Applicant sentiment — from 89 anonymous posts, 2017–2027
5.5 / 10
What anonymous posters said
Several anonymous posts noted that relatively few students matched into dermatology from this program, prompting speculation about causes. A number of commenters described the interview process and invitation timing as occurring in batches, and some posts described interview days as engaging or positively received, with mentions of increasing clinical exposure in certain subspecialty areas.
Match termsvanderbiltvanderbilt dermvanderbilt univvandyvandy dermvumc derm
Fame & Shame
2026-2027 Derm
3 entries
❌1. 10 weeks of consults, covering VUMC + children's hospital. You're truly on your own, walking all over the place with no cap on number of consults. The consult room is a janky addition to the outside of a research building, with no access to running water. For some reason, the rest of the building is not directly accessible by card, and you have to go across the courtyard to the outpatient clinics for a bathroom. Two of the attendings are perfectionists for whom nothing you do will ever be good enough. Other than these 10 weeks during PGY-2, a relatively normal residency experience.
❌2. I think it's more than the 10 weeks during the second year of derm. during my away there was a second resident in a different year on consults too.
💬1. The other resident is just there to help out, making it a lot better than previously when it was just a single resident on consults for 5 week straight at a time. The second resident has pretty normal hours, and they're there instead of clinic. Overall the culture is great at Vanderbilt. Call room is a luxurty compared to other places.
2025–2026 Derm
2 entries
❌1. 10 weeks of consults, covering VUMC + children's hospital. You're truly on your own, walking all over the place with no cap on number of consults. The consult room is a janky addition to the outside of a research building, with no access to running water. For some reason, the rest of the building is not directly accessible by card, and you have to go across the courtyard to the outpatient clinics for a bathroom. Two of the attendings are perfectionists for whom nothing you do will ever be good enough. Other than these 10 weeks during PGY-2, a relatively normal residency experience.
❌2. I think it's more than the 10 weeks during the second year of derm. during my away there was a second resident in a different year on consults too.
Are step2ck scores mostly a cutoff or does having a super high score (e.g. 275-280+) help you match at top programs better? if people had very similar ECs would the 280+ person be considered over a like a 261 for example? not sure how that works.
More of a cutoff at least at programs I'm familiar with. home pd says she considers everything 260+ the same
Oct 18
0
i think vanderbilt and mayo in particular love high stats (275+)
Oct 18
0
< know a couple residents at those places with 250s
Oct 18
0
anything else that was special about those applicants
Oct 18
0
had super cool niche hobbies, think falconry and white water rafting
Oct 18
0
underwater bsket weaving
Oct 19
0
und
Oct 19
0
240s here and i like painting pics of my pet cat picasso-style
Oct 19
0
might make more sense to take a year pursuing underwater basket weaving rather than research years at this point tbh
Oct 19
0
sign me uppppp
Oct 19
0
i think vanderbilt and mayo in particular love high stats (275+)>does sinai love high step scores too?
Oct 19
0
no cutoff at my home program, gradient from low to high is considered but context of app/rest of app is much more heavy than the score itself
Oct 19
0
sinai loves their RY students lmao
Oct 19
1
hell yeah ranked to match pss pss pss
Oct 19
0
charting outcomes shows increasing with match rate w increasing score
Oct 19
0
people are only human. I'd wager that those who get a 270+ are still seen with an added halo effect. With the added caveat that those people aren't weirdos and can interview decently, of course
6d ago
0
0
Incoming M1 here deciding between vanderbilt and washu. I heard WashU had a rough derm match this year. Does anyone know if WashU is a good school if derm is my end goal?? I heard from current students that their match list has been good in the past, but their department isn't super supportive in terms of mentorship/research.
what makes some schools better at matching people into derm? seeing schools vanderbilt mentioned for matching small #s and schools like colorado who matched 7 this year, what makes a school/their students more successful in the match?
people from Vanderbilt might assume they have a better chance bc their school is "better" or "higher in rankings" so may not try as hard on rotations or with creating connections. Personal opinion
Mar 25
0
Harvard matched 14, Hopkins 10 and Penn 10 -- I'm kinda seeing a pattern there lol
Mar 25
0
vanderbilt only had 1 person apply derm this year
Mar 25
0
14 is crazy
Mar 25
0
last year penn had almost 10 unmatched tho
Mar 25
0
UIC matched 7 which is impressive for mid tier
Mar 25
0
Harvard didn't match 14, matched 11.
Mar 25
0
vanderbilt only had 1 person apply derm this year << I imagine one of the reasons Colorado's med students had an easier time getting into Derm as because of the dermatoepidemiology research of Dr. Dellavalle where he cranks out publications like crazy.
