Transferring to Yale's Medical school

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LegacyMaker

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I (MS1) am attending a state medical school and I noticed that my school has low (and lower quality) match rates for ophthalmology compared to Yale. I am fairly set on ophthalmology and have been doing research in the field for years now. Are research opportunities and residency match good enough reasons for Yale to accept me as a transfer student?

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No not really. They look for something like this Yale PI thinks your the greatest thing since sliced bread or I'm from NH and I need to care for an ailing parent in the area.
 
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No, because it's unclear what Yale gains from this transaction. In fact, "because I think you're a better school than the one I'm currently at" is probably the worst reason you could give.

Transfers, at a baseline, are very rare. They are usually granted when someone is moving from a more competitive to a less competitive school, or at least a lateral move between two schools of relatively equal competitiveness, and there is usually a compelling personal need for someone to move to a different location (i.e. family member with a terminal condition). Even then, they are uncommon. Asking to transfer because you are unsatisfied with your chances to match in a highly competitive specialty at your current school really isn't going to make anyone inclined to help.
 
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Probably won't happen for your reasons. Yale has done it in the past for students who have a really strong reason to be in the area (think of an SO working at Yale) and is transferring from a school of a similar tier that has a curriculum that would allow for transfer during third-year (IF there are open positions).

The transfer usually happens at the start of clinical rotations. I don't believe they took any last year (had a friend who tried transferring from a T5).
 
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Probably won't happen for your reasons. Yale has done it in the past for students who have a really strong reason to be in the area (think of an SO working at Yale) and is transferring from a school of a similar tier that has a curriculum that would allow for transfer during third-year (IF there are open positions).

The transfer usually happens at the start of clinical rotations. I don't believe they took any last year (had a friend who tried transferring from a T5).
I didn't go to yale, but my school did have someone transfer in at the start of third year because his wife was starting residency at the same school. Only transfer in the four years I was there.
 
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You can match into ophtho from your institution with strong step2, good grades, research output, and away rotations. No need to go to Yale.
 
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You can match into ophtho from your institution with strong step2, good grades, research output, and away rotations. No need to go to Yale.
Some schools don’t even have optho departments/research.

Obviously you can match anything from any school but not having a home department puts you at massive disadvantage. If OP has a home department, he/she should be fine.
 
just try your best at the school that you're at and relax. This kind of reminds me of a case where a dude in a DO school decided to apply again while he was a first year OMS to an MD program. He got in, had to repeat all of the courses he took, but wasn't able to do well for some reason and could only match to a random FM program when he wanted to get into something much more competitive. While Yale does have a plethora of resources, why assume that residencies are going to start knocking on your door as soon as you open up the ERAS website? And this is assuming Yale will even let you in, which is already very unlikely (not impossible, but with those reasons, it feels really unlikely). Match lists are also extremely weird to base entire decisions off of. They could mean so many different things. If you want to match ophtho at a good place, then make it happen yourself bro. You're the only person standing in your own way and to be honest, I'd rather have a doctor who worked hard to get to where they got.
 
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You can match into ophtho from your institution with strong step2, good grades, research output, and away rotations. No need to go to Yale.
He/She just needs to trust the heart of the cards
 
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just try your best at the school that you're at and relax. This kind of reminds me of a case where a dude in a DO school decided to apply again while he was a first year OMS to an MD program. He got in, had to repeat all of the courses he took, but wasn't able to do well for some reason and could only match to a random FM program when he wanted to get into something much more competitive. While Yale does have a plethora of resources, why assume that residencies are going to start knocking on your door as soon as you open up the ERAS website? And this is assuming Yale will even let you in, which is already very unlikely (not impossible, but with those reasons, it feels really unlikely). Match lists are also extremely weird to base entire decisions off of. They could mean so many different things. If you want to match ophtho at a good place, then make it happen yourself bro. You're the only person standing in your own way and to be honest, I'd rather have a doctor who worked hard to get to where they got.
I bet their DO school was pissed at that student lol
 
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Maybe? If someone decides to leave voluntarily your school/company/group, getting mad about it serves no purpose. That'd just be ego.
I guess I'd say it this way. It would be frustrating to see a spot go to waste for a potential DO physician just because they had wanted to go the MD route all along.
 
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I guess I'd say it this way. It would be frustrating to see a spot go to waste for a potential DO physician just because they had wanted to go the MD route all along.

