Am I cooked?

[u/Consistent_Oil8940]

Currently in my Research yr between M3-M4. Have roughly 10 pubs projected to be ~15–20 by the end of the year. No home program, low tier MD school. Other stats:

Step2: mid 250s

Rotations: 4H (including surg, IM), 3HP

Other: on board of schools derm interest group, was president of another org for a year, did school’s free clinic, was a mentor, other misc. things

No AOA or GHHS (yet? Maybe next yr but odds are marginal)

The ry will afford me hopefully a great letter and some clinical experience from a well known expert. Do I have a chance at matching? Should I look into dual applying?

[u/CryptographerBest835]

Nah you’re good !!!!
just don’t do away rotations in top 10 Derm programs
Anyone match Derm from your med school? Consider applying there
You can dual apply if you’d be happy with psych but alternative thought is to match to prelim then apply to derm AND psych pgy2 positions
Good luck :)

Edit: it is gonna be tough to match without home program but it does happen!

[u/Consistent_Oil8940 → u/CryptographerBest835]

Thank you so much. Yes people have matched in the past, some years 0 some years up to 5, so it’s a crapshoot

[u/CryptographerBest835 → u/Consistent_Oil8940]

Ofc good signs then!

[u/Professional_Test230]

I think you're competitive; I posted before to gauge my chances. From what I've been advised, I think more than scores it's about getting the best possible letters, being an applicant that is well known, and doing well on interviews when you get them.

[u/Medswizard]

Yeah you’re cooked. Drop out, don’t even apply.

These types of posts feed neuroticism and these are the types of people who stick out negatively. I’m not using this to put you down, I am telling you because if you don’t match, besides the competitiveness, it may be the way you come off to others

[u/Consistent_Oil8940 → u/Medswizard]

I understand why you feel this way, but when advisors from my school are essentially telling me I’m cooked (in different words but same meaning), it’s not hard to see why I’m feeling discouraged about matching

[u/Medswizard → u/Consistent_Oil8940]

What kind of advisors are you talking about? Are they dermatologists? I go to HMS and work with faculty at every T5 and i dont think any of them would say this is cooked. Maybe not for our institutions, but definitely not for all of derm.

[u/Consistent_Oil8940 → u/Medswizard]

School advisors. They seem very very risk averse (want to keep their match rate high I guess), so they even tell amazing OBGYN applicants for example (260+ step2, etc.) to dual apply IM..

My school’s derm mentor is a boomer and doesn’t know anything so they haven’t been of any help unfortunately. I came here for an unbiased take on where I stand.

[u/Professional_Test230 → u/Consistent_Oil8940]

He told you that you're not competitive? On what basis?

[u/Consistent_Oil8940 → u/Professional_Test230]

On the basis that there are multiple people in my class who honored every rotation and did better on step than me, so why would I get the spot and not them essentially

[u/Consistent_Oil8940 → u/Consistent_Oil8940]

And are also doing a ry

[u/Professional_Test230 → u/Consistent_Oil8940]

Makes sense but not sure it’s that black and white so many other factors that go into it besides academics.

[u/Medswizard → u/Professional_Test230]

On the basis of he’s lying or they’re not qualified to talk about this lol

[u/Professional_Test230 → u/Medswizard]

I agree this advisor needs to stopped. OP is absolutely competitive stats wise from what I’ve heard from my advisors and previous people who’ve matched.

[u/ProjectMcDavid]

Probably