MD co ‘20 Residency Panic Thread

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CidHighwind said:
Rank 30 at a place that interviews 100–150 people is actually a really decent spot. I get your point though. Why waste time doing an interview at a place where you were most likely on a hidden waitlist for or that you had to beg for via LOI? I guess that depends on the applicant. If they got plenty of invites on the first round, why bother? If you’re the type that didn’t get many invites, you’d probably be estatic. We all know of people that got of a waitlist or sent a LOI and matched somewhere, it’s obvious that you’re not their first (or even second) choice, but who cares?
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My recent WL was all “rest assured you are NOT a second tier applicant for being only offered a WL” lolol

Idk how i feel about that but if given an interview im going
 
samac said:
I know many people who have matched places that they received an interview invite from in November. From my understanding for most places once you’re to the interview they’re looking at the interview and less about the initial application.
I know I’m never going to be someone’s first choice for interview. I’ll just wow them with my dazzling personality.
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Good to hear, I hope that's true.
 
So will i get burned if I cancel an interview that is six days away?
 
ciestar said:
So will i get burned if I cancel an interview that is six days away?
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You should email the people NOW and see. If they consider it unprofessional, just go. If not, stay. 4 days is enough to find someone on the waitlist.
 
Can confirm the veerrrrry slow trickle. I've been offered an interview opening twice from the WL from the same program but I feel bad bc I keep declining and asking for a January interview slot instead since I'm completely booked until then... Thankfully the program coordinator has been incredibly understanding and accommodating.

I've also only attended 3 interviews so far and I'm already struggling with making my rank list..
 
CidHighwind said:
You should email the people NOW and see. If they consider it unprofessional, just go. If not, stay. 4 days is enough to find someone on the waitlist.
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Idk if this is a good idea — seems like you’re calling to say “hey I don’t want to come, but I want you to say it’s ok not to”
 
21Rush12 said:
Idk if this is a good idea — seems like you’re calling to say “hey I don’t want to come, but I want you to say it’s ok not to”
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It’s just hard because this is a program i’d be totally wasting their time interviewing there.

I will just send an email. This is a tough situation but i am willing to bet there is a waitlist anyway
 
ciestar said:
It’s just hard because this is a program i’d be totally wasting their time interviewing there.

I will just send an email. This is a tough situation but i am willing to bet there is a waitlist anyway
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I’m sure someone is going to get that invite tomorrow and it will make their day lol. One person’s trash...

21Rush12 said:
Idk if this is a good idea — seems like you’re calling to say “hey I don’t want to come, but I want you to say it’s ok not to”
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It’s true though. Why waste their time if you don’t want to be there? It’s better than just not showing up.
 
Sandovalsel said:
Not to stir the pot or anything but anyone not hearing back from most programs yet.... meaning no rejections just ghosted?
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Yes. Depending on my level of anxiety this either means:
1. Definitely rejected and not even worth telling.
2. Probably rejected but mayyyyybe worth an invite if enough people cancel.
3. Internal waitlist.
4. Won't be looking at my application due to regional/volume reasons but was not immediately screened out for other reasons.
5. Haven't looked at my application yet.
6. Haven't sent out my invite yet.
 
RHL ONE said:
Yep. me. Applied to 50 and haven't heard from 32 programs.
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I sent a few LOI to some programs that “ghosted” me. I either got a “we are still reviewing your app” messages, “sorry we sent out all our interviews” messages, “you’re on our waitlist” message, or more ghosting lol. My attitude on this is to not worry about it too much and if the program wants you, they’ll invite you.
 
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CidHighwind said:
I sent a few LOI to some programs that “ghosted” me. I either got a “we are still reviewing your app” messages, “sorry we sent out all our interviews” messages, “you’re on our waitlist” message, or more ghosting lol. My attitude on this is to not worry about it to much and if the program wants you, they’ll invite you.
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Or you're too low on their pre-interview rank list that it doesn't matter regardless of your interview performance.
 
Epilepsy365 said:
Or you're too low on their pre-interview rank list that it doesn't matter regardless of your interview performance.
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Right, but that’s usually the case if you’re someone that only got an invite because someone else cancelled and they needed another person last minute. Decent chance is if you’re in the first wave, they liked you enough on paper to invite you.
 
I imagine a bunch of programs are gonna do what med schools did and just send out an eventual rejection at the very end of interview season, like Jan or Feb, long after you knew that there was no chance lol
 
sharkbyte said:
I imagine a bunch of programs are gonna do what med schools did and just send out an eventual rejection at the very end of interview season, like Jan or Feb, long after you knew that there was no chance lol
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I think most won’t send any at all. Forever ghosted.
 
Should we expect interview invite on veterans day?
 
If anyone is following this thread out of curiosity and is applying next year or in future years, just have the mentality that the interview invites you have by the end of October are the ones you'll have for the year and any you get after that are bonuses.

