'Highly Ranked' Programs

[deleted824797]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Yes!

 

[clozareal]

IANAPD but I doubt they would rank you lower just because you sent an email of interest. Yes, it does tell them that they're not your first choice otherwise you would have said so. However, you're assuming that a program's rank to match list will be full of people who had their program as his or her #1 and that they would be offended if you didn't rank them #1. They won't, and I think they'd appreciate hearing from you given that both parties spend an exorbitant amount of time thinking about each other.

However, if I was a program director, I would make my match list independent of what an applicant says because that means less than salt. I don't know if I would rank anyone higher or lower because of an email.

But then again, I lean toward the opinion that all post-interview communication should be banned like they do in plastic surgery. The best outcome is if the applicant and program act in a selfish manner on their rank list and avoid misleading each other.

 

[singasongofjoy]

In psychiatry / med school matches, are you allowed to tell interviewers/ sites they're your first choice? Not allowed on either side in psychology match process. Interesting how different the processes are. All seem stressful though.

 

[clausewitz2]

I'm kind of in a conundrum. I told my first choice program they were my first choice. I have 2-3 other programs that I really like too. I wanted to send a mail telling them why I liked them and that they were highly ranked.

My conundrum is that if I do state that, does it basically flag to them that they're not my first choice?But if I don't say anything, they might not know my interest. Hmm.

So programs might care about you ranking them #1, although long experience suggests they should not take these communications too seriously.

In psychiatry / med school matches, are you allowed to tell interviewers/ sites they're your first choice? Not allowed on either side in psychology match process. Interesting how different the processes are. All seem stressful though.

Not allowed to ask, unfortunately allowed to tell. Mix in standard med student-level neuroticisn and you produce the many dozens of threads like this every year.

I mean, y'all have it much worse, since there's a much higher chance a given psych PhD isn't going to be able to match to an accredited internship.

 

[DPYN]

So programs might care about you ranking them #1, although long experience suggests they should not take these communications too seriously.



Not allowed to ask, unfortunately allowed to tell. Mix in standard med student-level neuroticisn and you produce the many dozens of threads like this every year.

I mean, y'all have it much worse, since there's a much higher chance a given psych PhD isn't going to be able to match to an accredited internship.

So programs might care about you ranking them #1, although long experience suggests they should not take these communications too seriously.



Not allowed to ask, unfortunately allowed to tell. Mix in standard med student-level neuroticisn and you produce the many dozens of threads like this every year.

I mean, y'all have it much worse, since there's a much higher chance a given psych PhD isn't going to be able to match to an accredited internship.

 

[empmind]

to the OP, I doubt that would make a difference. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[psychattending]

I'm kind of in a conundrum. I told my first choice program they were my first choice. I have 2-3 other programs that I really like too. I wanted to send a mail telling them why I liked them and that they were highly ranked.

My conundrum is that if I do state that, does it basically flag to them that they're not my first choice?But if I don't say anything, they might not know my interest. Hmm.

Just send the program a nice email saying how much you like them and that you could see yourself training there. We will know that we are not likely your #1 choice but I doubt anyone will lower your ranking because of it. BTW you should do likewise. Don't lower a program on your list because you think they do not love you.

 

[singasongofjoy]

So programs might care about you ranking them #1, although long experience suggests they should not take these communications too seriously.



Not allowed to ask, unfortunately allowed to tell. Mix in standard med student-level neuroticisn and you produce the many dozens of threads like this every year.

I mean, y'all have it much worse, since there's a much higher chance a given psych PhD isn't going to be able to match to an accredited internship.

Fortunately the ratios have improved a lot in the past few years, but it's still a rather brutal process. Glad I'll never have to do that again!