Applicant sentiment — from 103 anonymous posts, 2017–2027
6.2 / 10
What anonymous posters said
Anonymous posters frequently described confusion and frustration over the timing and consistency of interview invitations and rejection notices, with several noting duplicate rejection emails that many attributed to administrative error rather than intent. A few posts mention the program does not offer away rotations. Many commenters described residents and faculty as happy and the training as strong, with some noting positive recent changes.
Match termscoloradocolorado dermcolorado somcu dermdenver dermu coloradou colorado dermu of couc denverucoloradoucolorado dermuniversity of colorado
Fame & Shame
2026-2027 Derm
4 entries
✅1. Dr. Maryam Asgari, the chair, is the BEST!!!
❌1. no one likes the dept chair
❌2. This program is under probation. I think it is unlikely to lose accreditation but reflects cultural issues at the program, years of negative ACGME survey results etc
💬1. The fame and shame comments contradict each other lol > The Shame was there first Dr. Asgari I know you wrote the Fame>WRONG!!!!! I, an incoming resident, wrote this Frame. > maybe you may too change your opinion once you are a resident there and not an incoming one 🤷 or not who knows >> Incoming resident' LMAOOO
2025–2026 Derm
5 entries
✅1. Dr. Maryam Asgari, the chair, is the BEST!!!
❌1. no one likes the dept chair
❌2. This program is under probation. I think it is unlikely to lose accreditation but reflects cultural issues at the program, years of negative ACGME survey results etc
💬1. The fame and shame comments contradict each other lol > The Shame was there first Dr. Asgari I know you wrote the Fame>WRONG!!!!! I, an incoming resident, wrote this Frame. > maybe you may too change your opinion once you are a resident there and not an incoming one 🤷 or not who knows >> Incoming resident' LMAOOO<<Right! What a FOOL, at least I made it!!
💬1. The fame and shame comments contradict each other lol > The Shame was there first Dr. Asgari I know you wrote the Fame>WRONG!!!!! I, an incoming resident, wrote this Frame. > maybe you may too change your opinion once you are a resident there and not an incoming one 🤷 or not who knows >> Incoming resident' LMAOOO+1<<Right! What a FOOL, at least I made it!! -1
did an away at irvine (did not interview so no conflict of interest here lol) & honestly I'd easily choose colorado. Only reason to pick irvine would be if you had a burning desire to be in SoCal. Otherwise there's a ton of driving, packed schedules with lots of boring skin checks/follow ups, lack of diversity in both pt demographics and pathology. just overall the most uninteresting rotation I went on. Thought alot of ppl were weird too
PGY-1 here. Colorado>UCI, unless you need to be in SoCal. I did an away last year at Colorado and unfortunately didn't get an interview, but when I was there, all the residents and faculty were so incredibly happy. Happiest program I've seen yet.
Mar 23
0
<<also a PGY-1, I also did an away at CO and didn't get an interview, despite this I'm not salty still think it's an amazing program, Colorado >>> UCI, really strong clinicals, strong surgery, strong basic science, strong peds derm, tons of VA autonomy, chair is really nice, residents were cool, everything is in a central location with minimal driving, facilities are gorgeous especially the VA, location/Denver is great - can't say anything bad about it // on that note... can't recommend Colorado for an away rotation, because less than half of the rotators get interviews
Mar 23
0
UCI chair is leaving...
Mar 23
0
0
Top tier: UPenn Harvard UCSF NYU Mayo Michigan, Emory, Henry Ford?) and Michigan and Mayo are not top tier. Would add Stanford, Hopkins, and UCLA instead)
would also add UTSW https://www.mdedge.com/dermatology/article/157864/practice-management/us-dermatology-residency-program-rankings-based/page/0/1 <<what is the difference between this article and the doximity rankings? Is there more validity to one vs the other? << lol, someone put UCLA in top tier (UCLA isn't even a Department, it's a Division) >> lol UCLA low tier for sure << realistically, probably middle to low, great overall health system but will always have hands tied and no real ability to grow
Mar 23
0
UCLA is a solid program, strong surgical training, lacks the super complex patients of some more intense programs but it depends on what you are looking for in your training << I don't think anyone's saying it's a bad program, just not a top tier, that's kind of silly
Mar 23
0
UCLA is the perfect example of a low-to-mid tier program that is nonetheless quite competitive given it's in California. Again, there's often a disconnect between prestige/quality of training and competitiveness. Location, location, location.