Haha, I understood the context you were saying it. My point was that it's moot if the person is leaving voluntarily to go to an MD school or to go sell used cars. For all the times the school is in control of a person leaving (i.e. being dismissed), when the shoe is on the other foot.... the student choosing to unilaterally terminate the relationship, the school shouldn't get pissed. It just is what it is.
 
You have a chance. It is extremely slim. Your best bet is to get a Yale PI to advocate for you, and hard. They’ll need to think you are the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Focus on doing well in the school you are at, and have a backup plan if you don’t match ophthalmology.
 
just try your best at the school that you're at and relax. This kind of reminds me of a case where a dude in a DO school decided to apply again while he was a first year OMS to an MD program. He got in, had to repeat all of the courses he took, but wasn't able to do well for some reason and could only match to a random FM program when he wanted to get into something much more competitive. While Yale does have a plethora of resources, why assume that residencies are going to start knocking on your door as soon as you open up the ERAS website? And this is assuming Yale will even let you in, which is already very unlikely (not impossible, but with those reasons, it feels really unlikely). Match lists are also extremely weird to base entire decisions off of. They could mean so many different things. If you want to match ophtho at a good place, then make it happen yourself bro. You're the only person standing in your own way and to be honest, I'd rather have a doctor who worked hard to get to where they got.
link to the story?
 
You have a chance. It is extremely slim. Your best bet is to get a Yale PI to advocate for you, and hard. They’ll need to think you are the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Focus on doing well in the school you are at, and have a backup plan if you don’t match ophthalmology.
Actually the best bet would be for the OP to have his parents write a 50,000,000 check to the school and or have one of them get elected to house/senate.

But at that point, why do an optho residency anyways

I was always amazed the length to which Yale (and other Ivy of course) would go to cater to potential mega donors/important people
 
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link to the story?
I heard about this a while ago, so I have no chance of finding an actual link to the story to confirm its validity. This didn't happen to someone I was close to, I just heard about this story from other people. I can't even remember who told me tbh. I assumed that it'd be true because the amount of self-hating DOs who just want to have an MD behind their name isn't in short supply. I mean, look at the amount of people who are willing to go to the Caribbean to get the MD, as opposed to staying in the states for a DO because their pre-med advisor told them it'd be a good idea to do that. But that's besides the point. If I can find something about it somewhere, i'll post it.
 
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I heard about this a while ago, so I have no chance of finding an actual link to the story to confirm its validity. This didn't happen to someone I was close to, I just heard about this story from other people. I can't even remember who told me tbh. I assumed that it'd be true because the amount of self-hating DOs who just want to have an MD behind their name isn't in short supply. I mean, look at the amount of people who are willing to go to the Caribbean to get the MD, as opposed to staying in the states for a DO because their pre-med advisor told them it'd be a good idea to do that. But that's besides the point. If I can find something about it somewhere, i'll post it.
Yep. It's the same people that make their parents pay $60,000+ a year with interest for an undergrad degree at a notable school to party and flaunt their institution every chance they get.
 
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I (MS1) am attending a state medical school and I noticed that my school has low (and lower quality) match rates for ophthalmology compared to Yale. I am fairly set on ophthalmology and have been doing research in the field for years now. Are research opportunities and residency match good enough reasons for Yale to accept me as a transfer student?
OP did you interview at Yale last year? If so were you WL? What do you mean by “…your school has lower quality match rates for Optho compared to Yale”? Have you reached out to the Optho faculty at your own school? What have they advised / offered to help you out?
 
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OP be careful with trying to infer much from match rates, too. They are very hard to interpret. You have no idea why people match where they did. People often favor other things like geography, fit, couples matching, COL, etc. above prestige.
 
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OP be careful with trying to infer much from match rates, too. They are very hard to interpret. You have no idea why people match where they did. People often favor other things like geography, fit, couples matching, COL, etc. above prestige.
Indeed! Trying to interpret match rates for school is a Fool's errand.
 
Probably won't happen for your reasons. Yale has done it in the past for students who have a really strong reason to be in the area (think of an SO working at Yale) and is transferring from a school of a similar tier that has a curriculum that would allow for transfer during third-year (IF there are open positions).

