It's been a few years, so I can't remember each and every detail, but here goes ...
Basically I'm a foreign medical graduate. When I came back to the states to apply for residencies, I had no clue on how to choose which residencies to apply to. So I basically went through US News and World Report and applied to most of the top 50 hospitals in the country -- not a great method, cuz I'm sure I left out a lot of great places and I'm also sure I applied to some dumpy places. But it seemed like the best method at the time.
Anyways, I also applied late (shortly after Thanksgiving). After getting about maybe 4 or 5 interviews, I started calling and e-mailing the programs asking for the interview. If there's one thing I've learned in life, if you don't ask for something, you won't get it. I used to be a car salesman and I knew that those customers that asked for a discount usually got one, and those that didn't were never offered a discount. True, applying to residencies is a tad different, but if I can leave you with just one of life's lessons, it's that it never hurts to ask. At the most, they're only gonna say 'no.' "In order to close the deal, you have to ask for the sale," as my manager would beat into my head.
With respect to phone calls, I would basically call up the program secretary and ask if she/he had received my application intact from ERAS. Believe it or not, there were a lot of programs that got only bits and pieces of my application. Some only got LOR's, some only got grades, some only got USMLE scores, etc. Obviously an incomplete application is gonna put you in the "hold" pile. So, I would take this opportunity to fax them a copy of my complete application and I would let them know that I loved their program and that I was very keen on interviewing with them.
Please note, always be respectful and courteous. If the secretary likes how you sound over the phone, they can facilitate your application reaching the right people.
As far as e-mails were concerned, I would directly e-mail the program director expressing keen desire to visit their program and interview with them. You can get their e-mail addresses from the FREIDA website. Usually, it was the secretary that would respond back -- either "no, we're still going through the pile" or "yes, pick one of the following dates" or "no, there were too many good applicants this year, so thanks but no thanks."
I was thus able to ratchet up the number of interviews from half a dozen to well over a dozen. In fact, I even had to cancel some of them later on.
Did I end up matching in one of the programs that I called up? It's hard to say. I did end up with my 4th choice (it's one of the top 10 hospitals in the country). But did I get the interview because I called? Or did I get the interview because I was gonna get one anyways? There is really no way of knowing. What I can say is that there were a couple of top-notch programs that actually apologized to me during my interview because they hadn't invited me earlier and that I had to make the effort to call them and ask for the interview.
And the other thing is that without the interview, there is no way any program is gonna rank you on their rank order list.
So, feel free to take this advice for what it's worth. If you were my kid brother or sister applying for residency, I would absolutely hound you to make those phone calls asking for the interview. Just remember to be polite and courteous. And the best time to do it is first thing in the morning, when people are fresher and less bogged down by the day's work.
Hope this helps.
