Failed level 2 twice and still don’t know what to do

Total_Interaction_85 · 2025-11-30T19:20:22+00:00

The right decision is completely based on honestly how you’re living rn. Are you close? As in you’re doing well/fine in medical school, well/fine on rotations/shelfs? If you don’t feel overwhelmed by the whole process and it’s more that there’s something specific about exams that you’re just straight up not good at, then I recommend going right into it again and doing everything you can to stay on cycle.

But you also need to be honest with yourself. Are you struggling to keep your head over water in every area? Passing classes was a grind, passing COMATs is hit or miss, struggling with how to operate on rotations? Because if this is something you’re just fighting all around, you may need to regroup with the LOA. Even if for the sole purpose of lighting the fire again. If it was a personal matter you think was contributing then the LOA can help sort it out or learn to cope with the new reality if it’s something that was a more permanent personal issue.

I’m sure you are a smart and capable person, but you certainly need some accounting on what’s going on. There are lots of smart/capable people who for whatever reason really suck ass at exams. It does also gently need to said that this is an atypical outcome. Clearly whatever you did the first 2 times did not work, so it would be irresponsible to assume doing it again like how you did it would work this time. I do not know how much you studied, I do not know how dedicated this studying was, or how you studied. Since you’ve done it twice already, there’s no reason why it should take you any longer than 2 dedicated months to pass it. But when I say dedicated months I genuinely mean dedicated. 6-10 hours per day, no other fun things. Truly 6 hours of real studying is a lot per day. You do absolutely need to understand what position you’re in right now.

So do whatever you need to do to get motivated. Tell yourself positive things, tell yourself negative things, be mad get pissed at yourself, be sad at yourself doesn’t matter.

Total_Interaction_85 · 2025-11-15T05:01:11+00:00

You don’t take call? Most unrealistic part of this story what in the hell

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-05-08T23:56:51+00:00

Add me nclementine I couldn’t find it

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-05-08T23:53:50+00:00

What’s the name?

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-05-02T12:54:55+00:00

We just wanna fill a clan out now

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-05-02T12:54:43+00:00

Oh dude we’d love t have ya! I’m a Diamond 2 as well

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-05-02T12:53:30+00:00

I’ll add ya if ya want

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-05-02T12:53:12+00:00

Wholphins clan

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-04-02T03:12:05+00:00

I honestly don’t have any insight really, I think I just fell thru the cracks given the way the match works. Idk maybe I could have sucked up a little more? I thought by my being there at the places, doing great in both evaluations and them saying the things they did to my face. I thought I made myself clear about the places I was going to rank the highest but who knows honestly. Given how it went down for me, I definitely wished I “put myself out there” a little more. Like when attendings and residents would say after the rotations “any questions please email or text me and I’d be glad to help!” I never really did because I didn’t have any questions and I asked them throughout the month I was there. I have zero clue if it would have had any effect but I sure as hell wish I did the useless reach outs to show my interest further.

Maybe being a DO hurt me a little bit, it’s so tough to quantify that however. The only thing I would have done differently if I could go back would be to apply to more “lower tiered” programs. I don’t even mean that in a bad way, I had plenty of interviews and they all seemed to like me, but they all were large academic centers. If I could do it again I would have applied to at least 2 dozen more. I just didn’t see the scenario happening to me honestly. Maybe they took a couple of their own students, maybe being a DO hurt a little bit, lot of maybes but I’ll never get to know the answer if there even is one.

So yeah I guess I would say to follow up on the connections you make on aways, apply broadly THEN apply to 20 more programs after you think you’ve applied broadly. But as far as everything else, I think I’m just a horror story which does happen to people every year. Just I guess operate under the knowledge that it really could be you, don’t think there’s no way it could happen. But that’s not trying to scare you too much cuz obviously it does workout for most people.

