Categorical vs. Advanced

[Gas]

This is something I don't quite understand: if a program has some spots for categorical and some for advanced, how do they rank their candidates? One of my top choices is a program where I do not want to do their preliminary year, but I also want to maximize my chance of matching there.

For example, if Program A has 10 spots advanced and 10 spots categorical, how do they account for applicants who rank only the categorical or only the advanced? Any help would be appreciated.

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[giardia]

Gas,

my advice is for you to rank both on your ROL. I understand your situation, and I asked a residency coordinator at one of the Chicago programs the same question. To maximize your chances, you'll need to rank the categorical program too. Yes, the thought of doing a year of prelim medicine might be painful, but your odds of matching at a program of your choice should be increased. This program coordinator said that they have to turn in 2 separate lists. I'm not sure how they vary these two, if they give preference to applicants that express interest in the transitional/prelim year they offer, but she stressed the importance of ranking BOTH categorical and advanced. Hope this helps.

 

[FZISHN]

Does anyone know when programs have to submit their ROL by? Is the Feb 26, the same as the applicants?

 

[R U SED 8]

Gas et al,

You raise an excellent question which probably pertains to most all of us! I agree with giardia in that if you want to maximize your chances of matching at a particular institution, statistically it's probably in your best interest to rank them for both categorical and advanced positions. Having said that, if you are absolutely dead-set against doing a given program's categorical track and doing their prelim medicine year, why rank it? I think the most important rule of making your rank list is to rank only those programs/tracks where you could potentially see yourself. If you are only interested in an advanced track, let your program(s) know that. I too am ranking several Chicago programs, and having already secured a spot for PGY-1, I informed all my residency choices to only place me on their advanced lists. The programs were happy to accommodate me and thanked me for informing them of this. In no way do I feel that my chances are reduced at securing an advanced spot at one of my top choices. Hope this helps!!!

 

[p-bo]

Most programs will ask you what position you are interested in. If they don't, they probably have two ROLs with that are identical. I let each program know if I was interested in the PGY-1 or PGY-2 year. Good luck!

 

[smalltowngirl]

The programs at which I interviewed all asked straight out which you were interested in so they would know how to make their rank lists. I doubt they would think less of you for not choosing their "intern" program. However, it wouldn't hurt to rank both. Here's why: If you don't match into the categorical year, you will still be on the prelim year list and there is a chance that those applicants on the 4 year list may not match and you could actually end up higher on that list than the categorical list. Confusing but possible. However, don't rank it if you can't take a year of a grunt work program.

 

[Gas]

Thanks for the info. I also asked around and the general consensus is that it's better to tell the program which track you are going to rank. This makes it easier for them to make their rank list and builds goodwill, showing you are honest. The flipside is that if you rank only the categorical or advanced, you are now competing for fewer spots.