The transfer usually happens at the start of clinical rotations. I don't believe they took any last year (had a friend who tried transferring from a T5).
Yup. You need a strong, strong reason and a similar tier acceptance already. Med schools, especially top med schools, are a bit clubby/cliquey. Yale is going to put their nose up at any student who isn't at a top tier med school. Based on my interview there, the administration is already salty about most of their residencies being significantly less competitive than the top ranked programs in Boston and NYC. It's extremely rare for this to happen in med school. I think it's more common in residency, but even then, you have to be in the "in" club to make it happen.
just try your best at the school that you're at and relax. This kind of reminds me of a case where a dude in a DO school decided to apply again while he was a first year OMS to an MD program. He got in, had to repeat all of the courses he took, but wasn't able to do well for some reason and could only match to a random FM program when he wanted to get into something much more competitive. While Yale does have a plethora of resources, why assume that residencies are going to start knocking on your door as soon as you open up the ERAS website? And this is assuming Yale will even let you in, which is already very unlikely (not impossible, but with those reasons, it feels really unlikely). Match lists are also extremely weird to base entire decisions off of. They could mean so many different things. If you want to match ophtho at a good place, then make it happen yourself bro. You're the only person standing in your own way and to be honest, I'd rather have a doctor who worked hard to get to where they got.
I do think there's a strong element of favoritism when it comes to top tier school applicants, tbf, and it's not just from better opportunities to craft a resume. We all know that med school admissions can be a roll of the dice. Two of my good college friends were effectively the same applicant on paper. One of those roommates had a more compelling story and got into a T5. The other went to a more average med school (think ~70ish on USNWR). I kept in good touch with both of them. The T70 med student actually had similar grades (on a much harsher grading scale), more/better pubs, and a higher step score, and they both went into medicine. The T5 student wound up interviewing at 3 of the Big 4, where they matched, and had a laundry list of T20 choices. The T70 student didn't get a single Big 4 interview and only a handful of T20. They matched very respectably, but the floor and ceiling was so different for them.

It's just hard not to think about that when I think about top vs. mid-tier schools. I still remember getting brunch with both of them right around that time and remembering how empowered vs. discouraged they were regarding their choices and chances.
 
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I believe Yale spells out the condition for transfer very clearly on their website. It’s for people who have to move to New Haven in order to provide care for an immediate family member. Even for that, I believe they won’t look at your app unless you go to a t5.
 
I believe Yale spells out the condition for transfer very clearly on their website. It’s for people who have to move to New Haven in order to provide care for an immediate family member. Even for that, I believe they won’t look at your app unless you go to a t5.
I’m sure rules could be bent for an eight-figure donation, or if you had a very powerful benefactor in your corner…medicine isn’t a bad occupation for the third son of a noble house.
 
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I’m sure rules could be bent for an eight-figure donation, or if you had a very powerful benefactor in your corner…medicine isn’t a bad occupation for the third son of a noble house.
Maybe. But if that was going to happen for OP, it would have happened last year, and this thread wouldn't exist.
 
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Maybe. But if that was going to happen for OP, it would have happened last year, and this thread wouldn't exist.
LMAO yep. Yale would already have laid the cornerstone on the Richie McRichington IV Medical Library, and McRichington V would be walking the halls today.
 
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Yup. You need a strong, strong reason and a similar tier acceptance already. Med schools, especially top med schools, are a bit clubby/cliquey. Yale is going to put their nose up at any student who isn't at a top tier med school. Based on my interview there, the administration is already salty about most of their residencies being significantly less competitive than the top ranked programs in Boston and NYC. It's extremely rare for this to happen in med school. I think it's more common in residency, but even then, you have to be in the "in" club to make it happen.

I do think there's a strong element of favoritism when it comes to top tier school applicants, tbf, and it's not just from better opportunities to craft a resume. We all know that med school admissions can be a roll of the dice. Two of my good college friends were effectively the same applicant on paper. One of those roommates had a more compelling story and got into a T5. The other went to a more average med school (think ~70ish on USNWR). I kept in good touch with both of them. The T70 med student actually had similar grades (on a much harsher grading scale), more/better pubs, and a higher step score, and they both went into medicine. The T5 student wound up interviewing at 3 of the Big 4, where they matched, and had a laundry list of T20 choices. The T70 student didn't get a single Big 4 interview and only a handful of T20. They matched very respectably, but the floor and ceiling was so different for them.

