Interviews without all Letters of Rec?

[doc2be11]

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I am in alittle bit of a predicament and just wanted to get some input from people on this board.

I am a USIMG, Caribbean student, applying for cat. gen surgery. There was a problem with one of my letters of rec and it will not be sent in until this coming monday. Since I am an IMG my letter needs to be sent in to ECFMG and then scanned into ERAS which takes about 2 weeks. I only have 2 letters scanned in right now. I am afraid that I wont get many interviews b/c my application will be looked at as incomplete without that 3rd letter.

I have 5 interviews right now but none of them are really that impressive. Many of the places that I have applied to have already sent out invites. My scores are decent Step 1 231/94 and Step 2 243/99 and I honored my surgery core and Sub-I.

If a program's deadline is November 1st does that mean all your letters have to be in by November 1st?? Do you think many places will not offer me an interview b/c I am still missing 1 letter??

Any input would be greatly appreciated. I am really stressed out about all of this right now. I tried my best to have everything in as early as possible but unfortunaley not everything was in my control.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I am in alittle bit of a predicament and just wanted to get some input from people on this board.

I am a USIMG, Caribbean student, applying for cat. gen surgery. There was a problem with one of my letters of rec and it will not be sent in until this coming monday. Since I am an IMG my letter needs to be sent in to ECFMG and then scanned into ERAS which takes about 2 weeks. I only have 2 letters scanned in right now. I am afraid that I wont get many interviews b/c my application will be looked at as incomplete without that 3rd letter.

I have 5 interviews right now but none of them are really that impressive. Many of the places that I have applied to have already sent out invites. My scores are decent Step 1 231/94 and Step 2 243/99 and I honored my surgery core and Sub-I.

If a program's deadline is November 1st does that mean all your letters have to be in by November 1st?? Do you think many places will not offer me an interview b/c I am still missing 1 letter??

Any input would be greatly appreciated. I am really stressed out about all of this right now. I tried my best to have everything in as early as possible but unfortunaley not everything was in my control.

I can only speak of programs I was affiliated with but if applications were incomplete on November 1 except for the dean's letter, we essentially round-filed them.

IMHO however, I think programs who were going to offer you an interview do so based on scores, etc and not whether you have all your letters in.

You might consider actually contacting the programs you are still considering and haven't heard from whether or not the late letter will mean no interview for you.

 

[DrDawg]

I was in a similiar spot three years ago. I had problems getting my third letter of rec 2nd to some midlife crisis of the writer. I eventually had to ask the PD of our medicine program to write one, and I'm sure it wasn't done until after November 1st. (the guy who was supposed to write my leter sent it to me in Feb, after all my interviews).
Bottom line is I had no trouble interviewing, and recieving interviews. My stats were similiar to yours. I believe I had a couple of interviews before that final letter posted. Actually my first interview was the day after the Red Sox won the world Series in 2004 (GO SOX!). No one even asked me why I only had 2 letters. If I remember correctly I even interviewed at Dr.Cox's old program. Bottomline is I wouldn't advise it, but don't give yourself an ulcer over it.

 

[doc2be11]

Thanks for the responses....I think this has been the most stressed out I have been throughout all of med school. I mean our future literally hangs in hands of the people writing letters for you.

I appreciate the encouragement. While I realize being an IMG automatically puts me at a disadvantage...if a program has already sent out invites and I havent recieved one does that mean I am not going to be offered one? Do some programs send out a wave of invites and then wait for the Dean's letter to send out more? Thanks again for the help.

 

[Winged Scapula]

If I remember correctly I even interviewed at Dr.Cox's old program. Bottomline is I wouldn't advise it, but don't give yourself an ulcer over it.

With a late letter? Hah...we must have missed that!

Just goes to show, even when there's a "policy", sometimes rules can be bent.

 

[DrDawg]

I can't say for sure, but I tend to believe that most programs will send out interviews invites in waves. Most programs also notify you if they are not planning on interviewing you. If you haven't heard either way in November a phone call wouldn't hurt

 

[Winged Scapula]

I can't say for sure, but I tend to believe that most programs will send out interviews invites in waves. Most programs also notify you if they are not planning on interviewing you. If you haven't heard either way in November a phone call wouldn't hurt

Really? 'cause I'm still waiting to hear from several residency programs about my application to their surgery program!

 

[DrDawg]

Really I heard one way or the other from each of the 30 programs I applied to. I received a very nice Letter from University of Washington "This years applicants are very strong and that it was very unlikely from me to match with them", others would state that there were xxx applicants and they were unable to interview many qualified applicants. The only program I never heard from was RUSH, but they may still be waiting for my final letter of rec before making their final decision