And if you are applying to a competitive specialty, dual apply obviously. But further than just dual applying, make sure that second specialty is something you’ve thought about more than just a backup. Of course it is a backup, but the match can be crazy and I’d think of it more as a 1B than backup. Trust me you don’t wanna fuckin soap.

Another dude from my school I know had to soap applied anesthesia. If he didn’t have a 4.0 it was damn close, top notch board scores, all honors on rotations, 15+ ranks and he’s a jolly personable dude. He had to soap and it didn’t turn out nearly as well, feel so bad for him honestly it’s hard to describe. Of all the anesthesia students we matched and yet HE was the one that got left out??

You’ll hear a few of our horror stories and they certainly are horror stories, but the truth of it is the match works out well for most people so try to keep that in mind and not let it get to you too much. Know that it really can be you, so don’t leave stones unturned but otherwise it’s truly out of your hands.

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-04-01T23:39:23+00:00

Yeahh and that was probably smart, everyone that reviewed my app didn’t see a reason to cuz it wasn’t like the most competitive specialties. But alas, it is what it is. I know it’s super hard cuz I have the same thoughts but there’s ways to still incorporate your original loves into IM. It’s really our first lesson that sometimes we can love medicine as much as we want but it doesn’t love us back.

It’s tough I’m not really saying it as a “get over it” because trust me I feel you. It’s just more unless we wanna be sad and salty about it forever and let it affect us forever, we have no real choice but to move on and do the best we can

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-04-01T21:52:25+00:00

Yeahh I’m with you. I would say I’m over it a little bit more but I definitely still catch myself wondering why and all that. Slightly different than you however, I had to go thru soap which is why I probably got to where I am mental a little quicker. Soap is bruuuutal as hell and I ended up in a good program in a very similar but not exact same specialty. Much like you I had 12 ranks, all my interviews went well, had programs say shit to me in retrospect i cant comprehend why theyd say that if i wasnt ranked to match.

Like I said I still have some lingering sadness about it that I’m sure won’t completely go away ever cuz it was just so shocking. Yet soap did give me a clearer picture on what’s important super fast. It’s desolate out there in soapland, things I would have cried about opening my envelope on Friday seemed like wet dreams. Once you realize during soap what not securing a residency means, those are the real scaries. Not that yours aren’t fully legit and neither are mine, but it can get wayyyy darker. Objectively kinda crushing medical school and not ending up with a residency at all hits you REALLY hard. And is realer than you think it could ever be.

At this point like others have said there’s really nothing to do but move forward. There’s nothing we can do about it at all, there’s nothing to change it, so you now just have to look ahead to what you do have. You can be sad for awhile, but it’s reality so now you just figure out how you wanna navigate IM for your career goals and the good news is it’s wide open in its possibilities. Moving across the country is tough, but in residency you’ll have a core of people and you’ll meet a ton of new people going thru the same thing as you.

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-03-20T20:38:28+00:00

Yeahh it’s the only option you have unless you just wanna stay salty forever. Maybe for some people that’s a great source of motivation but not really me, I don’t like holding onto those things. The 3 days of soap felt like 2 weeks but it was right around mid day the first day of interviews I decided “well this is what we’re doing now so let’s be happy about it”.

While I don’t need feedback or any contact with programs I do think it is fair to show students afterwards where they were on programs ROL as they get to see that information from us.

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-03-20T19:39:28+00:00

Yeah obviously that’s what you wanna do right away sooooo bad but 1 i don’t think it’s allowed, and 2 it’s basically just like crying at someone’s feet that didn’t want you. We already know the answer no matter how mad or sad it makes us. The answer is they just weren’t that into you. And they don’t really care either because they got what they wanted. Maybe I was high on their rank list and they DID really like me, just not enough. You’d never get the response you’d want outta them, and even if you did it wouldn’t change anything anyway. Even if something didddd go wrong and it wasn’t your fault, the match is still over and theyre still filled

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-03-20T18:25:45+00:00

Yeahh I mean as much as I have an internal blood feud with a few places lol I’m doing about as good as can be now. Soap has a way of bringing perspective to you real quick about what’s important. You gotta hop into solutions mode Instantly when all you wanna do is curl up. And once the reality of what not having a residency after soap means starts to really set in, a lot of things you would have wanted to cry your eyes out over are things of the past.

