Roger Roger! Congrats!!!!!!
Thanks so much Fancy! ^_^
Congratulations man! Reading your posts for a while
🙂
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Thanks dude, likewise!
🙂 It's always nice to hear from users I've followed and posted with over all these years, feels like we fought in the trenches of med school together.
Thank you! what do you credit for getting your top choice peds match? How did you explain your situation if it came up in interviews?
For me the biggest thing was that my top choice also happened to be my home program and I was able to build a really good relationship with the department over my third and fourth year.
I got to know the department head, program directors, and other faculty members who would later fight or speak up for me when red flags like my CS failure came up. I owe this program a lot because some places flat out did not rank me due to my CS failure/lack of a passing score during ranking time, but this program still had my back.
I knew going into the app season I was a weaker applicant, and I also knew I'd be happy to stay at my home institution (I didn't expect it to end up being my top choice then, but I knew it would be up there), so I did my best to make a good impression when doing my SubI and 4th year electives.
When not asked about it, I made sure to bring up my LOA and shelf failures during most of my interviews so I could explain what happened in my own words and ease the PDs mind.
I explained to interviewers that the failures were due to mental health problems, which were now resolved and being treated. I also made sure to show them that I successfully came back from my prior struggles, and that am a stronger person for it. I wanted them to know that my past issues are not a problem now, and that I am actively doing everything I can to prevent any future episodes. I think in some ways, it might have helped me because I had a story about overcoming a struggle and coming back strong.
Basically, I stayed honest and genuine on interviews and tried to show them that I really was better and that I had learned alot from my hardships. I think they appreciated that.