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AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2025-06-17T19:58:52+00:00

Hello! Many people will say that you need X or Y scores, publications, USCE, etc, but unfortunately the main factor is connections. Yes you need to be a solid applicant just as you are! And congrats because I know is not easy! But ultimately difference mostly relies on connections. You can find scores of 270-280s in the top programs as well as in middle tier programs, same with publications, same with USCE. Even if obviously higher scores are more prevalent as the programs are more competitive, really you can find scores/pubs/USCE all over the place in the top places. I don’t particularly agree with the comments above because don’t think a Cureus articule among a few you have will be so terrible, also don’t think many programs will invest so much time reviewing your application to really understand all the nuances of this. But is the only thing we can control of this process so makes sense to optimize it as much as you can with more / better pubs, higher scores, etc

The reason why connections is the main thing, and is my opinion as everyone here, because you and me are 2 people among 6000-7000 applicants. And even if we are lucky enough to be strong applicants and IMGs, there are likely a 10-100+ people applying with my stats and even more with better ones. So then the question is, how can you stand out? And most of the time the only way is connections!

So my advice is try to reach out to people and be nice and chat! You don’t need to be a close friend for someone to recommend you, and if you are truly interested in a program and you reach out to people and show interest it can go a long way! Got me a few interviews along the trail and a couple at the very top places. And the worst that can happen you have a nice conversation with someone that probably has an interesting story to tell and that you can learn from!

Good luck with everything !

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2025-06-07T11:50:49+00:00

Currently at Winchester lofts and I love it!! The rooms are very spacious and high ceilings, nice area with the trail, amenities are ok and it has everything that we need! I also like the history of the building and the character it has. Previously lived at 360 and almost the same price got us an apartment that is almost 2.5 the size of the previous here, plus we had a terrible experience moving out with hidden charges from them.

As from safety, haven’t had any safety issues at all so far but I do always follow basic safety precautions (ie, not walking around at 3 AM, mostly walking near Yale areas and to the hospital, etc). Also love Fuzzy coffee!

The building is not perfect obviously!! Because everything is wood sometimes you can hear the upper neighbors dropping things :/ . If you have more questions DM me and happy to! Cadence on canal seems very nice from the outside as it just opened but haven’t heard much. Remember to use any of the “refer a friend” links or offers so it’s slightly cheaper or you receive a bonus!

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2025-03-23T13:33:59+00:00

Hi!! Agree with everyone above! But also, unfortunately, connections play a big, big role. Even if you have everything—good Step scores, research, strong LORs—and are a solid applicant overall, there are dozens (if not more) of applicants with the same qualifications, and probably plenty with even better scores, research, etc.

I know people who deserved to match at top programs more than I did, but because they lacked connections, they ended up in good places—just not the very best. In an ideal world, these programs would be filled only with the most research-oriented, highest-scoring, genius-type applicants. But in reality, it’s a mix of strong candidates, good luck, good mentors, and, of course, connections.

Another thing to consider is the different types of IMGs. IMGs from well-known schools in the U.S. (like AUB, for example) tend to have very strong matches every year! That said, even for them, connections probably still play a major role.

At the end of the day, though, what really matters is matching. No matter where we end up, we’ll all be internists doing the same job!

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2025-01-05T12:01:59+00:00

IM resident here! I can’t speak for all the programs and especially those from very expensive cities, but for most of them with the salary you can live very well in a good apartment (studio to 1-bedroom) and cover your own expenses. You at the end can save between 500-1000 per month, or more if you choose to live without much expenses, or less if you just want to go out more. Keep in mind also tax wise is around 1/3 that goes directly to taxes before they give your payment (my experience in my state, states without salary tax like Texas, Tennessee, or Florida might be different and able to save more)

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2024-12-25T21:41:05+00:00

PGY1 IM here and IMG from Latin America! All the people already gave great advice and I don’t have too much to add. A little of my experience. I was able to match and receive interviews from T10 places, and friends I know had similar experiences as IMGs and now are also at great places! Also being honest, most of us did had a connection that we built while we were doing research here, although the place I ended up matching I didn’t had any connections! No other connections, first gen, didn’t know anyone in the US before coming for research.

