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With rank day approaching, I was wondering whether peds programs were starting to try to woo the applicants they are most excited about. Is total silence from a program the norm or a potentially concerning sign?
Programs techinically are not supposed to contact applicants before the match. Some programs even state during the interview that they will not be contacting applicants since it's just not their policy to do so; however, programs that do not state this policy are known to contact applicants. I've received a few emails and a couple of phone calls from the programs that don't have a policy on not contacting applicants. But not getting any contact does not mean anything. I know people who matched last year who heard total silence and got into their top choice and the top tier programs.
Honestly, I think that would freak me out, plus I'm a major screener and can make an ass of myself on the phone. I'm sure you probably don't want to say, but I'd be really curious as to which programs did that.
- Phone call from 2 (also a note from same program; one was like a second phone interview)
- Notes / e-mails from 7
- Nothing from 2
Most of my notes / e-mails were in response to my own thank you notes but there were 5 programs that went above the standard TY for coming without prompting from me.
Is there really a prohibition against programs contacting applicants or, more specifically, against stating where they will rank applicants? I thought it was the later.
I got a call from one program, an e-mail from another and a snail mail letter from a 3rd program stating intrest. I think this is all legal according to the match rules as long as they don't offer you a position or ask you how you plan to rank them. However, some might say while it's within the letter of the law, it runs against the spirit of the rules. I guess that might be a matter for debate...
I think they're not really supposed to say much about specific ranking. I've gotten form letters and specific emails. That being said, my real concern is the programs that only contact SOME people and not everybody because I'm concerned that I won't know that they do contact people. Many programs have told me that they don't say a word because they think it is against the 'spirit' of the match.
