2011-2012 Rejections

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Been busy in the in the last week. Rejections from:

UPenn (sometime last week)
Osler (yesterday)
BWH (yesterday)
MGH (x2 on Friday)...not to be a total douche-schnozzle, but one would have thought the collective braintrust at Harvard could have realized they were sending last year's rejection email. Or that sending a second email with the correct date was redundant and we had all gotten the point following the first email. :laugh:
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Ohsu

Washington hospital center

Methodist Houston twice
 
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No word from Columbia for me yet s/p love letter ~1 week ago. Just wanted to post this for those of us still holding out for a Columbia invite.
 
got sick of waiting/wishing to hear something from Duke, so sent them an e-mail asking them to take a second look at my app... apparently they didn't like what they saw, and sent a swift rejection my way. :oops: A bit of a gut-buster, but happy to cross an "unknown/still hoping" off the list....

Other rejections to add:
OHSU (late last night--especially bummed about this one), MGH, UPenn, Colorado and BIDMC (all last week)
 
I would assume that every creature that is venturing the match will apply there!!!
 
UWash sent one of the nicer rejection emails I have seen.

Down to one lonely application still out there (Duke)

Going to take a nice Thanksgiving break before my interview madness begins.
 
If I haven't received rejections from schools that have sent out them out- is it safe to assume that it will eventually be a rejection at this point?
 
fortitude27 said:
If I haven't received rejections from schools that have sent out them out- is it safe to assume that it will eventually be a rejection at this point?
Click to expand...

No. Its not safe to assume anything, even rejections can turn into acceptances. Is it likely that if you haven't heard anything that its a rejection..yes, but who knows for sure.
 
if you want an interview, now is the time to contact the PD. it works...and you have nothing to lose
 
First time posting from a long time reader. Hoping you guys can shed some light on this one...

I'm worried because I still haven't heard anything from 28 programs (applied to 56). I contacted one of the programs a few weeks ago and they said they were waiting on a "secondary review of my application" (I really don't know what this implies) and should get back to me soon. They haven't sent anything yet.

Is it safe to say that all of these are rejections that will never be e-mailed?
 
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vertigotastic said:
First time posting from a long time reader. Hoping you guys can shed some light on this one...

I'm worried because I still haven't heard anything from 28 programs (applied to 56). I contacted one of the programs a few weeks ago and they said they were waiting on a "secondary review of my application" (I really don't know what this implies) and should get back to me soon. They haven't sent anything yet.

Is it safe to say that all of these are rejections that will never be e-mailed?
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Are you an IMG? I remember a case similar to yours posted a few months ago and it turned out that the poster was an IMG and didn't send a document (something to do with a visa?) and that's why his applications were on the back burner for a lot of programs.
 
Elixir86 said:
Are you an IMG? I remember a case similar to yours posted a few months ago and it turned out that the poster was an IMG and didn't send a document (something to do with a visa?) and that's why his applications were on the back burner for a lot of programs.
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Nope, AMG. But thanks!!!
 
Is Columbia still giving out invites, or just rejections at this point?
 
EggPLANTman said:
Is Columbia still giving out invites, or just rejections at this point?
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I second this question. I'm still waiting to hear back from Columbia and NYU. I've sort of just moved on but it would be nice to hear from them soon since I have the rest of my NY interviews coming up in 3 weeks.
 
Oh shoot!! I forgot! its thanksgiving holiday.

Happy thanksgiving to all the friends and colleagues here on the website.

Try to get away from the anxiousness of the whole process, and enjoy your thanksgiving.
 
Harbor rejection after sending an ' I'm very interested' email
 
It's clear to me after this month how wrong I was about my standing as an applicant. Apparently, a lack of H in IM combined with a sub-par Step is basically the kiss of death for IM. I have heard from PDs (not just generic rejection emails) that the IM applications this year are at an all-time high. Doesn't make the pain of these rejections any easier, however. A question directed at people who have been through the process: is 8 IVs enough to match into IM? Thanks. I know some people have the luxury of declining IV invites, but I am desperately clinging to each one...
 
familyguy909 said:
It's clear to me after this month how wrong I was about my standing as an applicant. Apparently, a lack of H in IM combined with a sub-par Step is basically the kiss of death for IM.
Click to expand...
This has been the case for a long time for the top programs. It can be made up for some places with AOA, a PhD or a significant publication history, but not everywhere.

