Is it ok to tell two programs I am ranking them #1

[bobvance]

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To keep a long story short I originally told a program they were my number one choice. This was still during the interview trail and It was my top choice going in before I had even received any invitation offers. After having time to ruminate, think, and do second looks there is program that I think I would rather be at and feel like I missed out on telling my true #1 how I felt. I know they might not hold much weight but i've also been told you should only tell one program they are your #1. Would it be a bad idea to tell my new first choice that they are my #1.

 

[idkididk]

To keep a long story short I originally told a program they were my number one choice. This was still during the interview trail and It was my top choice going in before I had even received any invitation offers. After having time to ruminate, think, and do second looks there is program that I think I would rather be at and feel like I missed out on telling my true #1 how I felt. I know they might not hold much weight but i've also been told you should only tell one program they are your #1. Would it be a bad idea to tell they my new first choice that they are my #1.

Yes

 

[Dr. Death]

To keep a long story short I originally told a program they were my number one choice. This was still during the interview trail and It was my top choice going in before I had even received any invitation offers. After having time to ruminate, think, and do second looks there is program that I think I would rather be at and feel like I missed out on telling my true #1 how I felt. I know they might not hold much weight but i've also been told you should only tell one program they are your #1. Would it be a bad idea to tell my new first choice that they are my #1.

Probably not but why risk it?

 

[OnePunchBiopsy]

Not in small-world specialties.

 

[Dr. Doctor MD]

To keep a long story short I originally told a program they were my number one choice. This was still during the interview trail and It was my top choice going in before I had even received any invitation offers. After having time to ruminate, think, and do second looks there is program that I think I would rather be at and feel like I missed out on telling my true #1 how I felt. I know they might not hold much weight but i've also been told you should only tell one program they are your #1. Would it be a bad idea to tell my new first choice that they are my #1.

What you should do is respectfully email your original #1 and let them know that your situation has changed and while you would still love to end up there you have decided to rank a different program #1. I think they would respect your honesty and character, and then you could email your new #1 program and let them know. It's the right thing to do.

 

[Epilepsy365]

What you should do is respectfully email your original #1 and let them know that your situation has changed and while you would still love to end up there you have decided to rank a different program #1. I think they would respect your honesty and character, and then you could email your new #1 program and let them know. It's the right thing to do.

Lol best course of action is to keep quiet unless you want to be DNR from your original #1. In a small field where you send multiple #1s, there is a potential chance for you to be DNR from the field.

Do you honestly think that PDs nowadays don’t have tools similar our google doc sheet with Control F to find out which #1s are sent out?

 

[CidHighwind]

You know how in those campy shows/movies/games where the dude tells two or more women they’re the “one”, then the women find out the guy lied to them and they get revenge on the guy? Yeah, that guy is you in this situation OP. Don’t be that guy.

 

[operaman]

Depends on how you told the first program. If you said it verbally while you were there I think it’s understood that you still have interviews left and ranks can change just as they can for the programs. If you sent a post interview email then that’s a stronger commitment unless you qualified it with some sort of “of all the places I’ve been thus far...” kind of thing.

If it’s the former then probably no big deal. We’ve had home students tell us we’re they’re too choice early on and then they end up going somewhere else. We did have one student who ended up changing and putting us number 2 who did come by and tell all her mentors and we still left her atop our list and everyone still talks about how awesome she is. I think this might be weird from a random applicant who was only here for 12 hours one day, but at least for us we don’t touch our rank list after interview day so it wouldn’t make a difference.

Definitely be careful with this stuff though. We care a lot about our list and really like our top people so if one of them told everyone we were number one and then didn’t match here it would be remembered. It’s probably not a career ended by any stretch but it certainly won’t help.

 

[Sleepingdoc]

To keep a long story short I originally told a program they were my number one choice. This was still during the interview trail and It was my top choice going in before I had even received any invitation offers. After having time to ruminate, think, and do second looks there is program that I think I would rather be at and feel like I missed out on telling my true #1 how I felt. I know they might not hold much weight but i've also been told you should only tell one program they are your #1. Would it be a bad idea to tell my new first choice that they are my #1.

I would highly advise against it..

 

[CyrilFiggis]

Do nothing. Your love letter is likely to have no impact except negative.

 

[NickNaylor]

The appropriate thing to do is to tell the program that you're not ranking #1 that you are not, in fact, ranking them #1. If they rank you to match and you don't end up there, it becomes glaringly obvious that you engaged in some kind of shenanigans, and that doesn't reflect well on you. No, it's not like you're going to be black-balled from ever getting a job, but people do remember these kinds of things, especially in small fields as mentioned above. Being known as dishonest or flaky is not a good way to get your professional career started.

 

[deleted480308]

To keep a long story short I originally told a program they were my number one choice. This was still during the interview trail and It was my top choice going in before I had even received any invitation offers. After having time to ruminate, think, and do second looks there is program that I think I would rather be at and feel like I missed out on telling my true #1 how I felt. I know they might not hold much weight but i've also been told you should only tell one program they are your #1. Would it be a bad idea to tell my new first choice that they are my #1.

You’re like a 13yr old girl with a new crush every week, the best way to avoid people knowing that is to stop declaring your undying affection to every new program you meet.

Just tell the program you enjoyed the program and would be proud to end up with them. Drop the number 1 stuff

 

[You shall know the Truth]

Just Tell them all their your number 1, it’s like the participation trophy of residency programs!

 

[alprazoslam]

To keep a long story short I originally told a program they were my number one choice. This was still during the interview trail and It was my top choice going in before I had even received any invitation offers. After having time to ruminate, think, and do second looks there is program that I think I would rather be at and feel like I missed out on telling my true #1 how I felt. I know they might not hold much weight but i've also been told you should only tell one program they are your #1. Would it be a bad idea to tell my new first choice that they are my #1.

