MATCH STATS 2019

[SubstanceK]

Match Day is tomorrow everyone! I want to wish everyone the best of luck and congratulations to us for getting through this entire process. This is based on 2018's thread.

(You don't have to answer all of these, this is suggested so people can look through this thread next year and have an idea of our Match Day.)

• GPA:
• Geographic location:
• Activities:
• Leadership:
• Community Service:
• Research:
• Work experience in pharmacy:
• Work experience outside of pharmacy:
• Number/Type of residencies applied to:
• Number of interview invites:
• Where you actually matched (type of residency, where it was on your rank list, etc.):
• Time you received email:
• Did you feel like the program would rank you:
• Additional Notes:

May the odds be ever in your favor

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[OliviaJ]

Well, first to be a debbie-downer, but hopefully will help those who didn't match.

• GPA: 3.97
• Geographic location: Southeast
• Activities: ACCP, Rho Chi, CPFI, KE
• Leadership: Chair of our mentor program, Rho Chi, ACCP, KE, student ambassador
• Community Service: a decent bit with organizations I'm involved in at school
• Research: data collection as well as my own project I wrote the protocol for (has taken me forever, so I haven't been able to present it yet)
• Work experience in pharmacy: Walgreens intern (also did their corporate intern program)
• Work experience outside of pharmacy: none while in pharmacy school
• Number/Type of residencies applied to: 11 (all acute care)
• Number of interview invites: 5
• Where you actually matched (type of residency, where it was on your rank list, etc.): I didn't
• Time you received email: 8:00
• Did you feel like the program would rank you: I thought I would hopefully rank as most of them were smaller, community hospitals
• Additional Notes: debating if phase II is worth it or just pursue a job at this point

 

[declining-interviews]

• GPA: 3.91
  
  
• Geographic location: Midwest and Northeast
  
  
• Activities: APhA, LSHP, Rho Chi, ACCP
  
  
• Leadership: ACCP President, Pharmacy Student Association Secretary
  
  
• Community Service: Lots of health fairs, mentorship programs
  
  
• Research: 2 at Midyear, 1 at apha, 2 at ACCP. 1 NIH grant funded project
  
  
• Work experience in pharmacy: Retail, worked literally every weekend for 3 years
  
  
• Work experience outside of pharmacy: Tutoring
  
  
• Number/Type of residencies applied to: 13 applications; few in the Midwest, few in Northeast (mix of academic medical centers, and teaching/community hospitals)
  
  
• Number of interview invites: 8 onsite (ranked 6 programs)
  
  
• Where you actually matched (type of residency, where it was on your rank list, etc.): Almost 2k bed, multi-site community hospital system in the Midwest; ranked #2
  
  
• Time you received email: 7:14 AM (CST)
  
  
• Did you feel like the program would rank you: I thought I did awful on the case and couldn't get over how bad I did on it so I thought for sure I would make it on the do not rank list for this program

 

[Kh1303]

So excited to post here!

GPA: my school does 100 scale so I had a 89.5 I think it’s around 3.5?

Geographic location: Southeast

Activities: PLS, KY, CPNP, SSHP

Leadership: President of PLS, multiple positions in KY, CPNP secretary

Community Service: philanthropy chair so more than I can count lol

Research: school project presented at FPA (2nd Place), FSHP and midyear

Work experience in pharmacy: Publix for 3 years

Work experience outside of pharmacy: vets office

Number/Type of residencies applied to: 20 (all acute care) I know I’m crazy

Number of interview invites: 8

Where you actually matched (type of residency, where it was on your rank list, etc.): southeast large medical center #4

Time you received email: 8:09

Did you feel like the program would rank you: I thought I bombed the clinical case so no lol I was afraid I wouldn’t match anywhere

Additional Notes: rank how you like the program not how you think you did Bc I thought I did horrible lol

Congrats to everybody else!

 

[1christina]

• GPA: 3.55
• Geographic location: South and Southeast
• Activities: PLS, PDC, SSHP, SNPhA, APhA,CPFI
• Leadership: President of PLS, Secretary PDC, multiple other leadership positions
• Community Service: SAMMinistries
• Research: Yes
• Work experience in pharmacy: Yes, CVS
• Work experience outside of pharmacy: Yes but wasn't during pharmacy school
• Number/Type of residencies applied to: 11 (general PGY-1 with acute care)
• Number of interview invites: 7
• Where you actually matched (type of residency, where it was on your rank list, etc.): PGY-1, was ranked last on my list
• Time you received email: 7:08 am (CST)
• Did you feel like the program would rank you: Yes
• Additional Notes: Very excited even if it was one of the lower ones on my list because it was honestly very difficult to rank the programs past the first two!

