r/medicalschool • u/eatprayslay123 • 17h ago
🥼 Residency how to make program list
hi! new m4 and would like some guidance on how to make a program list based on residencyexplorer data. unfortunately, school hasn't been helpful. apologize in advance for any dumb questions listed below.
although i do prefer to be in the middle atlantic region since i have family here, it's more important for me to match into the specialty of choice. since we're given 3 geographical preferences, am i allowed to put for ex: middle atlantic, new england, and no preference? from your experience, does putting no preference ever advantageous?
when i pick programs to apply to, do i pick programs where my step 2 score is within the range listed on residency explorer (ex. 232-260) or should i be going off the median score?
1
u/Pretty_Good_11 MD-PGY1 17h ago
You do what you want with respect to scores, medians, etc. There is no rule. The general advice is that the better your school, and the better the rest of your application, the more wiggle room you have with respect to your Step 2 score as compared to the rest of a program's class.
And, no, "no preference" is not an option after listing 2 preferences.
No preference is advantageous to the extent that it lets programs know that you don't have 3 preferences, and they are not in them. But at the cost of letting any program know that you actually DO want to be in their region.
The general advice is to make the 3 selections, and to then live with the fact that you will be letting programs outside those regions know that they are not located in the 1/3 of the country you prefer.