. Some of us second years are already starting to jockey for certain fellowships, so we'll see how our camaraderie holds up through the application process. I think the one thing we are currently lacking is a surgical pathology superstar, like Page at Vandy or Weiss at Emory. Other than that, I think our AP is good and our "CP is strong." (See other thread for what that means).

Have you signed out with that bone path expert? Michael Klein, I think. He's pretty darn good. Not too many people know as much about bone path as he does.

By the way, UAB on their main page has a list of

Top Ten Pathology Programs 2007

1 U. of California at San Diego
2 Columbia U.
3 U. of Alabama at Birmingham
4 U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor
5 Duke U.
6 Johns Hopkins U.
7 U. of Washington
8 Case Western Reserve U.
9 U. of Chicago
10 U. of Pittsburgh main campus

It seems as though the citation refers to "faculty scholarship." WTF is up with this list? It seems completely random and without any legitimate basis. Many of the programs listed are good programs but some have issues or are simply small programs or whatever. I find it exceedingly hard to believe this list. Perhaps it only refers to the graduate (i.e. Ph.D. level) program. If so, that's not that clear and if so, that has so little impact on actual residency training as to attain the importance of how much cafeteria money you get. It may have an impact on the institution itself and on prestige and on (perhaps) recruiting some faculty and even some residents, but on residency training?

 

[djmd]

H
Top Ten Pathology Programs 2007

1 U. of California at San Diego
2 Columbia U.
3 U. of Alabama at Birmingham
4 U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor
5 Duke U.
6 Johns Hopkins U.
7 U. of Washington
8 Case Western Reserve U.
9 U. of Chicago
10 U. of Pittsburgh main campus

It seems as though the citation refers to "faculty scholarship." WTF is up with this list? It seems completely random and without any legitimate basis. Many of the programs listed are good programs but some have issues or are simply small programs or whatever. I find it exceedingly hard to believe this list. Perhaps it only refers to the graduate (i.e. Ph.D. level) program. If so, that's not that clear and if so, that has so little impact on actual residency training as to attain the importance of how much cafeteria money you get. It may have an impact on the institution itself and on prestige and on (perhaps) recruiting some faculty and even some residents, but on residency training?

Let's see no MGH or Penn or UVA... And #8 is in the top ten? Uhhh no.

If it is based on anything, it be as yaah suggest PhD or grad student related..
Not residency based...

 

[BamaAlum]

Have you signed out with that bone path expert? Michael Klein, I think. He's pretty darn good. Not too many people know as much about bone path as he does.

By the way, UAB on their main page has a list of

Top Ten Pathology Programs 2007

1 U. of California at San Diego
2 Columbia U.
3 U. of Alabama at Birmingham
4 U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor
5 Duke U.
6 Johns Hopkins U.
7 U. of Washington
8 Case Western Reserve U.
9 U. of Chicago
10 U. of Pittsburgh main campus

It seems as though the citation refers to "faculty scholarship." WTF is up with this list? It seems completely random and without any legitimate basis. Many of the programs listed are good programs but some have issues or are simply small programs or whatever. I find it exceedingly hard to believe this list. Perhaps it only refers to the graduate (i.e. Ph.D. level) program. If so, that's not that clear and if so, that has so little impact on actual residency training as to attain the importance of how much cafeteria money you get. It may have an impact on the institution itself and on prestige and on (perhaps) recruiting some faculty and even some residents, but on residency training?

Dr. Klein is awesome. He is head of surgical pathology here and he is my favorite attending to sign-out with. I agree, he has to be considered one of the leading orthopedic pathology "experts". Nationally, Sharon Weiss may be better known (although more for soft tissue I guess), but Dr. Klein is right up there.

As far as that ranking goes, you're right. It refers to our PhD. program in pathology. I think it is misleading as well and we all just sort of rolled our eyes when we saw it, but that program is the "baby" of our current chair. Hence, the front page position on the website. They are currently searching for a new chair, which has had its twists and turns, but I am hoping that the new person will appeal not only to the strong research environment here, but also strengthen and build upon the diagnostic aspect of the program (ie. hire more surgical pathologists).