Mar 26
0
The best schools match the best, maybe its school name maybe its cuz those ppl are cracked. I've heard my PD say that the top programs care more about med school rank
Mar 26
0
he left CO a few years ago so idk how many current applicants even worked with him
Mar 26
0
Harvard matched 11, some students went unmatched
Mar 26
0
vanderbilt only had 1 person apply derm this year << I imagine one of the reasons Colorado's med students had an easier time getting into Derm is because of the dermatoepidemiology research of Dr. Dellavalle since he cranks out publications like crazy.
Mar 26
0
there was that one Harvard student on here who had 0 interviews because Harvard doesn't even interview all their internal applicants
Mar 27
0
that student had 0 IIs for a reason though
Mar 27
0
what was the reason???
Mar 28
0
0
Is there a reason that Vanderbilt matches so few people into Derm? I feel like they get so few for a Derm program that is pretty good.
they only had one student applying into derm this year! they actually do a lot as a med school to support thier students going into competitive specialties
Mar 25
0
i'm that student lol my friend saw this and told me to pop on here - I had a great experience!! < Thank you guys, for explaining!! I was surprised looking at the match list with only one Derm match but I guess this year only one person was interested in going for Derm. Unusual, but it can happen.
Mar 25
0
they only had 1 derm applicant apply this year!
Mar 25
0
0
Can we create a list of programs that have early morning didactics (like 6:30 or 7am start time) before clinic?
When a program says they have "academic half days", does this just refer to study time or lectures
Mar 7
0
"academic half days" are study time. "didactics" are lectures
Mar 7
0
0
People keep blasting Vandy saying its intense but its literally just 4 months of inpatient like wdym? Lowkey people just saying stuff to scare applicants away smh
no I actually rotated there and the comments are true. no fear mongering. The inpatient was very intense from my first hand experience and from what the residents also told me. It felt like a very intense internal medicine rotation and I stayed until 8-9pm a few times and the residents said call was intense
Feb 21
1
yea not every negative comment about a program on here is unfounded
Feb 21
0
>what about everything else? any good aspects
Feb 21
0
residents all got along really well (also rotated there), but vibes are pretty formal and agree that consult days were very busy and we were routinely there ~7/8a - 8p or so a few days a week
Feb 21
0
residents all got along really well (also rotated there), but vibes are pretty formal and agree that consult days were very busy and we were routinely there ~7/8a - 8p or so a few days a week
Mar 7
0
2
have programs already decided their rank list or does it change during February? Wondering if it's program dependent or what's the most common practice... Do some programs just submit on Feb 2 and don't look at it again?>i've heard most programs rank after the last interview
Which schools ARE having second looks? Which ones are for sure NOT having second looks?
Feb 21
0
Vandy, Jeff, Iowa IS MedStar, Duke, Northwestern are NOT Cleveland Clinic you can message to set one up
Feb 21
0
0
Vandy squad going this weekend. How yall prepping for this storm thats finna pull up<excuse me??>> i'm actually worried im not gonna be able to make it to the interview, i wonder if they would consider rescheduling us, should we email the coordinator?
Definitely not UW. I feel like programs with most cosmetic exposure (and demand) are in larger cities than Madison WI. I'd guess UCSD probably has a decent amount
Feb 21
0
UW is in Seattle
Feb 21
0
I hear NW has a lot of cosmetics but i didnt apply there
Feb 21
0
lol there are 2 UWs
Feb 21
0
definitely not UMich, in the interview they specifically cited their lack of cosmetics
Feb 21
0
NW or Mich probs
Feb 21
0
for exposure to cosmetics?
Feb 21
0
UW madison or UW washington? washington literally said during interviews not to go there if you want to do cosmetics, they're very strong in the med-derm arena tho
Feb 21
0
Vanderbilt interview day said they have increasing cosmetic exposure and the ability to do 3-4 weeks working with someone who does alot of cosmetics.
Feb 21
0
NW also mentioned strong cosmetics
Feb 21
0
UW is in Seattle
Mar 7
0
I hear NW has a lot of cosmetics but i didnt apply there
Mar 7
0
lol there are 2 UWs
Mar 7
0
definitely not UMich, in the interview they specifically cited their lack of cosmetics
Mar 7
0
NW or Mich probs
Mar 7
0
for exposure to cosmetics?
Mar 7
0
UW madison or UW washington? washington literally said during interviews not to go there if you want to do cosmetics, they're very strong in the med-derm arena tho
why is vandy getting so much hype lately. what am I missing
Feb 21
0
interview date recently
Feb 21
0
interview date recently
Mar 7
0
0
wait someone mentioned in vandy's pre-interview social they had liquor + wine... in socials like these, should we indulge or err on the side of caution. Idk about slurring my words in front residents lol and maybe could be a test??> hahahah its not a test bro have a drink if you want
More of a cutoff at least at programs I'm familiar with. home pd says she considers everything 260+ the same