Want to update my top programs...don't have anything to update

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Cerberus

Heroic Necromancer
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I feel like at this point I should be attempting to contact my top residencies and make sure I don't fall off their radar going into ranking. Unfortunately, I don't really have anything to update them with. I've sent thank you letters and haven't done any rotations that really matter since interviewing (did all my sub-I's early). The only thing I really have to "update" them with is my Step II score which was high but not that much different from my Step I (and also automatically transmitted through ERAS). I am feeling particularly neurotic now as I've done most of my interviews and there is a big difference between how much I want to attend my top 3 and everything below it. Ideas? Ativan?

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Ideas? Ativan?
Heh. I know what you mean. I think I have Match-Induced Mood Disorder and SDN really isn't helping matters.

I'd like to know aPD's thoughts on this as well. I was thinking about emailing my favorite programs in early February, but also worried that it would be too late- i.e. programs would already have ranked the applicants and my email would be dismissed.

I have a couple of things to update on: poster presentation and teaching a board review class. But they seem so minor (i.e. not publications) that I'm afraid it'll actually make me look like a resume-padder, which I AM, but try not to appear as.
 
Since you've narrowed it down to your top three, you could always send them the "you're my favorite" email.

Dear PD,

My interview season has concluded and your program remains at the top of my list. I enjoyed visiting, loved xxx about your program, and think I would be a good fit for yyy reasons. For these reasons, I will be ranking your program very highly. I hope to see you next year!

Sincerely,
Cerberus
 
Double post
 
I feel like at this point I should be attempting to contact my top residencies and make sure I don't fall off their radar going into ranking. Unfortunately, I don't really have anything to update them with. I've sent thank you letters and haven't done any rotations that really matter since interviewing (did all my sub-I's early). The only thing I really have to "update" them with is my Step II score which was high but not that much different from my Step I (and also automatically transmitted through ERAS). I am feeling particularly neurotic now as I've done most of my interviews and there is a big difference between how much I want to attend my top 3 and everything below it. Ideas? Ativan?

Students don't "fall off the radar". And receiving new communication that is not substantive does not do anything to help your application.

(Note that this inference is only based on the 3 'prestigious' institutions where I have detailed knowledge of their selection procedures.)

-AT.
 
Students don't "fall off the radar". And receiving new communication that is not substantive does not do anything to help your application.

(Note that this inference is only based on the 3 'prestigious' institutions where I have detailed knowledge of their selection procedures.)

-AT.

Would a poster presentation be considered substantive, if you are the lead author of the paper being presented? Note that this paper has not been accepted for publication yet.
 
Would a poster presentation be considered substantive, if you are the lead author of the paper being presented? Note that this paper has not been accepted for publication yet.

Do you think your position on a program's match list is going to change because you presented a poster? Probably not, unless it is a research track or program well-known to value research and you don't have any other posters or papers. So I would say not substantial, unless you have other things to add in your update.
 
I'd agree with everything in this thread so far.

1. You do not fall off our radar. This is our job. We keep track of everyone, and now that we all use electronic applications it's easy to make sure that everyone is accounted for. I know exactly how many people I have interviewed, and the sum of my rank list + people decided not to rank should equal that number exactly.

2. Further communications with programs is honestly unlikely to have much of an effect. However, if you contact a program and tell them how interested you are / #1 / etc, I guess the PD might decide to bump you up because you seem so interested. Then again, they might bump you down for being a gunner. Who knows? Most emails, if short and professional, will not have a negative impact.

3. An additional poster or paper would only have an effect on programs that were research heavy / focused.
 
Would a poster presentation be considered substantive, if you are the lead author of the paper being presented? Note that this paper has not been accepted for publication yet.

No.

-AT.
 
2. Further communications with programs is honestly unlikely to have much of an effect. However, if you contact a program and tell them how interested you are / #1 / etc, I guess the PD might decide to bump you up because you seem so interested. Then again, they might bump you down for being a gunner. Who knows? Most emails, if short and professional, will not have a negative impact.

OK, this is where I get confused. You have people on here making a huge deal about the wording in their emails to their #1 program, getting their PDs to make phone calls on their behalf, but you are saying that ultimately, further communication does not really make a difference?

If your statement could be made into a sticky--better yet, part of the ERAS instruction manual that'd be great. I'd love it if the process was simpler. Unfortunately, SDN posters and sometimes even PDs themselves encourage the politicizing of the process. For instance, I have been to many interviews in which the PD ended the conversation with "if you really want to come here, definitely LET US KNOW!" I am left wondering A.) whether "letting them know" via email is really going to increase my chances of matching there and B.) if so, and they are actually my #2 or #3 choice, then it's like a no-win situation b/c I guess I'm not supposed to email them even though I would be happy at any of my top 5 choices.