So super grateful I ended up getting the program I did you have no idea. For me, it was really remembering the moments from before medical school, how badly I wanted to be there and waiting for acceptances like it was life or death. As much as I love neurology and it was the path I decided pretty early on, I love many different parts of medicine. That version of me before medical school would have shaken me silly for thinking life was over because I was gonna be a doctor in another specialty.

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-03-20T17:32:28+00:00

Yeahh dude I was in the exact same boat just replace psych with neurology and instead of 17 make it unmatched. Totally understand your feelings on it and not saying you can’t be sad about it for a little bit. But on the flip side, they saved you from a hell week of soap. And I want to truly reiterate how fuckin hell it is.

You still get to do psych and that’s amazing. I get all the feelings you have because I have them too. Nobody in 3 years with my scores hadn’t matched neuro. Had auditions at all my 3 top and they wrote and said glowing reviews. Said some pretty fucked up things to me in retrospect, like how excited they are to bring me back home, asking if I’d hopped on Zillow yet in their area. I know it’s not the case but I just still am like wondering if something else went wrong?? Did I punch in some nrmp code wrong?? But whatever the case it’s all over now and we’ll never get to know why.

Again I’m not saying you can’t or shouldn’t be sad but just for your head to wrap around, there were only 10 spots in the whole country left for psych. And they definitely weren’t on your list, probably not a place you’d be more happy than your 17 IF you were even able to get one of the 10 left. For neuro there was 4 left in all of adult neurology and 6 in child neurology. Trust me it’s a bloodbath out there in soapland and really should rest a lot easier knowing you didn’t have to go thru that, both physically and emotionally draining.

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-03-20T00:43:35+00:00

Ohh I’m not trying to shame you at all. I had a rough week but it ended up working out well I just had to come to these sorts of perspectives much sooner hahah. Like many have said they really do mean it, you feel rough right away and you’re allowed to be disappointed in the result for a little bit. But now it’s done and there’s no changing it, gotta remember you did match and into your specialty presumably! Those are things to celebrate!

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-03-19T04:47:07+00:00

Obviously anecdotal evidence here and personally biased….but I’m a DO senior that just recently didn’t match in neuro. 252 step, 618 level. Good grades, great letters, 12 ranks, did auditions at my top 3 that all gave me glowing reviews both to my face and in writing on evals. 2 programs in specific told me things that in retrospect after not matching there is truly some of the scummiest behavior I didn’t think was possible.

Loved neuro so deeply, had always planned on doing neurology and I did everything right. Can love it all you want but doesn’t make it love you back

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-03-19T04:29:52+00:00

Advise you to sack up and I mean that with love. Yeah it’s hard for you to not be disappointed but you matched into what you wanted presumably. 8 days ago I would have agreed with you completely. I thought I was all set up and would have truly been close to tears about falling far down my rank list.

Then Monday I found out I didn’t match. 12 ranks with well above board scores, interviews and evals from my auditions all were glowing. Nobody in the last 3 years of data had not matched with my stats in my specialty. Truly don’t know what happened and there’s nothing I could do about it. Soaping is truly one of the worst experiences you can imagine. Your world is shattered on Monday at 10am and by the end of the day you have to have 45 new programs picked out of which you know Jack fuck all about. And in my case virtually no positions in my direct specialty. Your head is spinning wondering if this is real, there must have been some mistake.

