Whats up with ERAS?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
I also think suing isn't the best choice, as eventually you'll have to use their service again unless you're changing occupations.

That being said, this is extremely frustrating. I had everything ready to go and just needed to certify and apply/pay. All my programs were already selected. I was online at 8:30 and about 20 minutes before the servers went down it finally allowed me to certify, but never would allow me on the actual apply page. Still more infuriating, people in my class who managed to get through have already started getting invites (yes, I know, crazy fast).
Members don't see this ad.
 
[USER=553803]@JackShephard[/USER] said:
This is no different than when people found where they matched a week early last year. I followed that story, and they mentioned their contract went to the lowest bidder. It's a sad display of execution and planning. They can blame it on the technology, but that's an excuse. Why wouldn't you allow everyone to ready their application and submit it in a staggered approach or even a multiple week period
Click to expand...

Well an obvious difference is that the NRMP and ERAS are not the same entity.

I doubt suing is the right avenue, but this debacle is incredibly frustrating.
Click to expand...

I don't doubt that it's incredibly frustrating. But a couple of posters need to walk away from their keyboards and get some fresh air and calm down.

This is, I'm sure, incredibly frustrating. It is NOT hurting your residency application chances.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Knightmd said:
Here's a FACT for you all to consider:

If you can prove in a court of law, that this delay caused harm to your application, you can sue ERAS. So this means, if invites go to people who got our their application early before ERAS crashed, and that being late led to your application having a smaller chance of being considered, then you can sue ERAS for all your fees, time, and expenses of getting a match this year. This is a lot of money for many people.

So in short, I'm one of those who couldn't apply becuase of this problem. I'm applying in a competitive subspecialty. I know for a fact last year programs were sorting out applications they received by Sept 15th afternoon/evening. If I don't match, I might have enough to sue ERAS.

This means they will HAVE TO contact programs and urge them not to start considering applications till they get it fixed and it works for everyone.
Click to expand...


Lolz... CHILL...

I understand why you are nervous, but I can assure you that your chances will not be affected by this. Sorting afternoon/evening is just their coordinator doing his/her job. You are applying to competitive residency. The programs ran by presumably the 'smartest' people in the world! It would be SO STUPID to make distinctions between applicants this way... lolz. Remember you are nervous and excited about your one and only application, but the programs have done this for so many years. It is just another day at the office.

Also, there is no way you can take this court. Lolz...
 
southernIM said:
Well an obvious difference is that the NRMP and ERAS are not the same entity.

I don't doubt that it's incredibly frustrating. But a couple of posters need to walk away from their keyboards and get some fresh air and calm down.

This is, I'm sure, incredibly frustrating. It is NOT hurting your residency application chances.
Click to expand...

I didn't say they were the same entity, I said it's a similar error.

Oh, I don't think it will hurt either. Rather, it's a sign of systemic problems. Just like a diabetic with acanthosis nigricans, they don't need to worry about their skin color but instead the mayhem inside that is destroying their body.

They've found ways to abuse their position and face no consequences. Forbes had an article on the NRMP recently, it explains this same issue which is the basis of anti-trust laws in America and why consumers fear when one company becomes too large. Education has become too large and can now arrive at whatever whimsical end they chose, in this case, still guaranteed 30,000 new customers next year and another million dollars to send some emails. It's a impenetrable business model.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapot...dency-matching-system-for-newly-minted-m-d-s/
 
Last edited:
if you can find a good lawyer, i bet you can take this to the court
 
[USER=553803]@JackShephard[/USER] said:
This is no different than when people found where they matched a week early last year.
Click to expand...

To be fair...the Match snafu you're referring to was the NRMP's disaster, not related to ERAS. They are cooperative programs but not run by the same people. ERAS has definitely had its share of poorly-timed crashes, though, which ought to have prepared them for the traffic today. I really don't think anyone applying needs to worry about programs not reviewing applications received after today's date...not that you ever really needed to worry about that. But I usually download 200+ applications the first day and only received 20 today. It's a new thing. It's glitchy. Don't Panic.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
eablackwell said:
I also think suing isn't the best choice, as eventually you'll have to use their service again unless you're changing occupations.

