Harbor-UCLA Medical Center

[California]

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I officially give up!

This is absolutely the worst *damn* process ever created. I hate the MATCH so much. I wish I could just get acceptances to programs and CHOOSE where I want to go instead of having a computer do this for me after a month of running its algorithm.

Anyway, I inteviewed at Harbor-UCLA yesterday. I thought the program was absolutely awesome, except for maybe the program director, who was a little on the weird side. I felt my interview went well, but there is no real way to tell because my interviewer didn't give me much feedback on the interview or my chances at Harbor-UCLA. This fine institution is absolutely my first choice, but I have very little hope that I will be there come this fall. I have the numbers and grades, but I just feel everyone wants to go here. How can I possibly stand out, especially when there is only 17 spots? Furthermore, no one from my school has matched there in quite some years (at least, four), except for one student last year who was going into Dermatology, but did not match and scrambled into Harbor-UCLA.

So, in sum, I am doomed. I will be relegated to going to my home school, even though I feel I am deserving of a spot at Harbor-UCLA. I hate the match! Why can't students like me who work hard but don't necessarily have the top grades get a break sometimes? 🙄

Thanks for reading. Your opinions would be much appreciated. Again, this process is horrible.

 

[mellow yellow]

Why do you think that you are not qualified to become a resident at Harbor? It looks like you go to one of the UCs so you should have a leg-up on most. If it's truly your first choice, email the P.D. and tell him so! Have someone at your own institution make a call for you as well! Additionally, there are several programs in California that are much more competitive to match at (UCLA, UCSF, UCSD, Stanford) so it's certainly not impossible, especially if you have the grades and scores as you said. Be as proactive as you can be with the match process and give yourself the best possible chance!

 

[orientedtoself]

So, in sum, I am doomed. I will be relegated to going to my home school, even though I feel I am deserving of a spot at Harbor-UCLA.

California, why are you so certain that you won't match at Harbor? Last year they were unfilled, so everyone who interviewed there and ranked them #1 could have matched there. That having been said, I'm sure they took steps this year to try to prevent that from happening again this year.

I have heard that many programs go halfway down their list to fill. So to match there, assuming they do go down that far this year, you would need to be in the top half and rank them #1. One out of two is not that bad. Coin toss. Relax, rank them #1, and let them know they're #1. Then at that point, you have done what you can.

 

[California]

I hope your suggestions above go some distance in helping my application out. Because, honestly, my heart is set on this place. I want to work hard, serve the county, and get the fellowship of my choice. I feel this will be best accomplished here at Harbor-UCLA. However, at the same time, I cannot stand the uncertainty and the possibility that I may not be at this great institution although I KNOW I am a perfect fit. I realize I may be setting myself up for a big disaster, but what can I do. I want to be part of the *Harbor* family.

If I don't end up at Harbor and have to go to my second or third or fourth choice, I will be very sad and depressed. I hope the stars align for me.

 

[quidnunc]

Hey Cali, do you go to UCI (if you do, I know of at least one person who matched into IM at Harbor last year)? In any case, I understand your frustration, but I think you have a good chance at matching there, for the reason posted above, and for the fact that not everone who interviews there eventually ends up ranking it high (myself included), which is evident from last year's scramble to fill their slots. I hope you get in, but at least IMHO, there are lot of other great county programs similar to Harbor in So. Cal that can provide you the opportunity to accomplish your goals, like USC and Olive View-UCLA. And if it's your #1 choice, definitely let Dr. Sue know.

Good luck.

 

[California]

You know, I have to be as vague as possible. I'm not at UCLA or UCSD so that leaves you with one other UC is Southern California.

Maybe someone can fill me on this. I was getting a little worried because it seems everyone on the interview trail raves about Harbor and, of my classmates, it seems four or five are interested in this place. I don't know how I stack up against my classmates at my medical school, but I was *tripping* a little because it doesn't seem like there has ever been more than one UCI student there per year. Does anyone know if PD's take into consideration the number of students from a particular school to rank highly?

Thanks for the information and help.

 

[California]

I was also wondering what to make of the fact that Harbor did not fill last year? Perhaps, I should make this question more general. What would you expect a program *TO DO* the year following an unsuccessful year?

 

[quidnunc]

They'll probably rank more applicant's this time around and do a much better job at trying to "feel" the applicant list of those that have them as their #1 choice. I don't know how competitive they were in terms of selecting applicants, but I wouldn't be surprised if they loosened their selectivity this time around. I think the key to correcting the problem is to get to the root of it - exactly why they didn't fill last year? I have a hunch that it might of been due to the "malignant" label I've heard some people throw around. I personally did a sub-I there in medicine and can attest that it's a heavy-volume program, lots of bread and butter with a generous helping of disposition/social issues thrown in the mix. Basically, it's your typical county program with a great proportion of Spanish-speaking patients (so having some fluency is definitely a plus). I was fortunate enough to have an attending (who apart from being anal retentive and an ---hole at times), really emphasized teaching. Other than that, I've heard stories from people that b/c of the nature of the beast (namely the heavy volume), teaching is comprimised and scut work is abound. Anyway, enough of my experience, I hope things work out for ya Cali. PM me if you want to know more.

