Discouraging words from Chair

[chicamedica]

So, i'm a little confused. i sent off some thank you's last week, to one of my tip-top choices. The Chairman was the only one who responded, lukewarm note, with a 2 liner obviously written in a hurry, ending with "Good luck and best wishes".

if the program isn't interested (1) why would it respond at all? and (2) why should i rank this program higher than programs that sent me warm letters post-interview, trying to convince me to end up at those place, since this program obviously doesn't want me (although why the aversion, i'm not too sure--i spent a whole month there, felt it was a great fit, and thought i left a positive impression and got a lot of positive comments from ppl i worked with ).

i guess this process can be quite deceiving at times.

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[UTSouthwestern]

So, i'm a little confused. i sent off some thank you's last week, to one of my tip-top choices. The Chairman was the only one who responded, lukewarm note, with a 2 liner obviously written in a hurry, ending with "Good luck and best wishes".

if the program isn't interested (1) why would it respond at all? and (2) why should i rank this program higher than programs that sent me warm letters post-interview, trying to convince me to end up at those places? This program obviously doesn't want me (although why the aversion, i'm not too sure--i spent a whole month there, felt it was a great fit, and thought i left a positive impression and got a lot of positive comments from ppl i worked with ).

i guess this process can be quite deceiving at times.

By the same token, programs that send you electrifying responses often times do so to get applicants to rank them higher, thus giving them the edge in the match process. Rank them by your own criteria, not theirs.

 

[militarymd]

Depending on the size of the applicant pool, you may be just a number to him. The Chair does not necessarily know every applicant.....frequently residency selection process is delegated to others....with the chair OKing the list.

 

[Crash cart]

I agree with the earlier post. Rank the programs according to where you want to go, not who you think will rank you, etc... If you haven't already, Google search "NRMP Algorithm" and read some of the articles that explain how the matching process works. You will find that the match favors the student's rankings and you stand the best chance of matching at the program you rank #1. Good luck.

 

[Idiopathic]

i know the program you are referring to, i think, and im not sure i would expect the chair to remember me. but the pd, now thats another story. just an fyi, i havent received any replies to my thank you cards yet. so maybe thats overwhelmingly positive? hold out hope, i think you'll end up at number 1, wherever you choose that to be.

 

[Sugar72]

I have only received one letter from a program i interviewed at and it was typed with my name misspelled. So I think you have me beat too chica!

 

[kid korea]

chica, i sympathize. i hate mixed messages... i'm kinda getting hot-cold vibes from a program i did an away at.

anyway, this is a bit off-topic, but i was always skeptical about sending off thank yous because it seemed like such an unecessary hassle - nobody cares unless you don't send them, THEN they notice. otherwise, everyone sends them. i wasn't going to send them but then caved in to the overwhelming peer pressure.

i sent off one thank you to a doc at one of my away rotations (not the one i'm getting mixed msgs from) to thank him for a great rotation. even though i knew he had no bearing on my chances of matching and is not on the committee, i figured it couldn't hurt to say thanks.

when i sat down to interview with the program the other day, both interviewers (including the PD) actually had that thank you note in their hands as we chatted, and said they were happy that i enjoyed my rotation so much, etc. who knows if it even affected anything, but i was just surprised that they still had it!

so now everyone's getting a thank you note...

 

[ear-ache]

chicamedica, you're so money and you don't even know it!
Have faith... it will work out.

 

[chicamedica]

well thanks guys for the encouraging words and the advice about ranking according to my criteria and not theirs. . .i suppose i should do that. i hope i'm just reading too much into that note.

 

[VolatileAgent]

i hope i'm just reading too much into that note.

you are. you women love to over-analyze everything. i didn't get any such notes when i was in the match and i still got my #1.

 

[chicamedica]

you are. you women love to over-analyze everything.

sigh. . . what can i say . . .

 

[supahfresh]

don't rely on their crap. besides, it shouldn't change how you make your rank list. rank them in the order where you want to go, not how you think they like you.