 

[AC3_PharmD]

• GPA: 3.403
• Geographic location: School in the Southeast
• Activities: KE, SNPhA, APhA
• Leadership: SNPhA CKD Co-chair, PNM Chair KE, one national leadership through SNPhA
• Community Service: Whole host of community service events
• Research: Published undergrad research, currently doing research
• Work experience in pharmacy: Hospital all 4 years
• Work experience outside of pharmacy: None
• Number/Type of residencies applied to: 11
• Number of interview invites: 1
• Where you actually matched (type of residency, where it was on your rank list, etc.): #1, large academic medical center in the southeast, almost 1000 beds, trauma centered.
• Time you received email: 8:11 AM
• Did you feel like the program would rank you: Didn't know just had a lot of hope overall.
• Additional Notes:

Honestly, I feel like my story is something. I knew I wanted this program and I pulled every string at my disposal to make it happen. Being at a really fantastic pharmacy school and so getting so many rejections from places really sucked, but I got the one site that I knew in my heart I wanted to go to more than anything. To everyone next year and in the second round with only 1 interview, DO NOT GIVE UP. I know it's tough and man I had to drag myself through this but in the end this is a process of fate. Somehow, things worked out and I'm right where I wanted to be all along.

 

[jrw145790]

• GPA: 3.62
• Geographic location: Midwest, applied to programs mainly in the Midwest and two in the south
• Activities: SNPhA, PDC, APhA, pharmacy communities (unique to my school)
• Leadership: SNPhA, pharmacy community
• Community Service: local food bank, free clinic
• Research: clinical pharmacy research (outside of school requirements) x 3 years, 1 school-required research project
• Work experience in pharmacy: independent for 1 year pre-pharm and P1-P3 year, one ambulatory care summer internship
• Work experience outside of pharmacy: yes, but not during pharmacy school and not listed on my CV
• Number/Type of residencies applied to: 7 -- 4 acute care-heavy, 1 split acute/ambulatory care, 1 ambulatory care (was not aware of the lack of acute care experiences when I applied), 1 24-month pharmacotherapy program. My list was made up of 2 VAs, 3 academic medical centers, and 2 regional hospitals
• Number of interview invites: 6 -- only rejection was for pharmacotherapy
• Where you actually matched (type of residency, where it was on your rank list, etc.): Acute care PGY-1, #1 choice, 800-bed academic medical center with multiple PGY2s, children's hospital, and Level I trauma center
• Time you received email: 7:12 am CST
• Did you feel like the program would rank you: I didn't feel I did/said anything in my interview that would cause them to not rank me, but I was nervous about where they'd rank me on their list. I'm super excited I matched with my #1! I had a tough time deciding between my #1 and #2 choice, and knew I'd be happy with either one.
• Additional Notes: long but hopefully helpful!

1. I can't stress enough how important it is to rank based on where YOU want to go. It's so easy to look back on all the things you should've said or could've done differently, but at the end of the day, rank the programs you feel you'd fit best with or the ones that will give you the best opportunities based on what you're looking for.
2. Make a list or rubric of all the things you feel you need to have in a program to help distinguish programs from each other. A lot of them look the same on paper. Ask yourself what program is going to get you to where you want to be professionally.
3. I found Midyear to be 100% worth it. It's expensive but I think I saved money in the long-run eliminating programs from my list (I was looking at about 30 programs originally). I also knew more of what I was getting myself into when I applied to programs rather than just going off of the ASHP residency directory (minus the one ambulatory care-focused VA program)
4. This may be the most important piece of advice I have: Please please please apply to a variety of programs! Don't put all your eggs in one basket and only apply to AMCs or other large institutions. I think it's good to see what AMCs, VAs, and smaller hospitals have to offer. I know several people who only applied to extremely competitive AMCs and got no interviews, but I think they would've been strong applicants at other sites.

I hope this helps! Congrats to everyone who matched this year and good luck to those applying in the future!