EDIT: Sorry should have clarified I’m talking about IM.
 
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sharkbyte said:
If anyone is following this thread out of curiosity and is applying next year or in future years, just have the mentality that the interview invites you have by the end of October are the ones you'll have for the year and any you get after that are bonuses.
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Is that at all specialty specific, like do some specialties send out invest later, or is it pretty much the same no matter what you're applying too?
 
Schwifty said:
Is that at all specialty specific, like do some specialties send out invest later, or is it pretty much the same no matter what you're applying too?
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Really competitive ones (Plastics, NSGY, Derm, etc) usually wait till the end of October/November before a lot of invites go out. For most other specialties it’s pretty much true unless someone cancels.
 
asu_admit said:
Anyone else get literally no interviews from the trickle? I had some from late September/early October, but I haven't gotten any in more than a month now
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Ive gotten a couple.
Got one today with only open dates being this coming Friday and next Monday. So I feel like even getting interviews now you’re only getting then spots people backed out of and you were never of high consideration regardless.
 
ciestar said:
Ive gotten a couple.
Got one today with only open dates being this coming Friday and next Monday. So I feel like even getting interviews now you’re only getting then spots people backed out of and you were never of high consideration regardless.
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I don't think its fair to say you weren't highly considered... most programs I applied to received between 1000-1500 applications and have 150-200 interview spots even though probably at least 500 applicants meet their desired criteria! Getting an interview at any point means they are interested in you enough to spend money and time getting to know you and thus you have a good shot if you are a good fit
 
medhopeful82 said:
I don't think its fair to say you weren't highly considered... most programs I applied to received between 1000-1500 applications and have 150-200 interview spots even though probably at least 500 applicants meet their desired criteria! Getting an interview at any point means they are interested in you enough to spend money and time getting to know you and thus you have a good shot if you are a good fit
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Maybe so lol
Too bad none of the interview dates work for me
 
I personally will not be going to any interview date within a notice less than 10 days away.

Chances are that I’m already at the bottom of the pre-interview rank list. A superb interview coupled with other people messing up theirs will at most bring me up to the middle of the list.
 
Prehealth1011 said:
Can someone explain this to a dumb 3rd year student in other words?
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It means if you’re applying IM, assume the number of invites you have at the end of October are going to be your total. Don’t count on any others, but if you do get more, they’re just a surprise bonus.
 
sunshinefl said:
It means if you’re applying IM, assume the number of invites you have at the end of October are going to be your total. Don’t count on any others, but if you do get more, they’re just a surprise bonus.
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Basically what the above user said. The majority of the interview invites go out in the 5-6 weeks after apps are submitted September 15. If you get invites in November and beyond, it's probably going to be invites off a waitlist after someone cancels, or it could be a program that sends invites slowly throughout the season (not many programs do this, I think Cleveland Clinic may be one of them).
 
sharkbyte said:
Basically what the above user said. The majority of the interview invites go out in the 5-6 weeks after apps are submitted September 15. If you get invites in November and beyond, it's probably going to be invites off a waitlist after someone cancels, or it could be a program that sends invites slowly throughout the season (not many programs do this, I think Cleveland Clinic may be one of them).
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Ah, no wonder I haven't heard from them yet. Any day now...
 
Epilepsy365 said:
Start planning for a backup or the SOAP if you have 5 interviews or less by the end of October.
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Out of curiosity what do you mean by backup? As in apply to more programs or FM, or...? Sitting at 4 rn with 3 known WL + whatever trickle that may or may not come.
 
cr7pt said:
Out of curiosity what do you mean by backup? As in apply to more programs or FM, or...? Sitting at 4 rn with 3 known WL + whatever trickle that may or may not come.
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AKA any availability in SOAP including Peds, community IM, and FM programs. You need to nail those 4 interviews, and hit the phone hard with those 3 known WL. You also need to contact your department heads right now, and have them make phone calls for you.

It's too late to be applying to more programs at this point. I'm mainly speaking for IM, EM, and IM subspecialties here. For surgical specialties or specialties where the bulk to IIs may be late Oct-late Nov, that's a different ballgame. Statistically, 70-80% of IIs have been given out for IM, EM, and IM subspecialties. The other 20-30% may be unlocked depending on the program impression of the interviewees. Based on my observation, programs don't even hit the 10 interviewees for every 1 spot open. I'm counting the ratio of being more like 5-7 interviewees for every 1 spot.
 
Epilepsy365 said:
AKA any availability in SOAP including Peds, community IM, and FM programs. You need to nail those 4 interviews, and hit the phone hard with those 3 known WL. You also need to contact your department heads right now, and have them make phone calls for you.