 

[cytoborg]

Top Ten Pathology Programs 2007

1 U. of California at San Diego
2 Columbia U.
3 U. of Alabama at Birmingham
4 U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor
5 Duke U.
6 Johns Hopkins U.
7 U. of Washington
8 Case Western Reserve U.
9 U. of Chicago
10 U. of Pittsburgh main campus

It seems as though the citation refers to "faculty scholarship." WTF is up with this list? It seems completely random and without any legitimate basis. Many of the programs listed are good programs but some have issues or are simply small programs or whatever. I find it exceedingly hard to believe this list. Perhaps it only refers to the graduate (i.e. Ph.D. level) program. If so, that's not that clear and if so, that has so little impact on actual residency training as to attain the importance of how much cafeteria money you get. It may have an impact on the institution itself and on prestige and on (perhaps) recruiting some faculty and even some residents, but on residency training?

WTF is all I can say...yes some of those are good and even good residency training but some of them I can only say, WTF?

 

[mlw03]

instead of saying "WTF" perhaps you could explain why/what you're thinking.

 

[docbiohazard]

instead of saying "WTF" perhaps you could explain why/what you're thinking.

I'm guessing he's thinking some of the programs listed are "mid-tier" and not top ten... it definitely looks like it must relate to strength of graduate programs but even then I might take issue with some of the missing programs vs. some of the ones that are present.

It gets repeated here time and time again, and the deeper I've delved into things as the interview season has wound on the more I realize its true: theres virtually no meaningful way to "rank" programs w/o a consideration of what the individual observer finds important. Pathology is such a large and diverse field that this just amplifies the effect.

BH

 

[Mindy]

WOWWW!! !

This is what we've come to? NO POSTING OF ROLs??? Goodbye good ole days...

WOW!

Mindy

 

[BU Pathology]

WOWWW!! !

This is what we've come to? NO POSTING OF ROLs??? Goodbye good ole days...

WOW!

Mindy

I will gladly post my rank order list

#1 Boston University
#2 Boston University
#3 Boston University

Some may feel it is foolish to rank only 3 programs, and I know that I would be very fortunate to match at this program. But I have a strong feeling that they are impressed with my credentials.

On a more serious note, we have started to update our website in response to feedback from our applicants. More information about the residency program at Boston University may be found at

http://www.bumc.bu.edu/www/busm/pa/residents/index.html

Dan Remick, Chair of Pathology and Lab Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine

 

[schrute]

Wtf?

 

[Path or bust]

WOWWW!! !

This is what we've come to? NO POSTING OF ROLs??? Goodbye good ole days...

WOW!

Mindy

I know....it's good to find someone that thinks along the same line!

 

[Tiki]

I'm posting mine on the 27th.

 

[Tiki]

Bumping this because the deadline is getting really close. Mine is certified and ready. Now if only match day would get here!

 

[raspberry009]

Any thoughts as to why it takes 4 weeks for them to post the match results?? A computer program can't possibly take that long to run. Is it the varification of the list that the program spits out?

 

[Chloe76]

Was hoping for some last minute opinions on three path programs--UTSW, UAB and Duke. Have family in the south and would like to relocate back there. Thanks! Good luck to everyone!

 

[yaah]

Any thoughts as to why it takes 4 weeks for them to post the match results?? A computer program can't possibly take that long to run. Is it the varification of the list that the program spits out?

There are threads about this in the ERAS subforum, I don't know if there is a consensus other than "making sure they get it right." Part of it is probably also a vestige of the past in regards to the timeline.

 

[docbiohazard]

There are threads about this in the ERAS subforum, I don't know if there is a consensus other than "making sure they get it right." Part of it is probably also a vestige of the past in regards to the timeline.

I honestly wonder if its a very very very old computer system that does the actual matching... like IBM System 34 old... or a VAX or something... that they've just written a nice web interface for, but the actual matching process takes place on an old slow mainframe. Not to mention the iterative process that goes on for couples matching and so on - that probably takes up a huge amount of the overall processing time.

BH

 

[Aubrey]

Manana, 9 PM right? Better get those lists in (and posted here) kids!!

 

[jbpruitt]

I'm posting my list tomorrow night! I'm really curious to know how everybody ranked. Pretty exciting guys!

 

[CameronFrye]

There are threads about this in the ERAS subforum, I don't know if there is a consensus other than "making sure they get it right." Part of it is probably also a vestige of the past in regards to the timeline.

A few years ago (class of 2005 match), when Urology switched to their own matching program, they screwed it up. Instead of an "applicant proposed match", the software was setup to run a "program proposed match". They didn't double check things, so everyone got incorrect match results.
The only reason the SNAFU was discovered is b/c several big name programs did not fill, so they started complaining. The match had to be redone a couple days later. People matched into new programs, some people went from matching to scrambling, and others went from scrambling to matching. It was a huge mess, so it's probably good that the main match takes time to release the results.