That being said, this is extremely frustrating. I had everything ready to go and just needed to certify and apply/pay. All my programs were already selected. I was online at 8:30 and about 20 minutes before the servers went down it finally allowed me to certify, but never would allow me on the actual apply page. Still more infuriating, people in my class who managed to get through have already started getting invites (yes, I know, crazy fast).
Click to expand...

lol yeah probably because the programs have all of 10 applications to look at right now
 
mcl said:
To be fair...the Match snafu you're referring to was the NRMP's disaster, not related to ERAS. They are cooperative programs but not run by the same people. ERAS has definitely had its share of poorly-timed crashes, though, which ought to have prepared them for the traffic today. I really don't think anyone applying needs to worry about programs not reviewing applications received after today's date...not that you ever really needed to worry about that. But I usually download 200+ applications the first day and only received 20 today. It's a new thing. It's glitchy. Don't Panic.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I hope I don't sound panicked and I agree this will have little effect on our applications.

Good luck everyone, looks like I'm waiting until tomorrow.
 
And there it is... "MyERAS will remain closed for the rest of today; we plan to open at 9amET on 9/16, but will provide an update at 6am ET to confirm." -@ERASinfo twitter page
 
thedoctor8706 said:
And there it is... "MyERAS will remain closed for the rest of today; we plan to open at 9amET on 9/16, but will provide an update at 6am ET to confirm." -@ERASinfo twitter page
Click to expand...
Where'd you read that?

All I'm still getting is the Service Temporarily Unavailable message
 
simpsons-technical-difficulties1.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Let's all hope that Match Day goes off smoothly. I can see it now: medical students nationwide open their envelopes only to find a letter saying "Service temporarily unavailable. Please check again later."
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
There was clearly a problem with ERAS last night. Doing anything was almost as sluggish as it was this morning. Looks like they aren't going to even let you log in till 9AM so people who have been trying to get some last minute things done are going to be a bit delayed in finally applying.

Le sigh.
 
drk said:
There was clearly a problem with ERAS last night. Doing anything was almost as sluggish as it was this morning. Looks like they aren't going to even let you log in till 9AM so people who have been trying to get some last minute things done are going to be a bit delayed in finally applying.

Le sigh.
Click to expand...

man, it sucks because i have literally zero access to a computer tomorrow until mid to late afternoon. when i had all day today to click refresh.
 
I can totally understand how people are frustrated. But this is meaningless in the big picture. We'll be reviewing applications for many days / weeks. Take a deep breath, have a beer, try again tomorrow.

And, if it makes you feel any better, I spent a good part of my day banging my head against my screen also.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4 users
aProgDirector said:
I can totally understand how people are frustrated. But this is meaningless in the big picture. We'll be reviewing applications for many days / weeks. Take a deep breath, have a beer, try again tomorrow.

And, if it makes you feel any better, I spent a good part of my day banging my head against my screen also.
Click to expand...


Is it ok if i can't submit until after Oct 1st? I'm going on a trip tomorrow morning to a remote village in Vietnam and won't have internet access until I return to the States Oct 1st.
 
aProgDirector said:
I can totally understand how people are frustrated. But this is meaningless in the big picture. We'll be reviewing applications for many days / weeks. Take a deep breath, have a beer, try again tomorrow.

And, if it makes you feel any better, I spent a good part of my day banging my head against my screen also.
Click to expand...
- Thank you for this :)
 
pandahunter said:
Is it ok if i can't submit until after Oct 1st? I'm going on a trip tomorrow morning to a remote village in Vietnam and won't have internet access until I return to the States Oct 1st.
Click to expand...
Don't know if you're serious but, no, you shouldn't wait that long to submit your application. Dunno what you're applying to, but some at least a couple of the programs I'm applying to says on their website that they will only consider application submitted before Oct 1.
 
JoshSt said:
Don't know if you're serious but, no, you shouldn't wait that long to submit your application. Dunno what you're applying to, but some at least a couple of the programs I'm applying to says on their website that they will only consider application submitted before Oct 1.
Click to expand...

Like where? A lot of schools haven't even uploaded the MSPE by that time.
 
hoot504 said:
Like where? A lot of schools haven't even uploaded the MSPE by that time.
Click to expand...