So ultimately you have programs encouraging further communication even though you claim (and I believe you) that it doesn't make a difference in the end. Instead the programs end up getting a better idea of who is ranking them #1 in the match, which is great for them. But I can't but feel the applicants are getting screwed over, and obsessing needlessly over these things.
 
OK, this is where I get confused. You have people on here making a huge deal about the wording in their emails to their #1 program, getting their PDs to make phone calls on their behalf, but you are saying that ultimately, further communication does not really make a difference?

If your statement could be made into a sticky--better yet, part of the ERAS instruction manual that'd be great. I'd love it if the process was simpler. Unfortunately, SDN posters and sometimes even PDs themselves encourage the politicizing of the process. For instance, I have been to many interviews in which the PD ended the conversation with "if you really want to come here, definitely LET US KNOW!" I am left wondering A.) whether "letting them know" via email is really going to increase my chances of matching there and B.) if so, and they are actually my #2 or #3 choice, then it's like a no-win situation b/c I guess I'm not supposed to email them even though I would be happy at any of my top 5 choices.

So ultimately you have programs encouraging further communication even though you claim (and I believe you) that it doesn't make a difference in the end. Instead the programs end up getting a better idea of who is ranking them #1 in the match, which is great for them. But I can't but feel the applicants are getting screwed over, and obsessing needlessly over these things.


I agree.

And it should work both ways.

Also regarding the other threads about post-interview emails, letters, or verbal communication directly from the PDs themselves... I found that the PDs who do so, just happen to be lower on my ROL anyway....

So, for people wondering what that sort of communication means.... I'd say "nothing"
 
OK, this is where I get confused. You have people on here making a huge deal about the wording in their emails to their #1 program, getting their PDs to make phone calls on their behalf, but you are saying that ultimately, further communication does not really make a difference?

If your statement could be made into a sticky--better yet, part of the ERAS instruction manual that'd be great. I'd love it if the process was simpler. Unfortunately, SDN posters and sometimes even PDs themselves encourage the politicizing of the process. For instance, I have been to many interviews in which the PD ended the conversation with "if you really want to come here, definitely LET US KNOW!" I am left wondering A.) whether "letting them know" via email is really going to increase my chances of matching there and B.) if so, and they are actually my #2 or #3 choice, then it's like a no-win situation b/c I guess I'm not supposed to email them even though I would be happy at any of my top 5 choices.

So ultimately you have programs encouraging further communication even though you claim (and I believe you) that it doesn't make a difference in the end. Instead the programs end up getting a better idea of who is ranking them #1 in the match, which is great for them. But I can't but feel the applicants are getting screwed over, and obsessing needlessly over these things.

To be fair, I am an n of 1. Other programs / fields may be different. The smaller the number of spots, the more important the rank list becomes and the more things like this come into play.

This is real life. There isn't going to be an instruction manual that tells you exactly what you have to do. You're going to have to wing it / figure it out on your own, and the same plan won't work for everyone.
 
OK, this is where I get confused. You have people on here making a huge deal about the wording in their emails to their #1 program, getting their PDs to make phone calls on their behalf, but you are saying that ultimately, further communication does not really make a difference?

If your statement could be made into a sticky--better yet, part of the ERAS instruction manual that'd be great. I'd love it if the process was simpler. Unfortunately, SDN posters and sometimes even PDs themselves encourage the politicizing of the process. For instance, I have been to many interviews in which the PD ended the conversation with "if you really want to come here, definitely LET US KNOW!" I am left wondering A.) whether "letting them know" via email is really going to increase my chances of matching there and B.) if so, and they are actually my #2 or #3 choice, then it's like a no-win situation b/c I guess I'm not supposed to email them even though I would be happy at any of my top 5 choices.

So ultimately you have programs encouraging further communication even though you claim (and I believe you) that it doesn't make a difference in the end. Instead the programs end up getting a better idea of who is ranking them #1 in the match, which is great for them. But I can't but feel the applicants are getting screwed over, and obsessing needlessly over these things.

The conflicting information provided on SDN is very likely a function of 1) the anonymous identities and resulting lack of real accountability to prevent the transmission of speculative, or even frankly false, information; and 2) the fact that those of us who are speaking from experience are doing just that -- speaking from experience (N of 1, or 2-3 at most). Based on the above, 3) you should take what you read on SDN with a grain of salt and realize that what you read here is not reliable enough that you should be "obsessing needlessly over these things".

-AT.
 
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