Mar 23
0
No way that Hopkins and UCLA would be top tier over Michigan and Mayo
Mar 23
0
Mid-tier: OHSU, Iowa, Minnesota, UPMC >> Would probably put MN as low tier? >> Thoughts? Why? >> Minnesota would probably be in same tier as OHSU, Iowa, UPMC. Iowa has great faculty, but I think it does suffer from being in a relatively non-diverse, predominately white, smallish-city in Iowa. Minnesota, OHSU, and UPMC are in more urban environments with at least UPMC and Minnesota having more ethnic / racial diversity, (Portland is super white as well). Also, no one should trust that MDedge nonsense x5
Mar 23
0
To be fair they tried to make an objective measure. Many of the opinions here leave out some good programs and add in top medical schools that are not top derm programs
Mar 23
0
MN, Iowa as med-high tier? Would drop UPMC to low tier (just feel like no residents really enjoy it there but maybe that's just me lol)? And Iowa usually as a top 20 program on almost all ranking systems (though you cant always trust these things so who knows). I think its one of those places that suffers in many peoples minds because they have a not-so great med school and its in the mid west, but the derm program is actually extremely well-respected independednt of those facts
<-What is this list based on? Its totally inaccurate. Hopkins and Vanderbilt are mid tier programs at best. No Yale? No UW? No Wisconsin? No Miami? No Sinai? Cornell over Columbia? UPMC is definitely mid to top tier. Also, tiers maybe, but I dont understand how you can possibly rank 1 vs. 3 vs. 8 off the cuff << yeah, 1-3 is pretty standard, gets messy with next 5 I was about to post how accurate this list is. Some of the programs listed above are no way in the conversation. You can maybe disagree with Wash U/Cornell to the left tho. I'd agree Vanderbilt too high too
Mar 23
0
<Yale for sure. x4 . Think that list is pretty accurate for top 20 minus Wash U, Cornell, and Vanderbilt. Would replace with Yale and Columbia. And Cleveland Clinic maybe. <<I question the order of some of these too. Hopkins is not a top 10 (but it is a top 20 probably). I agree that Sinai, miami, Columbia would also be top 20. Vandy should not be on that list and neither should a few others.
Mar 23
0
<How good are the following programs: UPMC, Hopkins, UCSD, Miami.
Mar 23
0
I think those are all decent programs (mid-top tier?). I would say that I typically view Hopkins as a mid-tier program (they don't have a lot of diversity in terms of training sites, though Hopkins itself is a great hospital). Miami is typically considered a Top 10 program - but they also are quite disorganized, old facilities, longer hours (Saturday clinics). UPMC takes a lot of MD/PhDs and has great Mohs training, though I never found their program actually attracts people who want to be there. UCSD is solid, somewhat basic-science focused. It's outshined by other programs in California (e.g. Stanford, UCSF, USC) and San Diego has great weather / beaches, though admittedly isn't the most exciting place to live / lacks a lot of arts / culture compared to most bigger cities in the United States.
Mar 23
0
name me a state with better Mexican food tho
Mar 23
0
0
Colorado x2, Utah, brown x2, stanford x2, Saint Louis, UCLA
< They sent me 2 rejections x3 << Actually 3 rejections now. x3
Mar 23
0
4TH ONE NOW, JESUS THE INCOMPETENCE
Mar 23
0
lol I'm dead. They really want to rub it in
Mar 23
0
I got 3 rejections. Wow, was I that terrible of a candidate?
