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I'm 1/20 for TY's and haven't heard from any prelims it's got me feelin' some type of way *cries in SOAP*
MD & DO co'21 Residency Panic thread
Started by kraskadva
I'm 1/20 for TY's and haven't heard from any prelims it's got me feelin' some type of way *cries in SOAP*
Prelims are super slow. Don't worry about that. I can't explain the TY thing because I have a lot of them lol. I think TY is super regional.
Maybe that’s what it is, I only have 1 TY nearby. But the 1 TY I do have an II for is way TF across the country somehow lol. I wonder if that’s a bad sign... oh god what if it’s malignant AF. I’m doomed. RIP.
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marktrumbo75
New Member
I am getting mighty nervous. I sent almost 300 applications (IM, FM) and I have heard back from a grand total of maybe 25 programs? I got one invitation for interview, about 10-15 rejections, and 10ish receipts acknowledging that they received my application. The fact that only 25/300 have responded feels weird bc we are 4 weeks in.
Obviously given that I needed to send 300ish apps I know i am NOT a star candidate who will land a lot of interviews. But still I am wondering if any of you guys know or have a hunch about if most invites have already been sent or there are still a significant amount to still come? Also is it a good idea to start emailing programs that i applied to--letting them know of my interest in their program?
Obviously given that I needed to send 300ish apps I know i am NOT a star candidate who will land a lot of interviews. But still I am wondering if any of you guys know or have a hunch about if most invites have already been sent or there are still a significant amount to still come? Also is it a good idea to start emailing programs that i applied to--letting them know of my interest in their program?
I think there are still quite a few invites up for grabs, but more have already been given out than not.
I am sorry for your struggle. This whole process is hard.
I decided to visit SDN after such a long time and I was excited to say the least to see so many familiar names from the '18-'19 Step 1 thread applying this year. I'm applying this year too 🙂 150+ IM apps, 3 IVs so far, looking to break this 10-day streak of 6 rejections and no IVs.
Really sorry to hear friend, hoping things pick up for you soon.
Curious how many of those 300 apps is FM vs IM and if you have any red flags? IM is getting more and more competitive and its been a struggle for many applicants so far this year on that front. What I'm not getting is the lack of FM invites. Don't mean to offend FM by any means, but they're usually not competitive at all and usually send out a **** ton early on. Even people I know with terrible apps (super low steps or even no step at all, couple class failures, etc) have managed to get a good deal of FM invites.
Regardless, keep your head high, breath in and out, and trust that things will work out. Definitely send some interest letters out. Hoping the best for you!
marktrumbo75
New Member
Thanks for the encouragement. I am an IMG with one step failure (Step 2)....but I have completed Step 3. I would say about 200 of the apps were FM
Start sending LOIs. They haven't worked for me so far but with your credentials, I think you need to be really proactive.
Anyone else having a really SLOW last few days? Had a decent first part of the week, but am sitting on nada since yesterday
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I got one invite and a bunch of rejections this week lol.
Good IM week for me. I’m still not getting the academic places I really wanted. I’m hoping it’s the MD filter at this point and they’ll get to us DOs later.
I got one local prelim, zilch in DR all week
marktrumbo75
New Member
I know this may sound silly.....but I wanted to ask, specifically what do you write in a LOI? Like do you write a generic letter in most cases or do you specialize towards programs? I would greatly appreciate it if someone would be willing to share an example
I think its the fact that he/she is IMG, has a failure, and is dual applying. FM this year/other years is heavy on regional ties, getting IVs to MD/DO first, and specialty commitment. I feel like some will trickle through later, but it may explain the lack of invites for some applicants.
Someone earlier shared a basic structure like, a sentence about your ties to the area, a sentence about why you want to be at that program, and then a sentence about what you bring to the program. The ones I've sent have followed this structure for the most part. Basically saying hey i'm super interested in this program for x,y,z reasons, i am also interested in moving to x city for a b c reasons. I would gretly appreciate having the opportunity to interview at your program, thank you for your time i look forward to hearing back blah blah blah
Granted, I've sent three and have had zero success with them yet. So take that with a grain of salt
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deleted1062590
Does anyone else feel super "meh" after interviewing? I've had a few so far, and they're all just a whirlwind of bouncing from interview to interview, last only 2-3 hours max, and basically have provided me with no closure. I have no idea if I click, did well, poorly, etc. The whole process just feels like a formality to me, and no one really gets anything out of it. Anyone else feeling similarly?
ye mostly how I've felt. kind of why i think the interviews won't have a huge impact this year for as long as you aren't visibly sociopathic.
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deleted645092
if the interview makes you feel meh then you know they’re gonna get a “meh” spot on your ranklist. I had one interview where everything just clicked. Another program that was also just “meh”.
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I asked about skiing at an interview for a program where in fact they have no mountains.
Indeed, I felt "meh" afterwards.
I think programs kinda hold their cards close...but I got a good vibe from all 3 so far. During my interview yesterday the PD told me "looking at your SLOE, I can tell the place you auditioned at liked you a lot." Now IDK if he's blowing smoke up my ass or not.....but I don't see why he'd lie about something like that...especially since I didn't ask about what my SLOE said.
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deleted1062590
That's fair. Maybe it will change with programs I like better. That being said, the conversations are not only rushed, but feel way more formal than what I was expecting. I remember reading comments from last year about how hobbies and interests were brought up a lot in interviews. Maybe that's easier to discuss in person where things are more laid-back/relaxed?? I feel like maybe 5-10% of my interviewers have even broached the subject of hobbies/personal interests.