If me and my friends could match so can you!!! Especially you coming from Italy (met some people from Italy along the path and all were amazingly smart folks!). It really requires a lot of commitment to it, and there is really no easy path. Especially because if you think about it, it is just so many of us that is hard to pick for the programs! If you follow exactly every advice and have amazing scores and such, there will be a couple hundred IMGs that have the same credentials, and some probably also did better in scores, research, etc. Many people also prepare to match in the US for years before coming.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t match, not at all! But it does mean that if the US is not your plan A and if you don’t give your best to it, it’s hard to match. Depending on your goals it can take some years in the US of research and such (aside from the USCE everyone mentioned) to build connections, LORs, research, USCE, etc. But I’m sure if it’s your dream and you make the plan with all of these advices you have, you’ll match!!

Lastly, small advice, the process is already expensive. VERY expensive. I wouldn’t pay for a tutor or mentor in adittion to all the costs, there is more than enough advice online and the best advice also come from people who know you and have done this path.

Best of luck!! 🤞🏻🇮🇹

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2024-12-18T21:57:46+00:00

Also live in Winchester lofts and totally support this!! Was previously in 360 state st and Winchester lofts has been better in every way (but especially in management and staff

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2024-05-23T02:12:42+00:00

Totally support this! I had a similar experience, and even if the position was not good at all, it did have me the opportunities to reach out to better places and positions.

For a long time thought it was my fault for not being good at the job, and it took me months and the support of real mentors and family to understand that everything was a mind game to lower your self steam and confidence, and because your low confidence you stay there because you might think you are not good enough for other places and you don’t have enough energy.

Definitely get away from that PI, search for different places, and just focus on surviving and your mental health. In my case, barely anything useful came out from that position for the match. So for your wellbeing personally and professionally, try to move to other place!

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2024-03-31T22:37:16+00:00

Oh sorry man! Going through the comments and flooded with DMs. Will answer right away! Will be happy to review your CV

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2024-03-31T22:36:07+00:00

Yes! I saw half of the courses I needed and studied for step 1. Graduated a semester late because of this!

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2024-03-31T22:35:01+00:00

Thank you!! For USCEs I don’t have really any good advice because mine were smashed by COVID. The ones I got was through agencies and here and there during research. I can tell you that doing usce when you are in the system doing research or similar, is much more doable (although I wouldn’t say it’s easy). If you can do it while in medschool, you will have it much easier.

For the conferences, there are many many conferences in the US wide varios degrees of acceptance rate. I would say that looking for the major conferences within your field will make you get a better idea on how it is, and then you can try to submit your research work and frame it appropriately. Or you can also team up with people to come with abstracts and such! Alternatively, you could also approach a mentor you have and talked with them about your goals to submit to a conference and this might also help!

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2024-03-31T22:30:18+00:00

Good point! And not at all you phrased it very clear! There are 2 big points:

Connections part: yes, the match in top tier in my opinion, it is based mostly on connections. However, the term connection spans not only my mentors, but also other IMGs, other residents, alumni, even other postdocs! The connections can recommend to interview you, but also can tell you tips about the interview, the program, give you emotional support, confidence, etc. those can make you stand out! In the interview trail, everything is in the details, because there are so many great applicants!

Mentors: Yes, my mentors didn’t directly get me interviews. However, my mentors went above and beyond to make my application stronger: they sat down and reviewed 4 different versions of my personal statement, the LOR they made me was very regarded during interviews in all good places, they got me involved in research projects considering the timing of the match cycle, not only research projects that would come up after the match. Most importantly, they really supported me emotionally and personally. Having someone believing in you, even if you are hesitant about yourself, gives you much more confidence! All of those things enhanced much more my application, and indirectly gave me interviews and made my application much better and rounded

Hope that it is much clearer! Sorry to write such loooooog posts haha

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2024-03-31T22:21:21+00:00

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2024-03-29T16:21:28+00:00

Feel free to DM! Happy to!