Mar 23
0
the rest of us got 4 so you might only be slightly terrible lmao
Mar 23
0
Alright Colorado, I get the hint. After the second rejection, i wasn't sure. But that third rejection confirmed that you really really don't want me << They probably clicked "send" and it was slow to load so they clicked it a couple more times. << ya I get it
Mar 23
0
COLORADO PLEASE STOP IT. A MAN CAN ONLY BE KICKED WHEN DOWN SO MANY TIMES
Mar 23
0
as DJ Khaled says, "ANOTHER ONE" <LOL
Mar 23
0
colorado... pathetic, great sign for that program!
Mar 23
0
fucking quadruple tapped, TKO
Mar 23
0
so emotionally exhausted by this process that all I could muster after getting rejecte by the same program 4x in 6 min was an eyeroll
Mar 23
0
I'd like to imagine that the coordinator left their ERAS up on their computer while going to get a snack from the kitchen and then their cat just walked all over their keyboard << lol the colorado Cat
Mar 23
0
WTF was this? No apology email? Wild ride.
Mar 23
0
0
Colorado is a state of the Western United States encompassing most of the southern Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains. It is bordered by Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona. <-- v tru, but also, colorado prog coordinator said they're notifying people mid dec
just brushin up my US geography in case the PD asks me which state I would be if I could choose << new mexico, breaking bad 4 sho
Mar 23
0
is this the new what is your spirit animal question?
Mar 23
0
mine is still a dead horse because ive been beaten so many times :(( << don't beat a dead horse!! << i need invites and then i'll stop being dead :) :( << and at that point then we can beat you!! << literally nothing is stopping you now, join life as it currently beating me up :( << it sounds like you're having a rough time right now, but remember that you're amazing to even get to this point, and there are so many people who love and care about you!
Mar 23
0
0
Interviewed 20 for 6 spots They interviewed fewer applicants this year compared to previous years << also I think their interview dates had a lot of conflicts and perhaps they didn't invite additional people after some had to drop ther invites
absolutely got what they deserved. sent us SIX EMAILS SOACED OUT OVER AN HOUR of rejections, now they might have to fucking SOAP a person they rejected. -- SOAP 2 people they rejected -- Still not worse than MAYO and their BS Survey
Mar 23
0
I don't think this is fair, clearly the multiple emails were an admin error--it's not like they were intentionally saying FU. Everyone who got interview invites also got these rejection emails too. They're a good program << Agreed, I am not mad at Colorado at all for the 6 email mistake. It was funny and accidental << Unlike Mayo which was intentional spam x2 << dude chill, clearly was a clerical error. check your ego. The coordinator is a super nice lady, just a mistake...I do wish they sent out a few more interviews though
Colorado is spectacular< How you gonna say really to Colorado? Colorado is the tits bitch
Mar 23
0
<Amazing program with incredible residents/faculty, interviewed there last year and ultimately ranked a different program higher (and matched there) purely for personal/family reasons, but I truly loved Colorado!
Mar 23
0
Why are residents on here? Go live your best derm life. <not derm life yet if they interviewed last year << forget these naysayers, dear resident, thank you for posting here
Mar 23
0
< also heartbroken. very strong program in every way imagineable and what an epic location! congrats to those who got it. truly an awesome place to learn derm and enjoy the derm lifestyle
Mar 23
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0
I was a top applicant and emailed Colorado for an interview and they were like ... naw. And they only had one applying this year I heard. Not sure what their game plan was << SAME but with Tufts << Ok, 'top applicant' << lol
Maybe CO was actually planning on filling these thru SOAP? Every year a few top 20 260+ applicants slip through the cracks for whatever reason... Maybe they were aiming for that exact group? <<if you believe this you are delusional lol
Mar 23
0
<lol in that case they could have just interviewed them. No program wants to soap. It is a bad look -- Most embarassing black mark a program can get
PGY-1 here. Colorado>UCI, unless you need to be in SoCal. I did an away last year at Colorado and unfortunately didn't get an interview, but when I was there, all the residents and faculty were so incredibly happy. Happiest program I've seen yet.