interview code words

[APACHE3]

I know I can't ask diretly if the progam will rank me, but can I (we) use "code words" to clue each other in on how we feel about each other??

example:
me: Should I look at a house in the area?
PD: I think that would be a good idea! OR I think you may be wasting your time!!

Are we allowed to get resident's email and stay informed that way? I don't want to do anything wrong, but if a program won't rank me, I would appreciate some clue.

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[Solideliquid]

I know I can't ask diretly if the progam will rank me, but can I (we) use "code words" to clue each other in on how we feel about each other??

example:
me: Should I look at a house in the area?
PD: I think that would be a good idea! OR I think you may be wasting your time!!

Are we allowed to get resident's email and stay informed that way? I don't want to do anything wrong, but if a program won't rank me, I would appreciate some clue.

From what I've seen (two interviews down, going to another Monday), you will be wasting your time asking these questions.

Just be yourself and rank accordingly on your ROL.

 

[edinOH]

It is hard to judge based on the interview.

"I hope to see you next year" and "Please keep in touch" or "Let us know if you have any questions" are pretty standard things to hear. They don't really mean anything other than their face value. The "see you next year" comments can be genuine of course or they can just be sincere politeness.

On the other hand, if you are asked "So what size should we order your white coat?", "Which mail box do you want", or "Do you want to buy my house?" are all typical indicators that they plan to rank you very high!

So much of this process comes down to where do you truly want to be and has the program done a good job identifying people through the interview process who sincerely want to be there? Usually these two factors can and will outweigh the numbers on the paper.

You will hear it often but I believe it is true...Once you make it to the interview, the playing field is level again.

I've participated in two match list days so far in my program, where we all get together in one room and literally go down the list via power point and discuss each and every candidate as we decide where to rank people. Rarely if ever do issues like GPA and Step scores come into play at this point. It is all about who we liked, remember, rotated with us and did well, and have received a strong indication they wish to be here.

I'm sure not every program does it quite this way, but I can guarantee a large portion, if not the majority do. At least in EM.

 

[APACHE3]

Thats a nice post. My OP regarded a post on another forum where an applicant received a letter from a program he just interviewed at that basically said

A reply from the PD at one of the programs I interviewed.
" Dear Dr.....
It was very nice to meet you during your visit to..........
Good luck with your interviews. You are a very good candidate"

This sounds like the program is giving him a hint that he won't be ranked at program. Maybe I'm just paranoid. My first interview is in two weeks, just trying to get the feel for the process. Oh well, we'll see...

 

[argh]

When I interviewed last year, I didn't take anything short of "we plan on ranking you very highly" as a hint. That said, always always always rank according to where you want to be; as long as the program ranks you, there is a legitimate chance of your being at that program. A few people I've talked to wound up at programs that they thought they had no chance of matching into based on the comments or lack of them that interviewers/PD's made.

 

[blue2000]

When I interviewed last year, I didn't take anything short of "we plan on ranking you very highly" as a hint. That said, always always always rank according to where you want to be; as long as the program ranks you, there is a legitimate chance of your being at that program. A few people I've talked to wound up at programs that they thought they had no chance of matching into based on the comments or lack of them that interviewers/PD's made.

Even "we plan to rank you very highly" is suspect. "Very highly" could mean in the top 20/200, but if they've never gone deeper than 12, you would be SOL.

A good indication of whether you'll be ranked highly at a program is the name in your envelope on match day. Don't be suckered. PDs are playing the game as much as we are, and if you twist yourself in knots trying to figure out "what people are really saying" you might end up in trouble.

My advice: interview. Decide where you'd like to be. Tell your first choice program that you are ranking them #1. Wait for your envelope.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

Interesting that you bring up the housing issue APACHE.

When I interviewed at UPenn, the PD strongly encouraged me to come on a second visit where he would arrange for a real estate agent to show me around the good parts of Philly where buying a place would be reasonably affordable. This was at the end of the day after he had gotten some initial feedback from some of my interviewers.

Maybe he was blowing smoke up my ass but hey, I took it as pretty strongly suggestive language.