A question directed at people who have been through the process: is 8 IVs enough to match into IM? Thanks. I know some people have the luxury of declining IV invites, but I am desperately clinging to each one...
Click to expand...

Historically, the answer to your question is yes, at least on a population-wide basis. There's not much you can do about it at this point though so just go out there, shine on those interviews, rank them all and hope for the best.
 
oh well - they're on paper charts anyway!!

still waiting on cornell/columbia... i bet cornell rej will come today.
 
gutonc said:
This has been the case for a long time for the top programs. It can be made up for some places with AOA, a PhD or a significant publication history, but not everywhere. Historically, the answer to your question is yes, at least on a population-wide basis. There's not much you can do about it at this point though so just go out there, shine on those interviews, rank them all and hope for the best.
Click to expand...

I totally agree that I would be out of the running at programs like the Harvards, Penn, UCSF, etc. which is why I actually did not bother to apply there. I thought I would be more competitive at places like Colorado or Tufts who rejected me very early and upfront. Just want to match at this point, seriously...I don't really care about anything else. Also am ready for this process to be over and for it to be March like now.
 
Duke AGAIN (apparently the first rejection didn't suffice)
Cornell

Still waiting on: Pitt, UVA, Emory, UAB, UTSW, Michigan
 
Duke said this in their rejection:


for further consideration, it would be
necessary for you to apply during the next application cycle in the fall of
2012.
---------------------------

This is really offensive ...
 
familyguy909 said:
It's clear to me after this month how wrong I was about my standing as an applicant. Apparently, a lack of H in IM combined with a sub-par Step is basically the kiss of death for IM. I have heard from PDs (not just generic rejection emails) that the IM applications this year are at an all-time high. Doesn't make the pain of these rejections any easier, however. A question directed at people who have been through the process: is 8 IVs enough to match into IM? Thanks. I know some people have the luxury of declining IV invites, but I am desperately clinging to each one...
Click to expand...

This year has been an especially competitive year. Maybe the game is changing for IM?
 
jdh71 said:
This year has been an especially competitive year. Maybe the game is changing for IM?
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One PD I spoke to said that in previous years they would have to dip into less desirable candidates to round out their interview pool but this year applications are way up and they have had no problem filling all their interview slots with desirable candidates.
 
francisco84 said:
One PD I spoke to said that in previous years they would have to dip into less desirable candidates to round out their interview pool but this year applications are way up and they have had no problem filling all their interview slots with desirable candidates.
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Well, IM is the gateway to a few lucrative career paths . . .
 
From what I know, GI, Cardio, and Heme/Onc are considered lucrative.

I wish that people really follow their hearts and not mind the materialistic aspects of medicine. Science is amazing, and if one fulfills themselves by making humanity take a step (as little as this step might be) towards more prosperity and advancement of its knowledge, then one will have the satisfaction that no money on earth can buy.
 
adagio said:
From what I know, GI, Cardio, and Heme/Onc are considered lucrative.

I wish that people really follow their hearts and not mind the materialistic aspects of medicine. Science is amazing, and if one fulfills themselves by making humanity take a step (as little as this step might be) towards more prosperity and advancement of its knowledge, then one will have the satisfaction that no money on earth can buy.
Click to expand...

I agree, but also in the real world, nothing is black and white. Most people are just trying to find a career that fits their ideal mix of interest, passion, talent, and compensation. I understand the idealism, but the reality is that all these things matter in the real world and decisions on choosing the right specialty must take all the aforementioned things into consideration.
 
