Originally posted by profunda
Hey I thank those that answered my questions (there are a couple of you).
Renovar, didnt you do pretty well on step 1 (something like >235)? How come stanford jacked you? I'm a 2nd yr so I still have a lot of time to benefit from knowing what is important to get into residency (esp cali residencies since I want to stay here).
Here is my theory: the bottom line for some of these top IM programs, as I am finding out, is more based on med school and AOA than boards. Applicants to top IM programs generally have at least one of the three characteristics:
1. You go to a top 10 med school on either coast (slight disadvantage if you are from the South/central/texas and applying to the coasts), you can be mediocre (just not below average) and still get interviews everywhere. The coasts tend to like their own.
2. You are AOA anywhere, you get these interviews.
3. If you are neither, you better have good boards, good DL, connections, pubs, good reccs, some relationship with the program you are applying to (ie. externships), and just apply and hope for the best.
USMLE apparently mattered for a lot more for surgical subspecialties compared to medicine, where seems like a threshold, rather than linear approach is used. And, every year, LOTS of people are going to have the 230's or 240's or whatever, and everyone is going to apply to the same top 10 or top 20 or whatever places. And be realistic, no one with a 190 is going to apply to MGH or Stanford and expect to get an interview. Most of those top places have a lot of self-selected applicants and the same applicants are pretty much competing for the selected top 10 or so programs. You win some, you lose some. Obviously if you have all 3 factors above, you will win a lot more than you lose. Note, USMLE is a small part in the picture.
On the rejection email, Stanford said they get 1500+ apps for 250 interview slots - what does it say about the importance of AOA? BW apparently only interview about 15% of their applicants too. Bottom-line, good scores dont mean much for top IM programs the same way SATs are for top colleges and MCATs are for top med schools.
PS: I am not bitter at all with those rejections. I expected some rejections all along. I would be estatic if I am interviewed at one of those places, but I am not holding my breathe because of them. There are some high-end places where I consider I should get interviews (ie. based on the previous graduates of my med school, where they stood in their graduating class, and where they get interviewed/matched), and those are the ones I am really waiting for.