 

[helpme33]

• GPA: 3.7
• Geographic location: East coast school but only applied to California residencies
• Activities: Rho Chi, SNPhA, Research org, Chinese Student Association
• Leadership: Rho Chi historian, SNPhA mentoring coordinator, Research org secretary, Chinese Student Association secretary
• Community Service: Big Sister ~3 years
• Research: One publication, 2 presentations
• Work experience in pharmacy: 3 pharmacy internships (inpatient, outpatient, retail) x 2-4 years each, retail rph for 6 months
• Work experience outside of pharmacy: none
• Number/Type of residencies applied to: 12
• Number of interview invites: 6
• Where you actually matched (type of residency, where it was on your rank list, etc.): general VA PGY-1, #2 of 6
• Time you received email: 510am PST
• Did you feel like the program would rank you: Yes but not very high
• Additional Notes: SO excited because I've been out of school for a year and know it's harder to get once you've graduated. It was my true #1 at heart but I ranked somewhere else first d/t other responsibilities so I couldn't be happier with the outcome

 

[ZachMonty]

Congratulations to everyone who matched!!

• GPA: 3.19 but my professional phase GPA was only 2.98 ( GPA isn't everything!!)
• Geographic location: School in the east applied all over the country!!
• Activities: Kappa Psi, AphA, PSHP
• Leadership: 4 years as a class officer, 1 year as social chair for Kappa Psi
• Community Service: None
• Research: Research Article Published in JOPP on new oncology medicine.
• Work experience in pharmacy: 4 years in a hospital 3 years at an MTM pharmacy and a year working in Industry ( I had two jobs throughout pharmacy school)
• Work experience outside of pharmacy: Retail and food prior to pharmacy school.
• Number/Type of residencies applied to: 8 programs mostly community and mid sized hospitals.
• Number of interview invites: 5
• Where you actually matched: PGY-1 Community hospital affiliated with a large academic health system. Program is in the Pacific Northwest. I ranked this program 1st out of the 5 programs I ranked.
• Time you received email: 8:07am
• Did you feel like the program would rank you: I was unsure I felt that I was not 100% on my game during the interview due to the fact it was my 4th in a week with these interviews being in 3 different states. There was also a patient case I felt decent about but not great.
• Additional Notes: A few points.

1. GPA is not everything. I thought my GPA would limit me. I got 5/8 interviews, also being placed on a waiting list for another program. I also got my top choice.
2. I believe that my LORs were everything for me. I had several programs note how good they were, including a program who did not offer me an interview.
3. Work experience is very important if you're a younger student reading this try to get a hospital internship.
4. If you can be flexible apply all over the country, and to different types of residences.
5. Do not get blinded by the names of the big programs, look into other programs that are often just as good if not better.
​

 

[Humerustendoncy]

• GPA: 3.5
• Geographic location: Northeast
• Activities: ACCP, PLS, student government
• Leadership: ACCP secretary, PLS president, class president x 2 years, student honor committee representative, pharmaceutics lab TA
• Community Service: various throughout pharmacy school, international mission trip
• Research/Publications: 4 Midyear posters, 1 ACCP regional conference poster, 6 publications either published or pending review, independent research experience (chart review and data entry for toxicology database)
• Work experience in pharmacy: worked retail for three years, switched to hospital internship for all of pharmacy school
• Work experience outside of pharmacy: various (Sears, Lowes, taught swim lessons, receptionist) although unsure how this would have contributed in any way considering non-pharmacy jobs were not on my CV and did not come up in interviews or applications
• Number/Type of residencies applied to: 20 (all general PGY-1 pharmacy practice, range of sizes, although my preference is midsize teaching hospitals)
• Number of interview invites: 16 (only ended up scheduling 6 interviews due to my own stupidity see below for explanation, ranked 3)
• Where you actually matched (type of residency, where it was on your rank list, etc.): #1, local community teaching hospital with 3 PGY-1 positions
• Time you received email: 8:18am EST (received phone call from the residency director at 8:08am)
• Did you feel like the program would rank you: I was unsure about this program. They were my very first interview, and I knew that they were going to be my top choice after that interview based solely on the people I met and how they made me feel. Just felt like the vibe was there. However, I did not feel happy about my answers to their clinical case questions. I knew I definitely did not handle them as well as I would have liked and I assumed that would factor heavily into their ranking of me. However, we're here now and I matched with them, so it must not have been that bad.
• Additional Notes: Just a PSA for anyone reading this to try and get advice for 2020. DO NOT APPLY TO 20 PROGRAMS. This was very dumb of me, and I wasted a lot of money. I was in a situation where I started the application process a little bit late, and I panicked and just applied to a ton of random places in addition to the programs I knew I was definitely interested in. There was no way for me to actually complete that many interviews, and there were places I applied that I had no intention of ever going. My suggestion would definitely be to be smart about it, save some money, and that way if you by chance end up in Phase 2, you don't have to worry about being able to afford another round of fees.

