Seeking advice for psychiatry programs to signal in Midwest

[kgamon8]

Hi all! Applying to psych (stats below). I moved to the midwest at 17 and did undergrad and med school at my state school. I like my city but would love to go somewhere more diverse. That being said, I am not the most competitive applicant and recognize I have a decent shot at midwest programs and that there's cities that may be more diverse than where I am now. My interests are in SPMI and first-episode, strongly considering a child fellowship to serve younger patients with first-epiosde. I would like a strong inpatient and consult experience as I see myself doing some inpatient work. I am not a huge fan of psychotherapy and get excited about biological approaches to psych. I'm not a huge researcher but I am excited by other's research and implementing new treatments. I am using two signals on reach out-of-region programs and plan on 3 for the midwest. I would really like to know if I should signal community programs. Interested in Chicago but nervous about small class size at Advocate

US MD mid/low tier
Step 1: 204
Step 2: 251
Preclinical: 3rd/4th quartile
Clinical: H in psych HP in family med (rest pass), 4th year Honors in IM, inpatient, CAP, and Geri
Research: undergrad biochem research 4th author pub lol, 3rd author in CAP review paper, submitted case report, presenting poster at APA next month
Extracurricular: decent amount of service, involved with DEI, GHHS
Letters: 1 IM, 3 psych. Not confident that these will highlight clinical work as much as I hope they do..potentially generic or CV highlights.

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[esob]

Unfortunately, there is no data on how programs will use signals, so any advice is going to be an educated guess. That said, it seems reasonable that the less popular a program is, the more likely it would be responsible to a signal. There is, of course, no guarantee of that and some places do have hard cutoffs on step scores and your step 1 score could get you screened out at some.

 

[PikminOC]

Unfortunately, there is no data on how programs will use signals, so any advice is going to be an educated guess. That said, it seems reasonable that the less popular a program is, the more likely it would be responsible to a signal. There is, of course, no guarantee of that and some places do have hard cutoffs on step scores and your step 1 score could get you screened out at some.

What does signal mean?

 

[esob]

What does signal mean?

For this cycle, various specialties are participating in ERAS signaling, aka "tokens." Different specialties offer applicants signaling tokens that applicants can send to programs to indicate a strong interest in that program. The number of tokens varies among specialties, from 3 to 30. Some tokens even come in varying flavors, such as gold and silver.

The goal of these tokens is debatable, but probably the most common argument is that it serves as some iteration of an application cap. Others argue that it is a useful tool to indicate a genuine interest in a program located in a region where an applicant does not appear to have ties.

Psychiatry has 5 tokens this cycle. Most applicants assume that signaling a program should increase their chances of receiving an interview. However, since this is the first year for psychiatry (and most other specialties), no hard data exists to back this up. For example, some programs state very clearly that they have a hard cutoff of 220 on step 1. There is no way of knowing if sending that program a token would encourage a holistic review of that application, or if it would have no impact.

Just for fun, not all programs are participating in the token system, so, if you really want to go to Yale, you need to probably send a more traditional "love note" to the program begging them to invite you

More information about the signaling system can be found here: Specialties participating in the supplemental ERAS® application

 

[BobbyKoch]

I guess Albany med psych is not participating either. Searched the entire list of signals today and couldn’t find it

 

[bill2018]

For this cycle, various specialties are participating in ERAS signaling, aka "tokens." Different specialties offer applicants signaling tokens that applicants can send to programs to indicate a strong interest in that program. The number of tokens varies among specialties, from 3 to 30. Some tokens even come in varying flavors, such as gold and silver.

The goal of these tokens is debatable, but probably the most common argument is that it serves as some iteration of an application cap. Others argue that it is a useful tool to indicate a genuine interest in a program located in a region where an applicant does not appear to have ties.

Psychiatry has 5 tokens this cycle. Most applicants assume that signaling a program should increase their chances of receiving an interview. However, since this is the first year for psychiatry (and most other specialties), no hard data exists to back this up. For example, some programs state very clearly that they have a hard cutoff of 220 on step 1. There is no way of knowing if sending that program a token would encourage a holistic review of that application, or if it would have no impact.

Just for fun, not all programs are participating in the token system, so, if you really want to go to Yale, you need to probably send a more traditional "love note" to the program begging them to invite you

More information about the signaling system can be found here: Specialties participating in the supplemental ERAS® application

Eek I was about to send one to Yale and didn’t realize that! Is there a list somewhere of programs that aren’t using signals? It’s silly that Yale is still in the dropdown menu of programs you can send a signal to…

 

[kgamon8]

For this cycle, various specialties are participating in ERAS signaling, aka "tokens." Different specialties offer applicants signaling tokens that applicants can send to programs to indicate a strong interest in that program. The number of tokens varies among specialties, from 3 to 30. Some tokens even come in varying flavors, such as gold and silver.

The goal of these tokens is debatable, but probably the most common argument is that it serves as some iteration of an application cap. Others argue that it is a useful tool to indicate a genuine interest in a program located in a region where an applicant does not appear to have ties.

Psychiatry has 5 tokens this cycle. Most applicants assume that signaling a program should increase their chances of receiving an interview. However, since this is the first year for psychiatry (and most other specialties), no hard data exists to back this up. For example, some programs state very clearly that they have a hard cutoff of 220 on step 1. There is no way of knowing if sending that program a token would encourage a holistic review of that application, or if it would have no impact.

Just for fun, not all programs are participating in the token system, so, if you really want to go to Yale, you need to probably send a more traditional "love note" to the program begging them to invite you

More information about the signaling system can be found here: Specialties participating in the supplemental ERAS® application

how can I find which programs screen by Step?

 

[Taddy Mason]

how can I find which programs screen by Step?

No real reliable way to do this. I’m aware of multiple programs that have explicit Step score cutoffs listed on their website (usually 220) but routinely interview multiple applicants with scores well below these. Same with programs explicitly stating you need a department chair letter.

 

[esob]

how can I find which programs screen by Step?

Usually, they put it in the ERAS blurb or on their website. The highest I've seen is 225 as a preference, not a cutoff.