No school can upload the MSPE before Oct 1st. But that doens't mean programs won't start looking at your app or sending interview invites. I think it is almost mandatory to submit your app as soon as possible.
 
chargersfan said:
No school can upload the MSPE before Oct 1st. But that doens't mean programs won't start looking at your app or sending interview invites. I think it is almost mandatory to submit your app as soon as possible.
Click to expand...

why is it that no school can upload it before 10/1 if its almost mandatory to submit the app? My department letters for medicine wont go out til after 9/30 (i think they send everyones out at the same time? cause asked them like 4 months ago)
 
anbuitachi said:
why is it that no school can upload it before 10/1 if its almost mandatory to submit the app? My department letters for medicine wont go out til after 9/30 (i think they send everyones out at the same time? cause asked them like 4 months ago)
Click to expand...

I believe the 10/1 date a set release date for the MSPE. Programs cannot access it before then. I think submitting your app well before then is important because a lot of programs will look at applications and send out interview invites before the MSPE is available. It may be specialty dependent but I got ~80% of my interview invites PRIOR to Oct 1st last year.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
[USER=553803]@JackShephard[/USER] said:
For example, they recommended using a 30 year old program called Notepad (That's right, it was created in 1985) to enter in our personal statements? This would be comical if they weren't endowed with so much authority.
Click to expand...
No arguments against the rest of your post, but there's nothing wrong with Notepad. Wysiwig editors are notorious for tripping up on the what you see part, let alone the what you get part. PDF would require some form of checking to ensure people didn't manipulate page margins to stuff more words in. Using plain text and letting ERAS do the formatting is ideal to ensure uniformity of the document across PDWS's. The only gripe I have is that they don't have a preview that actually matches the PDWS, so we have to do the whole Word/Pages -> Notepad/TextEdit -> ERAS circus. The age of the software means nothing in this case.
 
chargersfan said:
I believe the 10/1 date a set release date for the MSPE. Programs cannot access it before then. I think submitting your app well before then is important because a lot of programs will look at applications and send out interview invites before the MSPE is available. It may be specialty dependent but I got ~80% of my interview invites PRIOR to Oct 1st last year.
Click to expand...
This.

Yes, MSPE's don't go out until 10/1 and many programs don't look at apps until after 10/1 but this is both program and specialty specific.

Main point being I'd advise @pandahunter to upload their app sooner rather than later
 
hoot504 said:
Agreed. Though your original point is pure speculation
Click to expand...
Which one?
Don't consider application submitted after 10/1? While that's not the norm, as I said 'at least a couple' programs (i.e., 2) have that on their website (granted only 2 programs out of like 50).
Don't look until after 10/1, after MSPE? This is just anecdotal on my part, but, being you can see if a programs has looked at your app or not, classes above me applying to my specialty said that many programs didn't look at their app until well after 10/1.

I would worry for someone that submitted on or after 10/1 that some programs perceive that the applicant applied to their program late as a backup. However, I don't think it would be such a huge disadvantage that they still wouldn't get alot of good interviews. It just might be a missed opportunity for those rare 2 of 50 programs.
 
IMPD said:
ERAS ‏@ERASinfo 58m
MyERAS will be reopening today at 9 am ET #ERAS2015 #AskERAS2015
Click to expand...

Does anyone doubt that the same thing that happened yesterday will happen again today? The same exact people who wasted their time yesterday will be trying again today. I anticipate another very frustrating day. Hopefully I am one of the select few who am able to finalize.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I was able to get in and out today. Might have been because I was F5ing the @#$% out of my keyboard. But by the grace of God...I have completed my ERAS application package.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Applied to my programs but in ADTS it says my PS isn't uploaded to Post Office along with my USMLE transcript..and no mention of ECFMG Status report either. Aren't these all supposed to be in the ADTS? No application form line either?

Never mind. Im just super anxious and the system must be flooded. Application just showed up :p

Good luck to everyone.
 
