03-21-2018, 03:46 PM
(03-20-2018, 03:15 PM)Guest Wrote:(03-20-2018, 01:59 AM)SirVictorHorseley Wrote: Like others have posted, state school is a meaningless term when it comes to neurosurgery.
Where you went to medical school doesn't matter if you are an outstanding applicant. It matters a lot if you are a mediocre/average applicant. If you have high board scores (260+), a good publication record and great letters, you can match anywhere regardless of med school. If you are an average to below average applicant aka 240, minimal pubs, average letters, and are coming from a school with no home program or a very weak home program you might slip through the cracks. Whereas if you went to a top med school or somewhere with a strong program, school name and networking would probably get you a spot somewhere. A place with a strong program is also more likely to have good mentors who will tell you what you need to do to match, i.e. take time off for research etc. based on your application.
It is hard to get a good publication record if you are from a school with no program or a program that doesn't have residents/faculty who publish much. It is hard to get good letters outside your home institution, meaning it is hard to get good letters period if you don't have a home program. People do it every year, but like others have said it will require you to put in a lot of effort and initiative. That shouldn't discourage someone who plans on going into neurosurgery.
Also Berger letters are always useless, so whoever posted that clearly has never read one.
So for someone with a step 1 score of 240+ and from low tier state school (by that I mean not UVA, UNC or UF or Michigan. I mean schools like University of New Mexico, University of Nevada, University of Arizona, University of Kansas, etc.), there is slim chance to match to neurosurgery? I had wanted to be a neurosurgeon since college, but want to be realistic about my goal
I wouldn't say that you have a slim chance. You probably have a good chance, but I wouldn't expect to match just because you are a pretty good student in your medical school. I don't think most people care much about the med school name, just what is in your application. You need to be proactive about figuring out how to put together a competitive application. You should be proactive about reaching out to mentors in your institution and outside your institution to help figure out what you need to do. You might need to take a year off to do neurosurgical research, which in my mind is much better than not matching.
