u/soxl-rexper

US-IMG here from Indian med school applying IM this cycle. Stats are YOG 2026 with P/22x, 3 months USCE, 1 publication and 1 year volunteer experience. ECFMG certified and hoping to score well on Step 3 before the match cycle starts. I hear people saying u have to build your list of programs quite in advance but i feel there is a lot of disparity in the data i see on Residency Explorer and Frieda.
To the US-IMGs who matched this year -
How do u find programs catered to your profile and go about making that list?
Also, is there anything i can do to make my profile more competitive in the mean time?

Hi everyone, as we are nearing the next match season, i wanted some insights before the application season starts.

I am a US-IMG. YOG 2026.
My Step 1/2CK is P/23x and got ECFMG certified recently so i’m hoping to give Step 3 in August with a goal of scoring 245+ as i was quite disappointed with my Step 2CK score drop. I understand that Step 3 wont exactly negate a low 2CK score but it is better than nothing.
I completed 3 months of hands-on Internal Medicine USCE (1 month GI and 2 months of inpatient IM exposure) and have 1 GI paper published as well.

I’m hoping to apply to University-affiliated hospitals but i often hear that my Step 2CK score will be a red flag and automatically filtered out. Is there anything that I can particularly focus on to improve my chances?