 

[lollygagger]

· GPA: 3.02

· Geographic location: Northeastern USA

· Activities: None

· Leadership: None

· Community Service: None

· Research: None

· Work experience in pharmacy: 6 years retail

· Work experience outside of pharmacy: None

· Number/Type of residencies applied to: 9

· Number of interview invites: 2

· Where you actually matched (type of residency, where it was on your rank list, etc.): Small community hospital, #1 on my list

· Time you received email: 8:08 am

· Did you feel like the program would rank you: Yes! I knew I nailed the clinical case and they were all so sweet and humble. I totally was able to be myself without feeling like I had to put up a superficial front.

· Additional Notes: Believe in yourself! Look at me and my horrible stats. You CAN match even if you weren’t involved in anything and have a mediocre GPA. Be realistic but not where you become pessimistic. Know where your application stands on a competitive level and apply to hospitals that you realistically know would offer you an interview.

(For anyone wondering, I was okay with working retail all throughout my didactic years which is why I wasn't involved in anything, and didn't work harder academic wise. It wasn't until my critical care rotation that I fell in love with the idea of becoming a clinical pharmacist where I knew I had to try pursuing residency.)

 

[Pharm544]

• GPA: 3.5
  
  
• Geographic location: Northeast
  
  
• Activities: PDC, CPNP
  
  
• Leadership: Historian, committee chairs
  
  
• Community Service: ~60 hours clinical and non clinical volunteering hours total
  
  
• Research: Clinical and non clinical, poster at midyear and local conference
  
  
• Work experience in pharmacy: Hospital (1 year), retail (2 year), 1 month industry experience
  
  
• Work experience outside of pharmacy: Computer lab assistant, Chemistry lab TA
  
  
• Number/Type of residencies applied to: 7 programs
  
  
• Number of interview invites: 6
  
  
• Where you actually matched (type of residency, where it was on your rank list, etc.): #1 choice, large, academic hospital in a major city, acute care program
  
  
• Time you received email: 8:08 am
  
  
• Did you feel like the program would rank you: yes, but I wasn't sure how highly
  
  
• Additional Notes: Also completed a clinical track program (4 APPES at same site), I think this really helped give me experiences to figure out I wanted to pursue residency and also make me a competitive applicant
  

 

[YTAZ]

• GPA: pass/fail (90 is the passing grade)
• Geographic location: SouthWest
• Activities: APhA/ASHP, NCPA, PDC, PLS
• Leadership: VP of Finance - APhA, VP of Membership - NCPA, Publication Chair - PDC
• Community Service: Crisis Counselor volunteer
• Research: Clinical
• Work experience in pharmacy: Community Pharmacy Intern
• Work experience outside of pharmacy: Medical Interpreter
• Number/Type of residencies applied to: 12
• Number of interview invites: 3
• Where you actually matched (type of residency, where it was on your rank list, etc.): Specialty pharmacy (My #1 pick)
• Time you received email: 05:07 AM PST
• Did you feel like the program would rank you: Yes
• Additional Notes: I love the program I matched with. I did a rotation at this site and loved every second of it.

 

[romaniangirl]

• GPA: 3.98
• Geographic location: South
• Activities: APhA, ASHP, ACCP, COP Curriculum committee and interview committee
• Leadership: APhA Chair, Camp coordinator
• Community Service: Various health fairs as APhA chair
• Research: 2 clinical projects (presented at midyear), 1 QI project (presented at midyear), 1 academia project (presented at state ASHP meeting)
• Work experience in pharmacy: Inpatient tech/intern X 3 years, retail tech/intern X 5.5 years
• Work experience outside of pharmacy: TA X 1 semester
• Number/Type of residencies applied to: 7 programs - mainly academic medical centers, 1 community hospital, 1 VA
• Number of interview invites: 6
• Where you actually matched (type of residency, where it was on your rank list, etc.): Large, tertiary academic medical center (#1 choice!)
• Time you received email: 7:10 AM CST
• Did you feel like the program would rank you: Ranked - yes but was worried since it's a very popular program that my mistakes on the case and a few awkward moments during the interview would push me out
• Additional Notes: completed a longitudinal track APPE (5/7) at this site which gave me the necessary experiences and LORs

I basically went through pharmacy school with the mentality that I had to "check each box" including leadership, research, grades, and work experience. While some areas were weaker than others, I had at least one experience in each setting that I could speak to during my interview which I think really helped me look well-rounded even though some of the experiences weren't as robust as my classmates.

