Two subIs in the same city

[Guest]

The two sub-Is I ended up being accepted for are both in the same city, one academic, the other less so, both top 30 dox on the east coast; I applied to several on the west coast and either was rejected or didn't hear back yet. Will this bite me in the butt? I might be able to rotate a much lower tier west coast program, but am unsure how to best proceed.

[Guest]

I wouldn’t recommend it. I think a fair number of program will interpret such a move as meaning u only want to be in that city or region. You’ll prob still be fine, but in a game of odds, why risk it?

[Guest]

If you're not from the west coast, don't go to school in the west coast, and want to match in the west coast - you gotta do a sub-i out there. By "low-tier", who are we talking about? Dox rankings are not everything, I can really only think of 1 CA/AZ/OR/WA program I'd actively avoid if I was applying this year.

[Guest]

OP here, I was thinking of doing Cedars?

[Guest]

Don't do cedars. For sub-Is, you want to go to established places with national recognition and big name faculty. Cedars has neither the former or latter.

[Guest]

That’s outdated advice. Those “established faculty” like to write letters with standardized text like your MSPE since they write so many. If you aren’t a first-ranked T5 applicant, you may do well considering rotating at a less top-of-mind program to do a sub I where you can get individual attention. Get a mix of “big name” letters and someone who can speak about you more personally. In that context, always grab the chair letter. Don’t sacrifice your performance because the program feels safer, though. The more personal letter is also more likely to check the “best medical student ever” box on your letter if you do well, since the “big name” won’t.

[Guest]

Cedars is perfectly fine.

[Guest]

UCI! World famous faculty! Great photo departmemt

[Guest]

Whoever said cedars isn’t recognized either doesn’t know what they’re talking about, or they’re a medical student hoping to go there themselves and they’re trying to discourage other students from applying there.

Cedars is now the dominant health system in LA, and by far the busiest spine program on the west coast. Their spine volumes completely eclipse every other program out there. I say this having come from a program that was trying to compete, and was losing badly.

[Guest]

did anybody hear from Ucsf? subI offer or rejection? is it hard to get a subI there?