Unless you send them a dry cat turd with your name on it nothing you do now will affect your rank anywhere

 

[Freeinfinity]

You gotta think ahead. Medicine is a small world. The more you subspecialize the smaller the world becomes. People remember. Do the right thing and be honest. Tell the previous program they’re no longer your number one with an apology. It’s possible you may interview at the institution again for fellowship.

 

[kb1900]

You gotta think ahead. Medicine is a small world. The more you subspecialize the smaller the world becomes. People remember. Do the right thing and be honest. Tell the previous program they’re no longer your number one with an apology. It’s possible you may interview at the institution again for fellowship.

I feel like it wouldn’t even be that bad to say they will be #2 and just be 100% honest

 

[GoSpursGo]

I feel like I'm in crazy town. You absolutely SHOULD NOT tell the "original #1" program anything new. If you get ranked to match and they don't get you, then yeah they may be a little annoyed but it happens. In the unlikely scenario where you're hoping to go there for fellowship they may forget about this entirely or leadership in the program might even change. You don't get a gold star for "being honest," right now nothing good can come of telling them that you're not ranking them #1.

Whether you tell anything to the "new #1" program depends on how large your specialty is and how much sleep you're going to lose. If it's a small specialty where all the PDs talk, then you're stuck, you shouldn't say anything, end of conversation. If it's a larger specialty, my advice would be to still not say anything because it's unlikely going to make a difference. If you don't match there, it almost certainly will have nothing to do with whether you did or didn't send a love letter post-interview, plus the program has probably already made their rank list at this point. But if this is going to keep you up at night worrying for the next month if you don't send the email, then it's also not the end of the world if you send them a message.

For future applicants, this is precisely why if you choose to send #1 love letters that you shouldn't do it until you actually have your ROL in order.

 

[Dantrolene FC]

I feel like I'm in crazy town. You absolutely SHOULD NOT tell the "original #1" program anything new. If you get ranked to match and they don't get you, then yeah they may be a little annoyed but it happens. In the unlikely scenario where you're hoping to go there for fellowship they may forget about this entirely or leadership in the program might even change. You don't get a gold star for "being honest," right now nothing good can come of telling them that you're not ranking them #1.

Whether you tell anything to the "new #1" program depends on how large your specialty is and how much sleep you're going to lose. If it's a small specialty where all the PDs talk, then you're stuck, you shouldn't say anything, end of conversation. If it's a larger specialty, my advice would be to still not say anything because it's unlikely going to make a difference. If you don't match there, it almost certainly will have nothing to do with whether you did or didn't send a love letter post-interview, plus the program has probably already made their rank list at this point. But if this is going to keep you up at night worrying for the next month if you don't send the email, then it's also not the end of the world if you send them a message.

For future applicants, this is precisely why if you choose to send #1 love letters that you shouldn't do it until you actually have your ROL in order.

I regretted sending an email to the PD of my #1 program because I started to have second thoughts, but I am now over those second thoughts.

To future applicants, I would recommend not sending an email to your #1, unless it’s you’re clear and obvious #1. I know it’s hard to not send one, but I doubt it actually helps.

In regards to telling the program you’re no longer rank them them #1, I’d agree with GoSpursGo, you’re in a tough pickle here but can it really help you to reach out to the original program? There’s still a 50/50 chance you end up at your original program and at that point, it’s no harm, no foul.

 

[NickNaylor]

I feel like I'm in crazy town. You absolutely SHOULD NOT tell the "original #1" program anything new. If you get ranked to match and they don't get you, then yeah they may be a little annoyed but it happens. In the unlikely scenario where you're hoping to go there for fellowship they may forget about this entirely or leadership in the program might even change. You don't get a gold star for "being honest," right now nothing good can come of telling them that you're not ranking them #1.

Whether you tell anything to the "new #1" program depends on how large your specialty is and how much sleep you're going to lose. If it's a small specialty where all the PDs talk, then you're stuck, you shouldn't say anything, end of conversation. If it's a larger specialty, my advice would be to still not say anything because it's unlikely going to make a difference. If you don't match there, it almost certainly will have nothing to do with whether you did or didn't send a love letter post-interview, plus the program has probably already made their rank list at this point. But if this is going to keep you up at night worrying for the next month if you don't send the email, then it's also not the end of the world if you send them a message.

For future applicants, this is precisely why if you choose to send #1 love letters that you shouldn't do it until you actually have your ROL in order.

I agree with you that this whole scenario is exactly why these shouldn't be sent in the first place unless you are absolutely sure of what you're going to do come submission day... I mean this is just a bunch of self-inflicted anxiety that could've been avoided by not doing the thing that does nothing for you to begin with.

 

[Sleepingdoc]

I agree with you that this whole scenario is exactly why these shouldn't be sent in the first place unless you are absolutely sure of what you're going to do come submission day... I mean this is just a bunch of self-inflicted anxiety that could've been avoided by not doing the thing that does nothing for you to begin with.

The problem comes when everyone else is doing it and not sending it becomes a "not interested" batch of applicants. Its just like people volunteering 3 years of their life to get into med school..

 

[BoneWizard]

There should be a "commit to #1" option that you can tick when you go to rank programs that gets locked in once you tick it before you submit rank lists.

 

[NickNaylor]

The problem comes when everyone else is doing it and not sending it becomes a "not interested" batch of applicants. Its just like people volunteering 3 years of their life to get into med school..

That's just what people think. I have yet to hear from anyone involved in resident selection that these e-mails or "commitments" have any meaningful bearing on what actually ends up happening. At my program they are worth exactly zero - you will get a nice response from the PD, but nothing actually changes with respect to your rank.