why would you interview at 13 but only rank 9? That literally means you believe that trying to SOAP or sit out a year is better than going to one of those other 4....and you said yourself there are very few spots available in SOAP(which makes sense....bad programs are going to do everything they can to rank enough candidates to try to fill, even with weak people)....
what exactly is the reason you feel you did not match? Do you mind sharing your step scores and approxuimate class ranks? An AMG ranking 9 places and failing to match is pretty unheard of...a 1 in 500 kind of thing.
Vistaril often says clever things but this wasn't one of Vistaril's most insightful or kind remarks. (No offense Vistaril, usually I enjoy your snark, but in this case I think you are just too mean. How is Proton supposed to know how many options are or aren't available in SOAP? Nobody can predict that. Not even you.). Now back to you Proton. I have one message only. It gets better. I just matched. Big deal right? It is a big deal when you have been out of med school for 4 years like I have, tried a neurology residency, found out as an intern that I was the slave of a gang of overlords from Internal Medicine.
Incompetent Nincompoops, I still have PTSD from that. I quit mid year when I realized I
had made a mistake, wanted to be a psychiatrist and that the dysfunctional department I
was in was so abusive that I couldn't take it anymore. Long story short, time passes, I
take step three, do okay, apply and don't match, go through the scramble and three years
go by, I'm still not matched. The reason the story has a happy ending, in my opinion, is
because of the work I did on myself in the meantime. I got with a good CBT therapist (just
happens to be an MD PHD psychiatrist Psychologist- best ever) who helped me figure out
my cognitive distortions that were keeping me back. I learned that I was still hanging onto
my anger and resentment from the Unpleasant experiences in my previous residency,
and that I had to learn how to reframe these so I wouldn't come across as resentful an brooding. (I still am, I'm just better at talking about it now in an interview than I was then.). The trick is to figure out what went wrong in terms of what you could have done differently (in my case, it was my defensiveness and my resentfulness) - and then learning how to deal with my needy inner brat. So when I was "good enough" and had worked through all my issues, the persona that the interviewers saw was someone who had healed significantly and has gained valuable experiences and learned from their mistakes. What I would like to suggest is that you don't give up. If you don't get in this year, there is always next year. Or the year after that. Or the year after that. I told the dean at my school that I would eventually either get into a psychiatry residency, or keep on applying each year and eventually die of old age. It turns out for me, fourth time is the charm. You will not figure out what went wrong and what you need to do differently next time by reading the random advice on this website. You need a real shrink. Don't worry about how much $ it takes or time it takes. It takes whatever it takes. It was a combination of luck, humility, sheer tenacity and a willingness to be honest with myself about my character flaws that I count as the main factors for finally matching. It was my sense of entitlement, my contempt for authority, and my addiction to self rightiousness that were the reasons it took as long as it did. Have faith in yourself, hold the dream near, and keep trying. If Voodoo Dogma can get into a residency, Proton, you too can get into a residency. And ignore all this worthless criticism from people who like to hear themselves talk. Be who you are. Be strong. And get in touch with your inner self. Good Luck.
