Yet another "what are my chances" threads

[ned]

Sorry folks, but I would appreciate the insight of the group. I've been getting quite a bit of conflicting information, since people seem not to know how to advise me about my specific information. So here goes:

At a top-tier state school
MD/PhD, 8+ publications, solid PhD, research on molecular genetics
231 Step I
Good Grades year 2
Mostly passes in year 3, plus an unfortunate pass in peds -- taking 4 years off made it pretty hard to do well on shelves in general.
Lots of extracurriculars, volunteer work, teaching, etc...

Would ideally like to go to CHOP in Philly, largely d/t geographical considerations and research interests. What do you folks (especially those that have already matched) think?

Thanks a bunch for your help. I've enjoyed reading all the posts here for quite some time!

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[ned]

Anyone out there??? And and all responses would be very much appreciated.

 

[ChildNeuro]

I would think that you have an 80% chance of matching into CHOP. Reason being, that CHOP has alot of research opportunities which would be well geared to your backgroud. Overall, your application looks excellent, you seem to be able to go the distance to be a good pediatrician. Third year is only one year, and is very subjective as well, IMHO your success depends on who/where you rotate with. I would focus on changing things that can be changed, i.e. do very well on Step 2, and take a pedi-subI and do very well, i.e. research threads and talk to students who have honored it, and us "personal" time between rotations to do some catch-up clinical reading in pediatrics. Fourth year is so much better, and doing some electives and acing them will help your confidence level, which based on your post seems to be an area of concern for you as your application appears quite excellent. I would apply to other highly regarded pediatrics programs as well as backups. Only rank a place that you would be happy going to. Don't let "just passing" pediatrics slow you down, you need to get Big Mo' on your side, i.e. Big Momentum!, keep studying clinical medicine and where you made mistakes, and do extra reading in clinical pediatrics, and study well for Step 2. If I was a PD and had two applicants with your *current* background, but one of them did well in a pedisubI i.e. honors or blew away Step 2, I would say that this applicant has the momentum to do well in pediatrics in the long-term, so yes, you can make up for your sins to a certain degree if you do better later on.

 

[KidDr]

Sorry folks, but I would appreciate the insight of the group. I've been getting quite a bit of conflicting information, since people seem not to know how to advise me about my specific information. So here goes:

At a top-tier state school
MD/PhD, 8+ publications, solid PhD, research on molecular genetics
231 Step I
Good Grades year 2
Mostly passes in year 3, plus an unfortunate pass in peds -- taking 4 years off made it pretty hard to do well on shelves in general.
Lots of extracurriculars, volunteer work, teaching, etc...

Would ideally like to go to CHOP in Philly, largely d/t geographical considerations and research interests. What do you folks (especially those that have already matched) think?

Thanks a bunch for your help. I've enjoyed reading all the posts here for quite some time!

I interviewed at CHOP several years ago (ended up ranking them low d/t location...) CHOP will love all your research, publications, and PhD work. The voluteer work is great too. Your Step 1 score is fine. Your year 2 grades probably don't matter much. The year 3 grades are going to be the main red flag on your application, but there's nothing you can do to change those now. What you can potentially do to make your application stronger:
-Take a couple peds electives/sub-I rotations early in 4th year and try to honor those
-Get great LORs
-Take Step 2 early & do well
-Rock your interview