My Tips and Advice for ERAS

Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing well and in the best of health physically, mentally, and emotionally. It’s been a minute I know but so much has gone on. I am pretty much halfway through my fourth year of medical school which is so crazy to think about Subhanallah. I have done my crucial rotations, applied to residencies and I am currently trying to figure out which program would be best suited for me. It’s exciting and nerve-wracking. At the same time, I am saddened by what is happening in Palestine. There are many innocent civilians, mostly women and children, who are being killed for no reason at all. Just for merely existing. And it’s disheartening that there are people who are not only silent in the atrocities committed by the I@ra3i colonizers but actually support and defend them. As someone who entered the healthcare field to truly be a servant leader and assist those in need, it’s shocking to see the double standard when it comes to who people think deserves the right to live.

There are many of us who are uneducated about this conflict and genocide and may think that this started recently. This started more than 75 years ago. Here’s a link to help with educating about the history of what’s going on: https://www.thepalestineacademy.com/. There are also many people to follow on social media like @yourfavoriteguy, @notyourlawyermd, @wizard_bisan1, @motaz, @plestia, @arianajasmine____, @littleyeg, and @withloveleena who talk about what is going on in Palestine and what we can do to help. Do your best to share what is going on, donate, and call your senators for a ceasefire (5 calls is a good app). We really need to do our part to bring light to this situation, stop more lives from being lost, and allow the oppressed to become free.

Anyway, I wanted to kind of give some tips and advice for ERAS. ERAS stands for Electronic Residency Application Service. You can submit your application starting in early September, with programs reviewing applications by late September. I remember being so stressed applying because I did not know what I was doing. I was kind of lost. I am so thankful for the people in my corner and the many resources that I was able to access, more than when I was applying to medical school alhamdudillah. Anyway here’s what I recommended:

1. Get your letters EARLY!!!

Y’all I cannot stress this enough. Your application will not be complete without having at least 3 letters of recommendation. It’s specialty-dependent but most programs want a chair letter, a letter from someone who works in your specific specialty, and another letter from someone you worked with. These letter writers are usually medical doctors and doctors are BUSY. Therefore be proactive. If there’s a doctor you worked with who you vibed with in like November of your 3rd year, ask if they can write you a letter. Keep their contacts and follow up. You will thank yourself later instead of stressing out 1 month before applications are to be submitted and you have no one to write you a letter. 😭😭😭

2. Start your personal statement EARLY!!!

This again! The reason why I had letters as more of a priority over this is because, for letters, you have to depend on someone else to write them. The personal statement, however, is truly up to you. The tips for the personal statement are still the same as the ones for when applying to medical school (https://oumouspersonalposts.com/2020/07/21/my-guide-to-writing-the-personal-statement/) except you are answering the question of why this specialty. You want to try to keep it near a page. Honestly, it was not too bad writing this personal statement and I had fewer drafts but it was definitely stressful thinking about it haha so try to get it out of the way. Also, do not pay for someone to help you with it unless you feel like you need it.

3. SAVE MONEY!!!

Y’all. This application is expensive. More than applying to medical school. Remember the fee assistance program for AMCAS? Yeah, ERAS does not have that. Depending on the specialty and your stats you may be applying to more than 50+ schools. Which is more than $1,000 😱😱😱. Definitely research the programs that you want to apply to and the benefits that they offer (Freida is a good website for that.)

On top of that, there is a fee for a USMLE transcript and to add an NMRP ID (this is needed to participate in the match). So if you were planning to go on that expensive trip to celebrate the beginning of your 4th year or splurge on something nice, I would wait.

Sidenote: Again, try your best to avoid paying companies or second parties to go through your application. You definitely do not need to do this, especially because there are so many free resources. Some of these people charge up to $1,000. Yea nope.

4. Take Step 2 before submitting your application

I cannot stress this enough. Some people wait until September to take Step 2 and I would not recommend that. Applying and studying are both draining therefore it’s best to get one out of the way first. I struggled to take Step 2 by August which was considered late but I am so glad I did not wait until September. This is because it takes about 2 weeks for scores to be released. Again please take Step 2 as soon as possible. Check out my previous post for tips on conquering Step 2.

5. Prepare your 10 experiences

Honestly, the ERAS application was easier than AMCAS. It was pretty straightforward. If one wanted to, the actual application could be completed in one sitting lol (do not recommend). But definitely think about experiences that were meaningful to you before starting.

Some people differ between writing about their experiences in bullet points vs sentences. I did sentences because it flowed better but do what is best for you. It’s pretty similar to how it’s done with AMCAS but shorter.

I recommend watching this guy, Malke Asaad because he has a one-hour-long video going through the application. It helped immensely.

6. Try to reach out to your research people to get publications in

Research is looked at more in this application, especially because Step 1 is P/F, therefore if you have projects that are at the stage of submission but not there yet, put some pressure on the research coordinators. The more the better! Also if there were also poster presentations that your colleagues went to, be sure to add those in as well!

7. Figure out if you have any misdemeanors

Y’all my school was making a ruckus about putting down traffic violations on your ERAS application. Um….idk about that. 😐 The best thing to do is go to a lawyer or the state courthouse to see whether or not those count as true misdemeanors. Programs receive so many applications and may throw yours away if you put down that you have a misdemeanor. Therefore take this seriously!

8. Have someone proofread your application

Yes to this! There may be tiny mistakes that you may not notice so definitely meet with someone to go over the application. I had my school advisor go through it with me which was very helpful. Do not pay unless you feel like you need to. I repeat DO NOT PAY SOMEONE! 🚨🚨🚨

9. Get your photos in for ERAS

This honestly stressed me out too. I struggled to find a photographer who made me look somewhat decent and was affordable. I was not trying to pay an arm and a leg to look airbrushed. Luckily, I found out about JCPenny and only paid $30 for mine! I went back twice because I did not like the first round but I would recommend telling the photographer for redos if you do not like your photos. https://www.groupon.com/deals/jcpenney-portraits-1552-marketplace

Also, do not forget to resize your photo to ERAS size requirements!

10. Assign your signals, transcript, picture, personal statement, and LORS to the respective programs

This is crucial advice and if it is not done correctly, it can bite you in the behind. Some specialties have signaling, which means that you put those to programs you are super duper interested in. There can be 7-20 signals that you can give depending on what specialty you are applying. Make sure to apply signals BEFORE you submit your application. I repeat, BEFORE. Because after you submit your application, you cannot no longer apply any signals.

After you submit your application, you have to assign everything else to the programs you have applied to. Make sure these are all assigned or else your application is not complete. At the end you’re gonna see a big fat dollar sign of everything you have to pay for 😪, but then that is when you know that you have completed everything. Here’s a video that guides you on how to do all that.

And that’s it y’all! I really hope this blog was informative for ERAS and also for what is going on globally. Praying and rooting for your success. Please also pray for our Palestinian brothers and sisters and everything they are going through. Even though it may be scary to speak up for what is right, our future generations are going to read about this. I pray that we all stand on the right side of history. Anyway, good luck and please reach out if you need anything!