Applications

Universal Application Advice
Apply early. Don't delay putting in your applications to wait for an additional letter of recommendation, an additional award, etc. You should submit applications the first day they are opened for submission. Applying late will close doors to you. (Note that as of this edit, ERAS will allow you to add additional letters after submitting; it will NOT allow you to remove or un-send a letter once it has been submitted to the program.)

Apply to as many "dream schools" as you're willing to pay for applications to - can't hurt, and you'll land some exciting interviews. Apply to a few (at least 3) "sure bets" so that if the interview season doesn't go well, you don't have to give up on your chosen specialty.

Knowing how competitive you are is tough. Talk to 4th years in your specialty of interest; but don't put too much weight on any one person's recommendations. "Charting Outcomes of the Match" gives you an average step 1 score for an average program. *I* like the rule of twenties: national average is about 220, add 20 for a competitive specialty, add 20 for the top programs, subtract 20 for less competitive specialties, subtract 20 for less highly ranked programs. (Plastics at Harvard ~ 260, family medicine at a community program ~ passing). It's been said that a PhD is worth adding 10 points to your step 1 score, but this is obviously simplistic - if you published a lot, that will give you a huge boost at research oriented programs, while non-research oriented programs and specialties may not care.

'''Your application should "stand out," but not, "stick out." '''It's easier for one faculty member who is turned off by an off-the-wall personal statement to hurt you than for ten faculty members who loved your originality to help you. Be creative and original, but not wacky.

Prelim / Transitional Years
You can use the same letters of recommendation and personal statement as you used for your chosen specialty. The prelim / TY programs know you are going on to something else and are interested in how you arrived at that specialty. You don't need to make your letter writers submit 2 different letters changing the words, "anesthesiology" with "transitional year." Depending on your personal statement, it may be wise to write a slightly modified version explaining what you hope to get out of a TY, for example, or how you think the prelim year fits into your long term goals, but don't stress too much about this. Many students have used identical personal statements  and letters and not missed out.

TY years are more competitive than prelim years. This is because you're competing with ophthalmology, radiology, radiation oncology, and other more competitive specialty applicants.

Radiology
Radiology puts a lot of weight on Step 1. It's hard to be able to work closely enough with radiologists as a med student to get a stellar letter of recommendation, and the programs know this, so it's ok if your radiology letter is nothing magical. (Dr. Gai, nuclear medicine at the VA in Danville, likes having students who are going into rads, and will happily write you a letter if you spend 2 weeks with him. It's a good rotation because he teaches you a lot, and gives you lots of time to read during the day). Doing an away is not typically necessary in radiology, but it's probably a good idea only because there is no rads residency here. Doing an away in a subspecialty like pediatric rads will keep you in one department long enough to network - general radiology aways will have you rotating through services so fast you won't get to know the people as well. (pediatrics specifically is also nice because you'll still see all imaging modalities and all body systems, so it's like a general radiology rotation but with a more managable body of knowledge to acquire. Interventional is another good one in terms of networking, as you'll get to know the department well, and in some ways can contribute more as a student than in other rotations).