TMSU advertises a 96% residency placement rate over the last five years. How representative is that figure of the average student experience, and what factors helped successful students match?

valuemd (Admin)

We have seen this 96% figure come up repeatedly in prospective student inquiries and in TMSU's own promotional materials. Before drawing conclusions, it is worth asking: how is this number calculated, who is included in the denominator, and does it reflect the full student journey from matriculation to match? We encourage current students, alumni, and applicants with firsthand knowledge to weigh in. Please keep the discussion factual and constructive. Personal anecdotes, match timelines, and candid breakdowns of what helped or hurt your application are all welcome here.

LeahCole (Student)

ok, so i've been waiting for someone to make this thread. the 96% number has been floating around since forever and every time i ask admissions about the methodology they give me the same non-answer. From what i can piece together they only count students who actually applied to the match that year, not everyone who started. If you left after year 1 or year 2 you just don't exist in their denominator. so yeah the number might be technically accurate but it's describing a very specific subset of people.

BenjaminWard (Student)

this is exactly what my advisor told me during orientation. she actually said "our placement rate reflects students who cleared step 1 and step 2 and entered the match cycle." so yeah, everyone who didn't clear those hurdles just isn't in there. which is a lot of people honestly.

Zachary (Alumni)

graduated 2023, matched IM at a community program in the midwest. i can confirm the denominator thing is real. my cohort started with around 210 students. by the time we were applying to the match it was maybe 130. the 96% of that 130 is very different from 96% of 210. i'm not saying TMSU is being dishonest, they're doing what basically every school does, but you need to go in eyes open.

Jason00 (Student)

ok this is genuinely helpful and also genuinely terrifying lol. so what's a more realistic number people should have in their heads when thinking about going to TMSU? like if i start with 100 people how many actually end up practicing medicine?

Zachary (Alumni)

the NRMP publishes data on this. for caribbean IMG students broadly the graduation-to-match rate including attrition tends to be around 40-50% depending on the school and cohort year. TMSU likely sits somewhere in that range or maybe a little above it given their infrastructure, but i honestly don't know their specific numbers. just don't use the 96% as your anchor, that's all i'm saying.

Ethan89 (Alumni)

matched this cycle, family medicine, decent program in the southeast. going to share what i think made the difference for me personally since that's part of what this thread is asking about. step 1 score mattered but not in the way i expected - i got a 227 which is fine but not outstanding. what i think actually moved the needle was my clinical rotation evaluations and the fact that i did two sub-Is at US programs where attendings knew me by name. letters from people who actually worked with you for 4+ weeks are just different from the standard rotation letter. also i applied early and broadly, like 80+ programs for FM which sounds insane but it works.