I agree with what you said. But truth of the matter is: medicine, in all branches, does offer a secure and comfortable life. Lucrative would imply going the extra mile in accumulating more dollars that one might need.
 
jdh71 said:
This year has been an especially competitive year. Maybe the game is changing for IM?
Click to expand...

francisco84 said:
One PD I spoke to said that in previous years they would have to dip into less desirable candidates to round out their interview pool but this year applications are way up and they have had no problem filling all their interview slots with desirable candidates.
Click to expand...

I am betting that one of the big drivers is that everyone is applying to more programs. This creates a false sense of security for programs, as it's actually the same pie cut into smaller pieces. We'll see once the actual match results are out.
 
aProgDirector said:
I am betting that one of the big drivers is that everyone is applying to more programs. This creates a false sense of security for programs, as it's actually the same pie cut into smaller pieces. We'll see once the actual match results are out.
Click to expand...

If you'd be willing to share, I'd like to know why you think this is the case vs IM becoming more competitive/getting better applicants. Thanks!
 
aProgDirector said:
I am betting that one of the big drivers is that everyone is applying to more programs. This creates a false sense of security for programs, as it's actually the same pie cut into smaller pieces. We'll see once the actual match results are out.
Click to expand...

In other words, there is a chance that more unfilled positions will remain this year.
 
McGillGrad said:
In other words, there is a chance that more unfilled positions will remain this year.
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If there are relatively the same number of applicants and spots this year, but each applicant applies for more programs, more folks will get their lower-ranked choices.
 
agathodemon said:
If there are relatively the same number of applicants and spots this year, but each applicant applies for more programs, more folks will get their lower-ranked choices.
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What?

I don't think it's really going to work that way simply because of the relative blindness that programs have compared to applicants.

Say you're a PD at a solid mid-tier program. You get a bunch of applications from 250+/AOA/PhD applicants and are able to fill all of your interview slots with these folks (which is what happened in the Surgery program at my institution this year...they were able to draw the Step 1 cutoff at 260 and get 20% more interviewees than usual). From your perspective, the overall competitiveness of the applicant pool has increased dramatically. But you have no way of knowing if these applicants are also interviewing at the "top XX" programs as well (although, since you're relatively smart, you probably assume that they are). So what do you do? Do you ditch some of the "cream of the crop" applicants since you know they'll likely match elsewhere? Or do you go all in and hope for the best? Savvy PDs will probably do a little bit of both, but it's hard to say no to the superstars.

It's going to be an interesting year.
 
agathodemon said:
If there are relatively the same number of applicants and spots this year, but each applicant applies for more programs, more folks will get their lower-ranked choices.
Click to expand...

I would imagine that many of the same people will be ranked highly at a high number of places people applied to this year, so programs will either go way down their lists to match people or fail to match ever spot because they didn't interview and rank enough mid-tier applicants.

In other words, if a super competitive applicant went on 15 interviews this year (instead of 12 as would a similar applicant in previous years), they are poisoning poisoning 3 more programs than previous years. Thus, costing 3 potential mid-tier candidates to miss being matched. But who knows.
 
adagio said:
Duke said this in their rejection:


for further consideration, it would be
necessary for you to apply during the next application cycle in the fall of
2012.
---------------------------

This is really offensive ...
Click to expand...

wow
 
Am i going overboard?? I was really hurt by this
 
Here is one rejection from a great place, look how decent, civilized, and amazingly amazingly nice it is:

Your application has been reviewed, and I regret to inform you that we will
not be able to offer you an interview. We received many high quality
applications which made the selection process challenging and humbling, as I
review each application in it's entirety.

I wish you well on the interview trail, the upcoming match, and in your future
career.
 
No rejections today. I am waiting on:

1. OHSU (pleaaaaaaase send me an invite!) 2. UChicago 3. UTSW 4. Pitt 5. NYU 6. Boston U 7. Michigan 8. WashU 9. MSSM

Any realistic shot at any of these? I am really hoping for OHSU and/or UChicago. I am hoping enough people cancel in Jan.
 
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