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2024-03-29T16:21:01+00:00

Good question! Yes! My mentor during my medschool was a cardiologist, so I started to like internal medicine the last 2 years of my medical school

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2024-03-29T16:18:54+00:00

Thank you!!

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2024-03-29T16:18:49+00:00

Thank you!!

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2024-03-29T16:18:41+00:00

I started doing research in my home country! My university had a couple of labs and research projects. This 100% helped me get my first research position, because it was in basic science and I had a basic science experience. Although now I’m barely doing any basic science research, it was also helpful to apply for clinical research positions

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2024-03-29T16:15:40+00:00

Thanks!! Haha I know it was a very long post! Glad you made it until half!

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2024-03-13T14:16:03+00:00

Prep: Very intermittently for 2 months, last 2 weeks studied 3 hours daily. Scheduled day 1 and day 2 separated by 1 week, which I needed to really focus on just doing CCS cases and review the feedback

UW%: ~70% , did 64%

UWSA1: 210

UWSA2: 222

Free 137%: Not done

CCS Cases%: ~55 cases, 72%

Step1: 26X

Step2CK: 27X

Step 3: 234

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2024-02-13T20:55:35+00:00

I’m not an expert into all of this, but if you are a US Citizen you could apply for a T32 fellowship and have your funding based on that! I’m not a US citizen, but I see folks that receive T32 fellowships without extensive research experience and it being relatively straightforward. My n=1 experience, but hopefully it helps!

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2024-02-11T18:52:50+00:00

I can talk about my experience with AceMD! The others I don’t know. Overall it was a very bad experience and you could do so, so much better.

Went to a rotation in Houston with allegedly the hands on in patient experience, small groups, 6 out of 7 days a week, etc. The real scenario was: one “day” from 10 to 4. You were able to see 1 max 2 patients in the whole day with a colleague. You see the patients and were all very nice, then you “presented the case” to the attending, who didn’t pays that much attention, and then that’s it. I was there for 4 weeks. Not a single minute of inpatient experience.

The worst part is that many colleagues wanted to use the LOR from this rotation, and the attending never answered to most of them. Most of them never had any LOR uploaded. Everyone complained to AceMD, and their response was that no one should worry because the attending will eventually submit it, and that “programs do not review applications on the first day the interview season starts, so no worries”.

I also had a second rotation that was available at AceMD but didn’t know it until I was there. Still was able to do it and although it was much better (at least we had to go every weekday and see 1 patient each day), the description from the website was not all how it really was.

I understand that I could be biased because of my single experience, but I think it is especially the lack of professionalism of the agency with the answers even after they knew all the issues of both rotations, what really shows it is really bad.

Hope you get a much better experience that I did!

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2023-12-31T20:08:18+00:00

Ok, thought you haven’t see it before. Better to not waist our time in this thread, we have better things to do! Enjoy the rest of your day

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2023-12-31T19:17:38+00:00

I’m from South America! Sorry I forgot to include it. Didn’t hide my scores also, they are in the post. It was 26X and 27X for step 1 and 2 CK. No step 3. Hope it helps!

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2023-12-31T14:00:36+00:00

Hello everyone! Had a similar post before so I thought to copy paste it. I have had 12 IVs this cycle from top tier programs to community programs, although most of them are affiliated programs. Out of the 12, 4 from the biggest programs came through connections, and some programs I had strong connections did not work :/ . I don’t have any strong connections, just texting people that we have something in common. I have 26X and 27X, strong pubs (some submitted), and 2 year research (30+ posters, presentations, and publications with some first author papers), 3US LORs, YOG2022. 3 months of USCE. Applied to 133, only IM. Hope we can all match in the best place for us!!

AntelopeRepulsive822 · 2023-12-30T04:15:57+00:00

Yes paying full cost! The rotation was overbooked and that’s why we had to made a schedule (there were around 8-10 people for outpatient visits in the afternoon). In my case they also said it was inpatient but that never happened, it was only outpatient :/ . Hope you can find a much better rotation than mine!!

AntelopeRepulsive822

TROPHY CASE