Having followed this site and its predecessors for a few years now; I would make a couple of suggestions to improve what this site can do for applicants and others who are interested in NS. 

Suggestion #1: This site has a tendency towards being a 'gossip' and 'rumors' type of site.  It is relatively infrequently the case  that hard data are presented in terms of the programs, academic productivity of faculty, trends in organized healthcare that impact neurosurgeons, true reputational ratings, or discussion of actual clinical or scientific papers.   This, IMHO, is a lost opportunity.  Would love to see a more positive view of this field and of the people that are in it.    Pubmed is a pretty good source to see how productive faculty and residents are.  Why not come up with a MEASURABLE set of characteristics of a program and discuss those measures rather than the soft opinions that are so often seen here.  

Example.  Program X has X number of faculty.  Review of their website shows the following Professor/Assoc Prof/Assistant Prof breakdown.  NIH funding is X to the the following individuals in the program.  X is the head of Division Y and has a great CV with X# of publications on the following topic.  I really liked their last paper on ____ because of ____ .   I saw junior faculty Z present at the AANS as was really impressed by their energy and enthusiasm.  

Suggestion #2: With anonymous posting based on 2nd/3rd hand information, character and program assassination is too easy.  There is considerable posting of 2nd or 3rd hand information, usually negative.  If some rumor is really negative and is 2nd or 3rd hand, why bother posting it?  It is so much more accurate to form your own opinions of people when you actually meet them or see them at work.  The very best thing on this site are the honest 1st person accounts of specific rotations.  However, the comments that follow these posts are 2nd/3rd hand accounts.  It would be fantastic to stick to first person views of program and people with an emphasis on the positives.

Is it too late to find an infolded fellowship at another institution for resident who is about to complete her/his junior residency?

There are some rumors that if you didn't receive a soap eligibility email this AM then you matched. All should have already received the second email around 4:45 pm ET. Again, just a rumor and NRMP second email stated it's a server issue.

Anyone with +20 interviews received the first email this AM?

Any thoughts on the impact that no more 16 hour intern duty limit regulations will make on neurosurgery residency? As a medical student, I obviously do not have any first-hand experience with residency duty hours but I'm interested to hear what perspective you all have on this. 

Here's a link to the pdf by the ACGME: http://www.acgme.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Nasc...-10-17.pdf

Here are a couple reddit pages with the current discussion:
https://www.reddit.com/r/medicine/commen...limit_for/
https://www.reddit.com/r/medicalschool/c...k_24_hour/

Some people seem to really like the idea, and some people are VERY opposed to it.

Just wanted to throw in some numbers on applicants per schools this cycle:

1) Columbia 3
2) UCSF: 1
3) Hopkins 1
4) Pitt 4
5) Temple 7
6) Drexel 6
7) Jefferson 4
8) Rutgers 5 or 6
9) Albany 2
10) Minnesota 3
11) UIC 2
12) WashU 4
13) Michigan ? (Forgot)
14) Yale ? (Forgot)


Please update the list

I took a research year, and now I'm worried I've forgotten things on the clinical side. Any advice on what to do?

I've been looking through Greenberg, but it's kind of dense for getting back into the groove of things.

Anyone have a good playlist or Pandora station to share?

https://apps.acgme.org/ads/Public/Progra...D35%26city

Looks like downgraded to 2/yr, rumors of low volume...

Thoughts on Colorado? Especially in terms of operative volume and what people thought during Sub-I/second looks

I met with the chair of my department, and my assessment is that he thinks I am a very weak candidate basically because of my step 1 score.  He told me that to be competitive I need to take Step 2 early and do well and do 4 away rotations.  This is an impossible task to do before Sept 15 though as we don't finish third year until June 30th.  Is it time to look at other options?

Step 1: 226 (I've know since the day I got this score that I wrecked my chances of matching, but I've just moved on and forgot about it until my chair basically belittled me over this)

Grades: Mostly Hs in everything

Research: tons, 10 NSG publications, mostly 1st and 2nd author.  Presented nationally and internationally.  Several research grants

Letters: relying on getting 2 from aways, and will have 2 home letters that should be very strong (long relationships)

Aways: ? I was thinking home, top caliber, and lower caliber.  Chair said I need 4 though.

School: Top 40