It's too late to be applying to more programs at this point. I'm mainly speaking for IM, EM, and IM subspecialties here. For surgical specialties or specialties where the bulk to IIs may be late Oct-late Nov, that's a different ballgame. Statistically, 70-80% of IIs have been given out for IM, EM, and IM subspecialties. The other 20-30% may be unlocked depending on the program impression of the interviewees. Based on my observation, programs don't even hit the 10 interviewees for every 1 spot open. I'm counting the ratio of being more like 5-7 interviewees for every 1 spot.
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OK thank you for the feedback Applying to psych but peds and FM are good backups. Do a lot of programs (in FM/Peds) have slots available slots during SOAP? I assume no "desirable" locations during this process either? So I guess the TLDR now is to just sit and wait, nail interviews and hope for interviewees to suck so those WL turn into interviews. Sat with a dept head 3 weeks ago mentioned November would be better... yeah not really... waiting to hear back from another dept head for a meet and potentially meeting the same I met soon since things change quickly during this proces.
 
Epilepsy365 said:
AKA any availability in SOAP including Peds, community IM, and FM programs. You need to nail those 4 interviews, and hit the phone hard with those 3 known WL. You also need to contact your department heads right now, and have them make phone calls for you.

It's too late to be applying to more programs at this point. I'm mainly speaking for IM, EM, and IM subspecialties here. For surgical specialties or specialties where the bulk to IIs may be late Oct-late Nov, that's a different ballgame. Statistically, 70-80% of IIs have been given out for IM, EM, and IM subspecialties. The other 20-30% may be unlocked depending on the program impression of the interviewees. Based on my observation, programs don't even hit the 10 interviewees for every 1 spot open. I'm counting the ratio of being more like 5-7 interviewees for every 1 spot.
Click to expand...
Just wanted to ask a tiny question here.
Are programs actually cutting down in the number of interviews they offer this year?
 
Epilepsy365 said:
AKA any availability in SOAP including Peds, community IM, and FM programs. You need to nail those 4 interviews, and hit the phone hard with those 3 known WL. You also need to contact your department heads right now, and have them make phone calls for you.

It's too late to be applying to more programs at this point. I'm mainly speaking for IM, EM, and IM subspecialties here. For surgical specialties or specialties where the bulk to IIs may be late Oct-late Nov, that's a different ballgame. Statistically, 70-80% of IIs have been given out for IM, EM, and IM subspecialties. The other 20-30% may be unlocked depending on the program impression of the interviewees. Based on my observation, programs don't even hit the 10 interviewees for every 1 spot open. I'm counting the ratio of being more like 5-7 interviewees for every 1 spot.
Click to expand...

Depends on the program. If a program has no trouble filling, they can interview as little as 3-4 people for every spot. When you factor in rotators and home students, that’s very few actual invites from people applying through ERAS

Sandovalsel said:
Just wanted to ask a tiny question here.
Are programs actually cutting down in the number of interviews they offer this year?
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I can see that. If a program has say 4 spots, used to interview 50 people but never matched below their 20th person, why not just invite 30-35 people, or even fewer? Since if one spot goes to a rotator and another to their own student, they’re really only needing two people out of the hundreds applying for that spot.
 
Sandovalsel said:
Just wanted to ask a tiny question here.
Are programs actually cutting down in the number of interviews they offer this year?
Click to expand...

Program I went to said they are actually expanding the number of interviews they are doing because there was another surge of people over applying. Because of this, programs are having to reach way down into the their rank list to fill.
 
I have had a couple interviews trickle in the last 2 weeks. Before that nothing for almost 4 weeks besides one backup that I scrounged up myself by calling.
 
Are people having fun traveling alone? I don’t really know how to really plan stuff for trips especially without a car
 
Aaaaaand just got waitlisted at a school that I love and sent an LOI to a month ago. Now boarding groups C and D, as in Crushing Disappointment. This is a non-stop flight to Self-Pity, USA. We know you have a lot of options when flying, and we thank you for choosing Sad Girl Express™.
 
How far down the list should IM applicants expect to fall? Or Worst you have heard from last year?
 
Oedipa Maas said:
Aaaaaand just got waitlisted at a school that I love and sent an LOI to a month ago. Now boarding groups C and D, as in Crushing Disappointment. This is a non-stop flight to Self-Pity, USA. We know you have a lot of options when flying, and we thank you for choosing Sad Girl Express™.
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Look at the bright side, at least you got the waitlist. They could have just kept ghosting you or send you a rejection after the LOI.

sanfran256 said:
How far down the list should IM applicants expect to fall? Or Worst you have heard from last year?
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Depends on how ambitious your rank list is. Most people just want to stay in their area so they’re ecstatic to match their top choice at their home program. Much different if you have an SDN ranklist filled with all top tiers.
 
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CidHighwind said:
Look at the bright side, at least you got the waitlist. They could have just kept ghosting you or send you a rejection after the LOI.
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Voice of reason? In response to my melodrama in the ERAS panic thread?
giphy.gif


(you are right of course, this process is just breaking my heart a little bit)
 
Does anyone know if UC Davis sees a good amount of waitlist movement for IM?
 
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