After the Fact

[JerJer]

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Just wondering what the consensus is on after you've finished your interviews, and you have decided on your #1, how do you pursue that program so that they know how interested you are to give yourself the best chance of matching there? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Best of luck to you all! Thanks a lot!

 

[Big Lebowski]

Just wondering what the consensus is on after you've finished your interviews, and you have decided on your #1, how do you pursue that program so that they know how interested you are to give yourself the best chance of matching there? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Best of luck to you all! Thanks a lot!

There's probably not a lot more you can do to increase your chances just by showing interest. You've already done that by applying and making the interview. Psychiatry has become more competitive in recent years, so I don't think programs are overly worried about filling and are probably less likely to rank based on perceived applicant interest than in the past.

However, some good ways to keep yourself "fresh" in PD's and other faculty members' minds is to contact them, keep asking questions. Some good questions to ask that show you are interested are relocation questions. Ask the PD to refer to residents who might be able to give you tips on affordable housing/neighborhoods; schools if you have kids; employment opportunity for spouse/significant other. Second visits are also a good idea for the programs you plan to rank high.

 

[sparkle79]

are any of you planning to contact your top few choices and express interest, and if yes what do you say-- "very highly", "highly", "among my top 3" etc?

 

[Boofus4L]

when i figure out my #1, I plan on contacting the PD and telling him/her. For my other top choices, I'm not exactly sure what I will say, and would also appreciate any input 🙂

i would probably not use a statement like "you're in my top 3", though, because any program you tell that to will assume that they are #3 - if not, you'd have said "top 2", etc... i'd keep numbers out of it - just my opinion...

 

[sparkle79]

makes sense, maybe " in my top 3" is not the best statement...but what is then?

 

[OldPsychDoc]

makes sense, maybe " in my top 3" is not the best statement...but what is then?

"Thank you for a great interview day, I can really see myself doing well in your program, and will be ranking U Psych Hospital highly."

Anything else is really just needless bulls***ing.
Program directors have generally learned to take this stuff with a grain of salt anyway...

 

[Boofus4L]

how about "your program is at the top of my list"? it's a strong statement without saying "you're number 1".

 

[sparkle79]

those are all pretty good, thank you 🙂

 

[sparkle79]

now do you all think it even matters if this is done?

 

[Boofus4L]

i think it depends on the program. some programs are pretty open about the fact that they rank you immediately after the interview, and that it doesn't matter what you say afterwards. other programs seem to be influenced by applicant expression of interest. i guess the best thing is to express the interest, for what it's worth...

 

[sparkle79]

so not to beat this to death but how would you tell a place they are your top choice - phone. email. regular mail?

 

[Boofus4L]

i think i am going to use email - i prefer it to the phone and snail mail, but that's just me...

 

[Big Lebowski]

i think it depends on the program. some programs are pretty open about the fact that they rank you immediately after the interview, and that it doesn't matter what you say afterwards. other programs seem to be influenced by applicant expression of interest. i guess the best thing is to express the interest, for what it's worth...

Some programs use an algorithm. The applicant is "scored" on the interview day based on impression and application; nothing you do afterwards makes a difference. I'm not sure how many programs actually do this, but I think a good number that receive a high volume of applicants do.

 

[Boofus4L]

Some programs use an algorithm. The applicant is "scored" on the interview day based on impression and application; nothing you do afterwards makes a difference. I'm not sure how many programs actually do this, but I think a good number that receive a high volume of applicants do.

i was told straight out by the PD at michigan that they do this. it also seems as though this is done at yale also, though they don't say it in as many words. i guess the problem for us applicants, then, is not knowing which programs do and which don't... it would be a relief, i think, if more programs were open about their ranking policies... the whole thank-you note thing and "i rank you first" thing is getting a bit overwhelming... 🙁

 

[sparkle79]

i agree its annoying, not to know what to write and whom to write it to...and when to write it.