 

[orientedtoself]

Did everybody get the "Dear Candidate: . . .Maybe we'll see you in June" email today? I thought it was interesting- maybe we'll rank you to match, maybe we won't, maybe I'll rank you at the top, maybe I won't. . .

 

[California]

I got the e-mail as well. I hope it was selective and not sent to every interviewed applicant because it would be nice to get some sign from them of where I stand. The e-mail seems to imply that you, as the applicant, will be at least ranked. Otherwise, it would be rather *unjust* to give false hope to an applicant to consider them strongly. But, honestly, who really knows?

 

[California]

Did everybody get the "Dear Candidate: . . .Maybe we'll see you in June" email today? I thought it was interesting- maybe we'll rank you to match, maybe we won't, maybe I'll rank you at the top, maybe I won't. . .

Taking a few more minutes to think about this e-mail from Dr. Sue, I don't think it could have been sent to all interviewed applicants. I think it would be a lot of work for the staff to encourage all interviewed applicants to have all their questions answered, as the e-mail suggests to do. Plus, I think most of us on SDN are pretty strong applicants so it is no surprise to see many of us receiving this e-mail.

And, by the way, the timing of this e-mail is pretty interesting. The Selection Committee met last Wednesday (i.e., two days ago) to form their final rank list.

Thank you for reading.

 

[DRDARIA]

A little off topic, but Colorado sent out their email today, and it was SO obviously a form letter. I looked at the TO: on the email, and it clearly went to the entire distribution list! I found it kind of funny.

 

[orientedtoself]

A little off topic, but Colorado sent out their email today, and it was SO obviously a form letter. I looked at the TO: on the email, and it clearly went to the entire distribution list! I found it kind of funny.

I think sending it to all interviewees is a nice thing to do- it says "we like you all and would like for you to come here".

 

[DRDARIA]

I think sending it to all interviewees is a nice thing to do- it says "we like you all and would like for you to come here".

Well, that's one way to look at it-- and there are some form letters I got that gave me that feeling. This one just SCREAMED form letter in every way. On the other hand, their interviewers did send out personalized notes after the interviews (and I'm sure they did this for all interviewees) which were quite nice. Maybe they are sending more personalized emails to those they plan to rank highly 😉

 

[California]

I am willing to venture that although the e-mail was sent using a distribution list that it is possible not all interviewed applicants received the e-mail, at least the way the Harbor-UCLA e-mail was sent. (A distribution list was also used, but it was a different one than the one used in my *Invitation to Interview* e-mail.) I think they have to be generic to some degree because 50 or 60 or 70 applicants are receiving the e-mail.

The last paragraph of the Harbor-UCLA e-mail reads: On behalf of our Department of Medicine's faculty and housestaff, I invite you to consider strongly our internal medicine program.

To me, it would be cruel to include a statement like this in an e-mail if the applicant was not going to be ranked.

 

[quidnunc]

California, I'm glad you heard from Harbor today! Good luck. 🙂

 

[u_r_my_serenity]

Imagine there was no match...

Your home school tells you that you are accepted into the program but that you have to let them know within two days if you accept or not (a real scenario before the match era). You would rather go to Harbor-UCLA but they haven't sent you anything yet and you don't think your chances are that good, certainly not guaranteed anyway. Because you are too scared to take the risk of not being accepted into Harbor-UCLA you feel forced to accept the position at your homeschool and sign the contract. Now your chance of landing Harbor-UCLA is zero.

With the match you can apply to many "hope" programs and you are not penalized for ranking them above programs you are likely to be accepted into.

Do you really wish there was no match?

 

[DRDARIA]

A little off topic, but Colorado sent out their email today, and it was SO obviously a form letter. I looked at the TO: on the email, and it clearly went to the entire distribution list! I found it kind of funny.

Okay, I spoke too soon. Today got an email from Colorado that was still clearly form, but was much more personal and pleasant. 😳

 

[BigBadBix]

Okay, I spoke too soon. Today got an email from Colorado that was still clearly form, but was much more personal and pleasant. 😳

Same here. I had the same reaction you did to the first e-mail and was even planning to post about it here, but you beat me to it. 🙂

 

[California]

I hope I get into this program! I feel like I have a good shot now that I received some positive feedback in the form of an e-mail.

Before I get a little too hasty on ranking this program #1, I was wondering if anyone could elaborate on the pluses and minuses of the program. Thanks.

 

[California]

Also, is there anyone else out there that is ranking this program #1 or highly considering it?

 

[California]

Taking some of the information orientedtoself supplied to me via PM (thank you, by the way, for your input), I decided to stick with my instintcts and rank Harbor-UCLA number one on my rank list, which should be no suprise to anyone who has seen this post in the past.

Thanks for all the input!

 

[Yogi Bear]

Taking some of the information orientedtoself supplied to me via PM (thank you, by the way, for your input), I decided to stick with my instintcts and rank Harbor-UCLA number one on my rank list, which should be no suprise to anyone who has seen this post in the past.

Thanks for all the input!

so where did u end up going?