"Applied to my programs but in ADTS it says my PS isn't uploaded to Post Office along with my USMLE transcript"

Mine is still saying USMLE transcript not uploaded to PostOffice. Should I be concerned? This should be transmitted automatically from the USMLE/NBME to ERAS right? I can see all of my other documents having been transmitted successfully under ADTS though. So glad I finally submitted though, even though I had to skip our morning report.
 
byurazorhog said:
"Applied to my programs but in ADTS it says my PS isn't uploaded to Post Office along with my USMLE transcript"

Mine is still saying USMLE transcript not uploaded to PostOffice. Should I be concerned? This should be transmitted automatically from the USMLE/NBME to ERAS right? I can see all of my other documents having been transmitted successfully under ADTS though. So glad I finally submitted though, even though I had to skip our morning report.
Click to expand...

On the ERAS twitter page, someone else asked this question as well. They said that it takes 3-5 business days for the USMLE transcript to go up.
 
Brah-tip: With the 'new and improved' ERAS, make sure it didn't mess up your PS formatting, it looks like mine got drunk. And I had to fix annoyingly fix it.
 
JoshSt said:
Brah-tip: With the 'new and improved' ERAS, make sure it didn't mess up your PS formatting, it looks like mine got drunk. And I had to fix annoyingly fix it.
Click to expand...
Mine still looks the same, not sure what might be going on there. I got in and out in <5 mins a little while ago. Not sure why whatever happened last night couldn't have happened the night before. If only there had been some recent experience where the implementation of a new web-based application system had been rolled out to glorious failure and righteous indignation to convince the developers of ERAS 2.whatever to just do the work to get it right the first time.
 
JoshSt said:
Brah-tip: With the 'new and improved' ERAS, make sure it didn't mess up your PS formatting, it looks like mine got drunk. And I had to fix annoyingly fix it.
Click to expand...
I mean seriously, this is ridiculous, I didn't have any problems with it before, now, when I go to edit one of my three slightly different PS's, there are new spacing errors each time. It's like they hired a gang of full-time personal statement trolls.

EDIT: They're finally ok now but I had to delete an imaginary hard return at the beginning of each new line. Guess I can't fully grasp the depth of their technology.
 
Last edited:
JoshSt said:
I mean seriously, this is ridiculous, I didn't have any problems with it before, now, when I go to edit one of my three slightly different PS's, there are new spacing errors each time. It's like they hired a gang of full-time personal statement trolls.

EDIT: They're finally ok now but I had to delete an imaginary hard return at the beginning of each new line. Guess I can't fully grasp the depth of their technology.
Click to expand...
Did you do the copy from Word, paste to TextEdit, convert to simple text (or the PC equivalent), copy and paste to ERAS trick?
 
people trying to submit yesterday:
tumblr_msstl9o4J41sh6owuo1_400.gif


people trying to submit today:
MARS_BODY2.gif
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5 users
The process was so smooth today that it makes me wonder what exactly happened yesterday? I mean barely anyone got their apps in yesterday, so they probably had a similar amount of people applying today. But there were only very minor slowdowns today.

In any case, glad my apps are in. Good luck everyone, I hope all of you match into your dream program!
 
Pons Asinorum said:
Did you do the copy from Word, paste to TextEdit, convert to simple text (or the PC equivalent), copy and paste to ERAS trick?
Click to expand...
No and I'm sure that would have worked. I just didn't have an issue before copy/pasting from Word.

Is anyone not able to update their Misc section? I want to make some minor edits and it keeps saying, "There is an error with the application. Please contact your administrator. Data was not saved."

All other sections (eg, experiences) are updated with no issues.

EDIT: Nvm, switched from Chrome to Firefox and was able to save.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

P
  • Locked
Eras fellowship LOR
Replies
1
Views
843
NotAProgDirector
NotAProgDirector
Doctor_Strange
ERAS Fellowship LOR Delay ?
Replies
3
Views
1K
NotAProgDirector
NotAProgDirector
Erythropoietin
Assigning LORs after submitting ERAS
Replies
2
Views
517
mvenus929
mvenus929
M
ERAS State Medical Licenses
Replies
6
Views
1K
MesoForm
M
Rolling_with_the_punches
ERAS help, Licensure section
Replies
3
Views
918
CrispyWonTon
C
Top