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Shrewood,have you heard any program fored an IMG to sign a prematch,NO! They sign cos they like the prgm and want to stay with them for 3 years.If the people that sign the prematches think they are better than the program they should go to match.I am not endorsing any program and I know some of them are below per but people should not describe prgm as crappy.crappy but it will get you board certified,at least below average is a decent termiology which is still a subjective term.I still maintain you visit and make decision,but if you got a lot of calls you can cancel by popular opinion.That was 2nd week of sept and that explain my advice.Moreover some of these people are not conservant with US and depend heavily on what others said.
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You're mistaken......many sign the pre-match becoz they do not want to risk going into the match and having some uncertainty of not matching.There is also some who will sign prematch anywhere as long as H1 visa is sponsored......so tht they r on their way to getting GC.
A secured program(mainly big universities) does not offer pre-matches becoz they know their reputation is so good, good candidates will always try to match in.In 'below average' programs, they know that the good candidates may never rank them high enough and end up matching with candidates which r not their 1st preference (or worse still didn't fill up the seats).
Call it crappy or below average.......how does it change the fact that the program isnt good???If you wanna be politically correct then yes 'below average' would be a nice term to use, but so wht?Yes, at the end of the day you'll be board certified but those who are ambitious have to plan from now only, particularly those who want to do fellowship.Its like you who has very good USMLE scores(which is suppose to be a standardized exam at US level)........but are you at par with your American colleagues who have the same score as you? Same way, choosing the right program is very important......even if you are board certified but you did it from an unheard or poorly reputable tht already puts you into a disadvantage.
I personally feel programs which fill up more than 80% of their seats with pre-matches are insecured and most probably have a bad reputation and thts why they rely on this tactic becoz they know tht in the match their chances of fishing the best candidates is not good.
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programs that fill up to 80% are not more insecured than the people that filled the positons.I dont care if the individual has 100% in usmle board,if you sign prematch cos you claim that you are scared of not matching then you are not good enough for the god programs.If with 99 you are not confident,so what will give you confidence.programs will stop giving prematch if no one accept it,so lets us not put blame on programs,and moreover IMGS are the ones that pressurize them for prematch.check forum,"do they offer prematch".I dont think is right to blame ones problem on other people.You sign prematch cos you like the program and dont mind training their,if not dont sign!Many candidates have turn down premacth,so what is this thing about blaming prgms for choices we made.
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kita,are u preparing fr step 3 or r u done with it?
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suppose to be preparing,this forum is a big distraction
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IMGs dont run the program. Its upto a program if they want to offer pre-match or not......IMGs r not in the position to pressurize them to give one!They can most request for it.I've already highlighted tht some dont care which program it is as long as their H1 visa is being sponsored......even if its 'crappy' program.Yes, you're right some are still insecure even with 99.......but then the programs are insecure as well.These programs which are termed 'bad/crappy/below average' need IMGs with 99 to increase their board pass rates. Otherwise with their poor teaching and training the programs would have closed down a long time ago.How else would you explain programs like interfaith,St Barnabas and the numerous 'bad' programs have close to 100% board pass rate but big university names are only arounbd 85-90% pass ratre!!!Here's a clue its not becoz of St Barnabas' excellent faculty and top notch training as you're suggesting.
Most ppl ask 'Do they offer pre-match' not becoz they want a pre-match from such a program but its to help them schedule an appropriate interview date. No point interviewing at a program in late January if most of their seats r given off in pre-match.......plus no added advantage in interviewing early at a program which doesnt offer it. It has to do with mental preparation.If you know a program is good and they offer pre-match you may accept it there and then but on the other hand if you know a bad program offers pre-match and you have excellent programs lined up after that but the bad program offers pre-match you may have an answer ready during the interview (some sort of a delay tactic) instead of looking surprised and awkward in turning them down.
