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As I finalize my rank list as an IR fellowship candidate, I noticed a distinct trend.
1-4 will be estatic to go to, 1-6 will be very happy.
Huge transition to mehness down at number 7.
Will be happy at 8, 9, 10 but they don't fit my professional goal.
Will be happy to match at 11-12 because it means if I dip this far down, I'll be happy to match anywhere.
I do have an objective matrix for ranking derived after talking to some fellowship and residency PDs (one of their big take away advice is to rank based on objective statements).
I had a curious realization that the saddest place to get for me is actually not the position 12, but position 7. I definitely rather match at 7 than 12, but if I get 12 I can tell myself "gee it's a competitive season and I am glad I barely matched" but if I get 7 I would always wonder how life would be one spot above. This way, number 7 is a bit of a trap rank.
In a way, if I ended up with 12, I'll say, hey, I wasn't cut out to be in a top 10 program and I am glad I got to do IR. But if I end up at #7, which is a national name but one I didn't particularly jive with, I would be wondering way more about how life could have been...I would have been so close....
This lead me to conclude that happiness with ranking is actually a curve, and not only the position of the rank matter, the slope of the curve also matter! It maybe useful to identify the highest change in the slope of your "rank happiness" curve.
1-4 will be estatic to go to, 1-6 will be very happy.
Huge transition to mehness down at number 7.
Will be happy at 8, 9, 10 but they don't fit my professional goal.
Will be happy to match at 11-12 because it means if I dip this far down, I'll be happy to match anywhere.
I do have an objective matrix for ranking derived after talking to some fellowship and residency PDs (one of their big take away advice is to rank based on objective statements).
I had a curious realization that the saddest place to get for me is actually not the position 12, but position 7. I definitely rather match at 7 than 12, but if I get 12 I can tell myself "gee it's a competitive season and I am glad I barely matched" but if I get 7 I would always wonder how life would be one spot above. This way, number 7 is a bit of a trap rank.
In a way, if I ended up with 12, I'll say, hey, I wasn't cut out to be in a top 10 program and I am glad I got to do IR. But if I end up at #7, which is a national name but one I didn't particularly jive with, I would be wondering way more about how life could have been...I would have been so close....
This lead me to conclude that happiness with ranking is actually a curve, and not only the position of the rank matter, the slope of the curve also matter! It maybe useful to identify the highest change in the slope of your "rank happiness" curve.
