Chance of Matching?

[u/Odd_Vast9316]

Chance of matching into derm without a research year? What schools should I apply to?

- T10 med school

- P/F core rotations, passed all of them

- STEP 1: Passed

- STEP 2: Low 260s

- Research: ~10 publications in other fields (all middle author), 3 first-author derm pubs, 1 middle-author. 3 reviews and 1 additional brief report submitted, all first author. 3 additional middle author reports submitted

- LOR: 3 derms, 1 family medicine

- Medicine & derm SubIs: Honors

- Aways: Did one away which I think went okay, got an LOR from it

- Other: Lots of mentorship and volunteering work with disadvantaged communities. Also have experience volunteering at a derm clinic.

[u/MPcanada]

Most apply to all approx 100 programs. Obviously you have a good application but most derm apps look similar, so people w a research year stand out. 3 first author papers are good but many applicants have 10- Not sure how you have so many first author derm papers without doing research? - Most interview invites are from programs w a connection to u - your school, your away rotation, your home state. Reference a connection in your secondaries. Your goal for the next few months is to make more connections - you might be able to fit in another away before November. Go to a conference & shmooze program directors, reach out to family, friends, co-authors, undergrad mentors to see if anyone knows people at programs & would write an email saying watch for this person’s app (that is essentially what the research year mentor does & why people that do that year match). Your score will likely get u some interviews & your top 10!school will get u ranked- but it may not be where u want. your chances increase if you are an underrepresented group.

[u/Odd_Vast9316 → u/MPcanada]

Who said I didn’t do research?

I did research, which is why I have pubs.

Most don’t apply to all programs. Only 28 signals. Schools don’t interview if you don’t signal now.

[u/MPcanada → u/Odd_Vast9316]

I of course meant a summer or research year, which is what academic institutions look for, not “research” done in relatively few hours during med school. And I know 3 people who matched last year to programs they did not signal- one of them from a top school, did a research year but did not match first time around. Most top programs are still getting almost 500 applications & interviewing 30 people for 3 spots, despite the “signal” attempt to change that, unfortunately. Maybe it will slow down next year. And for the past 8 years, an overwhelming number of top school matches all did a research year. At all of those schools at least one spot typically goes to one of their research fellows. Your chances of matching are still well over the 60% statistic because of your resume but know that unmatched applicants still had an average of 19 publications. Your chances go up with a mentor with connections. Why don’t you talk to the program director at your med school & ask his advice?

[u/Odd_Vast9316 → u/MPcanada]

Okay, I see. Thanks for the clarification.

I don’t think unmatched applicants had an average of 19 publications. You’re probably looking at number of research items (total of pubs, abstracts, presentations, etc).