Are the criteria posted on programs sites doomed?

Many applicants refrain from applying to certain programs after reading the criteria posted on their web page. To be clear, many applicant actually match to programs they don't meet even a minimum criterion. There are many factors that have to do with this issue, we will talk about the more important ones that matter to applicants especially the IMGs.

1- Most of these websites are not updated and these criteria were set in the past mainly for AMGs in the days where residency programs were fewer than these days and applicants were fewer as well.

2- These days, IMGs with certain positive points in their CVs can bypass the filters. Worth to mention are Green card holders (or no visa needed status) and extensive observerships.

3- People who also do observerships in these programs and prove that their USMLE scores don't really reflect their clinical knowledge also will have priority on other people that meet the criteria especially that they are already familiar with the system. Program directors and other interviewing staff do appreciate LORs from their colleagues in the same program.

So the take home point is don't stick to these criteria posted on the programs sites but apply widely to as much as programs you can afford otherwise you will end getting no interviews.