 

[Tiki]

I'm going to be brave and post my list a day early. If a program really wants to track me down and drop me down their list based on a post on SDN, then I'm not so sure I want to go there anyway.

1. UVA
2. Emory
3. Duke
4. Yale
5. Penn
6. UNC
7. MGH
8. BID
9. Cornell
10. Mt. Sinai
11. NYU

I'd be thrilled with any of my top five, and happy (but a lil disappointed for dropping so far) with 6-11.

 

[Aubrey]

I'm going to be brave and post my list a day early. If a program really wants to track me down and drop me down their list based on a post on SDN, then I'm not so sure I want to go there anyway.

1. UVA

The Force is strong in this one.

 

[Tiki]

The Force is strong in this one.

I'll be dancing like this if I match there:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWAyZR_dlCU

 

[mlw03]

all right, tiki has inspired me to also post my list a day early. i'm only going to list my top 7:
1. Ohio State
2. Nebraska
3. New Mexico
4. Maryland
5. U Wisconsin
6. U Washington
7. North Carolina

 

[jbpruitt]

I'll throw down early as well (top 5).

1. Medical College of Wisconsin
2. University of Wisconsin
3. University of Minnesota
4. Indiana University
5. The Ohio State University

 

[Anitsirhc]

Guess I'll jump on the bandwagon:

1. Emory
2. Vandy
3. Pitt
4. Yale
5. UNC
6. UTSW
7. Ohio State
8. UF
9. USF
10. Northwestern
11. MUSC
12. UT-San Antonio
13. UT-Houston

 

[b&ierstiefel]

A few years ago (class of 2005 match), when Urology switched to their own matching program, they screwed it up. Instead of an "applicant proposed match", the software was setup to run a "program proposed match". They didn't double check things, so everyone got incorrect match results.
The only reason the SNAFU was discovered is b/c several big name programs did not fill, so they started complaining. The match had to be redone a couple days later. People matched into new programs, some people went from matching to scrambling, and others went from scrambling to matching. It was a huge mess, so it's probably good that the main match takes time to release the results.

Yeah, I remember that...there was mayhem at my school since our urology program didn't fill. One person was told to "scramble" but then after the re-match, found out "just kidding...you matched here".

 

[Path or bust]

So my final list (after adjustments):

1. U of Iowa
2. U of Michigan
3. U of Alabama
4. Indiana University
5. Beth Israel Deaconess
6. Cleveland Clinic
7. U of Utah
8. UT Houston
9. UT-MB galveston

I didn't rank 4 programs in the end

It seems overall that we all interviewed at many places, could this somehow artificially increase the applicant pool to the point of leaving many places unmatched as a result?

 

[ygdrasil]

1. U of Iowa
2. U of Wisconsin
3. U of Minnesota
4. Oregon HSU
5. U of Nebraska
6. Mayo
7. U of South Dakota
8. Medical College of Wisconsin

Ranking Mayo #6 is probably the same as not ranking it at all. Only three more weeks of clinging white-knuckled to my hopes and dreams!

 

[SLUsagar]

So my final list (after adjustments):

1. U of Iowa
2. U of Michigan
3. U of Alabama
4. Indiana University
5. Beth Israel Deaconess
6. Cleveland Clinic
7. U of Utah
8. UT Houston
9. UT-MB galveston

I didn't rank 4 programs in the end

It seems overall that we all interviewed at many places, could this somehow artificially increase the applicant pool to the point of leaving many places unmatched as a result?

#1/#2 i can accepted...but wow, alabama over IU, BI, and CC?? not judging, just pondering the many reasons (family? personal?) for this.

 

[Tiki]

It's officially closed, let's see some more of those lists!!!

I wonder if they run the computer program right away. Somewhere, the computer could be deciding our fates right now.

 

[vegasdo]

Here goes:

1) UCSD
2) Cedars Sinai
3) UC Davis
4) Loma Linda
5) U of Arizona
6) USC
7) George Washington

 

[clancy81]

Here it is:

1. UCSF
2. Stanford
3. UNM
4. UW
5. UCD
6. UCSD
7. UCI
8. USC
9. UCLA-Harbor
10. Cedars Sinai

 

[pathhamster]

One more:

1. MGH
2. Cornell
3. Columbia
4. BWH
5. Yale
6. JHU
7. Einstein