Honestly I'm not planning to factor interview impression into my ranklist much at all. I had the same philosophy for med school. I care way, way more about tangible things like location (can I buy a house there? Is it frozen half the year? Liberal/educated area?), reputation/placement for fellowships and jobs, cost of living, etc.
Whether or not I click great with the one or two random faculty and residents over short webcam calls just seems like the wrong thing to factor in compared to all that
Whether or not I click great with the one or two random faculty and residents over short webcam calls just seems like the wrong thing to factor in compared to all that
Haha dude "nothing since yesterday" isn't what I'd call "slow." Although I agree, for GS this week was much less active compared the previous one. I do think that we will start to see the trickle down occur now, because there are a limited number of days that people can interview and there is lots of overlap. I myself am sitting on 10 interviews but have overlap and am waiting on a waitlist for one of them. Top programs have also sent out a lot of invites this week, so the "top applicants" hoarding invites they have no real desire for will most certainly start to shed them. I think in general the massive "waves" are gone and now we will get slow ebbs and flows.
This is exactly how I feel
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deleted645092
TBH out of the two interviews I’ve had so far the majority of the conversation was about my hobbies, outside of one interviewer who seemed to have a script he stuck to. One of them I interviewed with the PD and we had to go over our time because they called time right as he started asking me the one question about a clinical scenario they said they ask all applicants.
Lol my first interview, all 4 of then asked the same 3 questions and I gave them all the same 3 answers. Consistency right? lolol
I find myself getting better and better at answering each repeated question
One invite, one rejection over here. After a busy few weeks. Not complaining, but think we’re mow in trickle mode (peds).
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Yeah just had a 3 hour interview session and it feels just like a regular day to me. Sitting in your home on Zoom just isn’t the same. Good program but we didn’t do a tour or anything so it really just felt like a random conference call or “meet and greet” session. I can easily see gunners just stacking interviews back to back and never burning out.
Yeah my first II was a lot less painful than flying out there would have been, by a lot. If I was applying to a specialty with a low match rate I'd probs do 25 before starting to cancel any
I rather enjoy the interviews where it’s mostly flattering you as opposed to grilling you over the tiniest detail— if programs don’t think that leaves an impression in terms of where I want to rank them after that kind of experience then I don’t know what to say.
Yeah. I totally don’t believe the “Those guys who spent two years smashing the space bar 7 hours/day will burn out after too many interviews.” Crowd.
I got this from a faculty interview today: "If you want to talk to any of the residents, feel free to come to our second look sometime in the near future! Now, lets start the interview. What questions do you have for me?"
So many red flags, my time would've been better spent on Warzone.
So many red flags, my time would've been better spent on Warzone.
My first interview last year... the PD only had one question: “what questions do you have?” For 30 minutes.... that was rough
lol thats how both of my 25 minute interviews were for my interview yesterday. i just have a set chunk of questions i ask and it usually wastes all the time, but i feel it's such a waste of everyones day.
Is anyone else feeling the pain of applying to combined residency programs this year? Not only are the two residencies not coordinating interviews on the same day (only 1 program did this) but some are scheduling their interviews weeks/ months apart for the same institution. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for the interviews but having twice as many interview days just to be able to ultimately rank the same number of programs was not something I bargained for.
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I’m going back on a surgery audition this week. Nervous about juggling interviews with being a good student, especially since I saved my favorite places for last.
Had a fast start in the beginning. Sitting at zero interviews for the entire week for the first time. Applying IM.
Probably at the academic places but i don't see how some of these community spots can be so picky.
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Thats an interesting take. I always assumed grilling you about your CV is them just trying to make conversation or trying to get you to explain something in detail to figure out the way you think.
I guess the better word is accusatory, versus inquisitive about your CV. I’ve had discussions where they genuinely want to know about my research in XYZ and what compelled me to pursue it versus straight up boiler room trying to make you sweat. But I mean generally coming out of the interview feeling “good” after warm interactions will certainly keep you or slightly bump you up rank list as opposed to completely making me feel like I need to beg for approval.
But there’s definitely nothing wrong with asking for more details about your work/ECs/etc it’s just the delivery of some folks that I take issue with
Personally the only thing people have critique are my board scores.
Its either "wow you improved what did you do different". Or wow you did terrible on step 1 what happened haha.
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deleted697308
Guys it happened...an LOI worked!
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deleted697308
in trickle mode for g surg too!
I have a list of general questions of things that are important to me, and then I always have program specific questions. Is it okay to refer to an actual list to make sure I don’t forget anything? Would it be better to print the word document or keep it on my screen so I’m still looking up towards the computer? And can I take notes? If so, again should it be onto paper On my desk or can I type directly into my excel sheet?
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deleted697308
i would just keep it in your head lol. put some stickynotes on your computer screen!
at a big residency fair last month a few PD said they'd be impressed if an applicant told them they were taking notes during their interviews
It’s okay to reference a list if you need to. You’re lucky in the sense it wont necessarily be obvious if you do.
Idk if i would take notes during the interview.
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deleted645092
I’ve had a list of questions in front of me and tell the interviewer I’m referencing them when they ask which ones I have cause I take notes on which ones already get answered either during the social or the presentation. They’ve not responded negatively once. But the best ones are the ones that come up during conversation. Just say “you mentioned x. Is this unique to your program?” And so on.
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