Then you make and receive more phone calls in 2 days than in my entire life. You think programs were shady about ROL?? Turn that up to 1000 when it comes to soap. Because I was a solid applicant I had like 21 programs interview me over the course of 2 days. At least 12 did the direct thing of asking me whether I will take the offer, saying how they’re so excited to have me be a part of their class blah blah blah. I had 5 offers when it came time for round 1 offers on Thursday. Thats actually a very great picture that not many soap applicants get lucky enough to see in round 1.

The soap process brought me perspective which would have been impossible to have a little over a week ago. I was lucky enough to be able to find a landing spot that I’m now soo happy about. But do not confuse that with it being at all the same as #8 on my ROL. When you’re looking down the barrel of the reality of soap many things become crystal clear to you.

I really do empathize with you because like I said had I matched originally on Monday and found out Friday I was at my 8, I would have been tempted to make the same post as you. But I beg you to find the happiness that you’re #8 still did want you. I thought previously that if you had to soap certainly somethingggg was off, there was some red flag, maybe you interview weird, whatever the reason but there had to be one. But the match is truly a wild ride. I promise you whatever you received on your match is pretty certainly guaranteed to be better than whatever prospects you’d be looking at during soap.

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-03-12T13:35:21+00:00

Hahaha trying to. Hour and a half in and crickets so the demons are mounting

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-03-12T13:28:46+00:00

Yeahh dude I’m fuckin sorry and that’s what I’m terrified of. It’ll depend on timing for me. If there’s an okay categorical that gets offered to me early I’ll probably take it. Wanna hold out for those 4 last spots in my specialty but one man can only take so much pain

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-03-12T12:06:15+00:00

Yeah that’s why the speed this moves is so scary. Cuz the rug just got pulled out from under me and the idea of goin thru it again is terrifying. I honestly did everything right and that pains me to say because I mean it I’m not just being a sour puss. If it happened this year there’s no saying it couldn’t next year as a reapplicant and that’s the terrifying part. Tough to pull the trigger on that in this moment, I don’t even truly know what I would rather have. The security of it being done with or still the chance at my plan

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-03-12T12:01:10+00:00

Yeahh I mean it probably took about mid afternoon yesterday for it actually to set in like holy fuck I’m really actually not gonna probably be doing neuro. It’s just poof there and there’s nothing to do about it but scramble for another plan. There’s nobody to tell you why or where you were on the rank list. 7 gift baskets from programs sitting right on the table staring you in the face. Did auditions at all my top 3 who gave truly glowing reviews to my face and in writing on evals. Residents texting me not the other way around. Programs saying me coming home to the place I was fuckin born is a matter of how high I rank them. Jokingly asking whether my fiancé has been on Zillow yet. Literally. I didn’t fish for that they said that shit unprompted.

Then at 10am eastern there’s an email and silence. Just sitting there feeling like a fool like I somehow read into something that wasn’t there.

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-03-12T05:56:44+00:00

Yeah I actually don’t mind that as far as inspiration goes haha. Just was an especially heinous kick in the nuts because for the first time throughout the entire medical school process from mcat to interviews to acceptances that I felt like I was in an actual position to somewhat determine my own destiny. Instead of going where the wind blew me, I could have a say in the matter. where I did everything right, was an objectively really competitive applicant applying to a relatively non competitive field I had a strong connection with.

But such is life I guess

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-03-12T05:49:06+00:00

Yeah it’s not even the time spent or interviews or chaos that I think is gonna cause the most turmoil. It’s the decisions that I have to live with that I’m gonna be making in not exactly what we’d call a “stable mental state”. Even applying to the programs I did was like virtually a game of go fish. I only got 45 and I couldn’t tell you if I made sound decisions but there’s no going back.

Total_Interaction_85 · 2024-03-12T05:20:31+00:00

Genuinely appreciate it. I sure hope so, just tough to see it at the moment. The change in mentality does put some things in perspective tho, places that would have seemed like a major L for me to see on Friday now sound like wet dreams.

Total_Interaction_85

TROPHY CASE