It's just hard not to think about that when I think about top vs. mid-tier schools. I still remember getting brunch with both of them right around that time and remembering how empowered vs. discouraged they were regarding their choices and chances.
while I will acknowledge that there are some obvious benefits to going to a top5 school versus going to any other school, i personally get exhausted caring about details like this. Dr Oz went to a top 5 medical school. Is he automatically considered a quality physician because of that? Checking google, one of the first news articles about him are in reference to him pushing for an unproven COVID drug, so I'll let you all answer that previous question. My main point is, at the end of the day, who cares. We live in a world where not everyone is treated fairly. That's how life is unfortunately. Some people will have more opportunities than others. It's not fair, but that's the world we live in. The best that we can do is try our best with whatever resources you have and if it works out, then great. If it doesn't work out, then that's fine too. Personally, I just feel like we, as a society, need to stop comparing whatever we have to other people. Reminder to myself too, cause I feel like all this does is give everyone migraines. Just do the best you can and move on basically. So if OP wants to match ophtho, put in the work for it. Stop comparing your opportunities with that of someone who's going to Yale.
 
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while I will acknowledge that there are some obvious benefits to going to a top5 school versus going to any other school, i personally get exhausted caring about details like this. Dr Oz went to a top 5 medical school. Is he automatically considered a quality physician because of that? Checking google, one of the first news articles about him are in reference to him pushing for an unproven COVID drug, so I'll let you all answer that previous question. My main point is, at the end of the day, who cares. We live in a world where not everyone is treated fairly. That's how life is unfortunately. Some people will have more opportunities than others. It's not fair, but that's the world we live in. The best that we can do is try our best with whatever resources you have and if it works out, then great. If it doesn't work out, then that's fine too. Personally, I just feel like we, as a society, need to stop comparing whatever we have to other people. Reminder to myself too, cause I feel like all this does is give everyone migraines. Just do the best you can and move on basically. So if OP wants to match ophtho, put in the work for it. Stop comparing your opportunities with that of someone who's going to Yale.
I agree with the sentiment, but this is essentially saying "just ignore this obvious injustice." Feels nice to say, "it doesn't matter, you can't change it," but widespread indifference is how these things wind up propagating for generations. I say adopt these views as an individual if you need to cope, but don't spread them around to others.

We've essentially decided as a profession to pick our leaders based on some incredibly small granularities in a person's performance from age 18-22, often coming down to the whims of particular committee members, who are usually completely detached faculty in their 60s. Seems kind of silly that academic tier mobility is as low as it is when you consider the original criteria for breaking into that club.
 
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I agree with the sentiment, but this is essentially saying "just ignore this obvious injustice." Feels nice to say, "it doesn't matter, you can't change it," but widespread indifference is how these things wind up propagating for generations. I say adopt these views as an individual if you need to cope, but don't spread them around to others.

We've essentially decided as a profession to pick our leaders based on some incredibly small granularities in a person's performance from age 18-22, often coming down to the whims of particular committee members, who are usually completely detached faculty in their 60s. Seems kind of silly that academic tier mobility is as low as it is when you consider the original criteria for breaking into that club.
You're free to feel how you would like to feel. I might be more cynical than some people. But my main point is that if you're going to stay awake late at night, hating the fact that you're not going to Yale for whatever reason, but were still lucky to get into any US medical school, you need to take a step back. Obviously, we should support fights against oppression and injustice. That wasn't the point that I was trying to make. My point is that, yeah Yale as an institution has a lot of resources and can probably place their grads in good places. But if you were among the lucky ones who were able to get into med school (something that a large majority of people aren't able to do), but still longly look at Yale, thinking every single one of your problems are going to be solved if you were just accepted into that one medical school, then it should probably be said that life isn't as simple as that. You could have everything handed to you on a silver platter, yet somehow screw it all up. My point is, be happy with what you have, do whatever you can with it and if you feel that there is something genuinely unjust about what you've been given, then definitely speak up. But there's a difference between speaking up about issues concerning injustice and oppression and complaining that the US medical school you're in isn't ranked that high and doesn't have too many people matching into ophthalmology. There are actual problems in the world in regards to healthcare and medical education that actually matter and demand our attention, who in the world is going to care what medical school you went to in like 100 years?
 
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