 

[Tallpillz]

• GPA: 3.19
• Geographic location: South
• Activities: PLS, PDC, SSHP, SNPhA, student gov
• Leadership: President, treasure, orientation leader and ambassador, pledge master
• Community Service: Through organizations
• Research: Just did one retrospective study, presented at one conference
• Work experience in pharmacy: 4 years hospital, retail, and PBM
• Work experience outside of pharmacy: Nike outlet factory
• Number/Type of residencies applied to: 7 :1 VA, 5 AMC, 1 PGY1/2 combined
• Number of interview invites: 3 onsite, 1 phone
• Where you actually matched (type of residency, where it was on your rank list, etc.): VA my number #1
• Time you received email: 7:12
• Did you feel like the program would rank you: Yes, interview seemed great and had positive replies to my thank you emails
• Additional Notes: I was worried about my VERY low non competitive GPA, but I was able to prove myself on the clinical case and quiz. I had my numerous leadership and work experience in addition to great LOR which I believe helped me get some interviews

 

[The_Blue_Pill]

• GPA: 4.0
• Geographic location: Nationwide (Texas, Minnesota, NC,SC, Kentucky, WI, Tennessee, Virginia, Ohio)- Large academic centers
• Activities: Tutoring in the professional program and in undergraduate, ACCP-SCCP President, ACCP-SCCP President Elect, ACCP-SCCP P2 liaison, Class Representative, APhA, Rho Chi, Honors, Admissions Ambassador, Supplemental instruction leader, SSHP
• Leadership: ACCP, tutoring & mentoring processes through COP, Class representative
• Community Service: NONE
• Research: 3 publications in pharmacokinetic research (benchtop), student org publication, one retrospective study (posters at Midyear and SDSHP), numerous MUE, individual research presented at COP
• Work experience in pharmacy: 2 years at walmart, 1 year at VA hospital as a pharmacy intern, 2 years at a cardiac specialty hospital as a pharmacy intern (BEST EXPERIENCE AND CV BOOSTER OF ALL)
• Work experience outside of pharmacy: Research, tutoring, mentoring, admissions
• Number/Type of residencies applied to:10 PGY1 and Pharmacotherapy PGY1-2
• Number of interview invites:6
• Where you actually matched (type of residency, where it was on your rank list, etc.): acute care #1
• Time you received email: 7:15 CST
• Did you feel like the program would rank you: I believed so. I thought that my interest in internal medicine and the experience and abilities that I had throughout pharmacy school and my aspirations afterwards correlated very well with theirs. Out of all my interviews I thought that the residency and I had the most in common.
• Additional Notes: Try and diversify yourself so that you have your eggs in many baskets. At all of the places that I interviewed, they wanted not just a candidate that had alot of leadership but also is well-rounded. I personally think that having some work experiences in pharmacy is crucial to getting skills and your foot in the door to the profession. Find a mentor!!

 

[OliviaJ]

Update: I matched phase II! Same stats, but as before but with updated info from the phase II match.

• GPA: 3.97
• Geographic location: Southeast
• Activities: ACCP, Rho Chi, CPFI, KE
• Leadership: Chair of our mentor program, Rho Chi, ACCP, KE, student ambassador
• Community Service: a decent bit with organizations I'm involved in at school
• Research: data collection as well as my own project I wrote the protocol for (has taken me forever, so I haven't been able to present it yet)
• Work experience in pharmacy: Walgreens intern (also did their corporate intern program)
• Work experience outside of pharmacy: none while in pharmacy school
• Number/Type of residencies applied to: 6 (all acute care)
• Number of interview invites: 4
• Where you actually matched (type of residency, where it was on your rank list, etc.): Southeast, smaller, community hospital (#1 choice)
• Time you received email: 7:58
• Did you feel like the program would rank you: I wasn't sure, but I did think the interview went well. Thankful it all worked out eventually!