May have shot myself in the foot...

[bwater]

I received post-interview communication from several PDs and one of the schools I received an email from was very convincing. I decided to rank them slightly higher than I had intended but ultimately I did not end up placing with them. Overall I wasn’t very satisfied with my placement and I think I may have shot myself in the foot. Did anyone experience something similar?

If you're more comfortable DMing your personal experience, that works too

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[Oso]

All I have to say is: rank according to your own preferences. Ignore everything else.


There was a recent thread about this, where someone's post-interview communications swayed their rank list and then they were unhappy with their match result.

 

[libertyyne]

I am confused.
Here are three programs

A - good
B-Best
C- Ok


My list before communication

A
B
C

here is my list after promising communication from program B

B
A
C

I end up matching at C. I dont understand how that is problematic, I was going to match at C anyway because thats where I was ranked by them and I was too far down the rank list for A or B.

 

[Snoopy2006]

If you moved Program X up too high and then ended up matching at a program below Program X, your movement of Program X had zero impact on where you ended up.

Threads like this (and the last one) just highlight how poorly many medical students understand the match. It's scary, considering how important it is to our lives.

 

[TurtleyReady4Med]

I was kind of hoping the title was a bit more literal.

 

[Rekt]

I am confused.
Here are three programs

A - good
B-Best
C- Ok


My list before communication

A
B
C

here is my list after promising communication from program B

B
A
C

I end up matching at C. I dont understand how that is problematic, I was going to match at C anyway because thats where I was ranked by them and I was too far down the rank list for A or B.

If B is best, then you're list before communication is really dumb because it doesn't affect you at all to put B before A.

 

[libertyyne]

If B is best, then you're list before communication is really dumb because it doesn't affect you at all to put B before A.

The implication is that B is a reach.

 

[Rekt]

The implication is that B is a reach.

Yeah but it does not hurt you to rank it first. It does not affect how A ranks you.

 

[libertyyne]

Yeah but it does not hurt you to rank it first. It does not affect how A ranks you.

Thus my confusion as to how post interview communication would shoot someone in the foot.

 

[username456789]

How on earth do so many 4th year medical students (like OP and the other recent thread) completely fail to understand how the match works?

 

[mehc012]

Thus my confusion as to how post interview communication would shoot someone in the foot.

The only way I've seen that it can actually hurt you is when someone who misunderstands how the match works, ranks a program higher (even though they would prefer to go elsewhere) just because the people there told them nice things and said they would get in there for sure...and then they DO get in, and realize that there was no reason to change their list around and that by doing so they lost their chances of getting into their preferred program.

 

[libertyyne]

The only way I've seen that it can actually hurt you is when someone who misunderstands how the match works, ranks a program higher (even though they would prefer to go elsewhere) just because the people there told them nice things and said they would get in there for sure...and then they DO get in, and realize that there was no reason to change their list around and that by doing so they lost their chances of getting into their preferred program.

By ranking a program higher they have indicated a preference for that program over other programs. You don't really know if you would be happier at a lower ranked program because you may find issues in that program that we're hidden from you as well .
That being said , the senario that I can think where someone would be negatively inpacted by post
interview communication would be to not go to any interviews after it, or to not rank other programs. Both are not very good strategies.

 

[Oso]

I was kind of hoping the title was a bit more literal.

1. Your post made me lol

2. Seeing how some people can’t seem to make the simplest decisions without first consulting SDN, I strongly believe there are a few who would start a thread after actually having shot themselves in the foot.

For example:

OP: So I think I may have shot myself in the foot, but was planning on asking my prof for a LOR ... I’m afraid that if I show up with a bandaged foot he may ask what happened and then think I’m a *******. I just really don’t want this to reflect badly in my letter. Wondering if anyone has had a similar experience? Plz this is a serious post, no negative comments

20 posts saying “go to ED now”

OP: sorry, I should have clarified: I’m aiming for MD. Its not that DOs arent real doctors it’s just that I’ve dreamed of being MD since I was 3. Does this change anything at all?

Admin: Thread closed. Sdn is not for medical advice.

 

[username456789]

By ranking a program higher they have indicated a preference for that program over other programs.

In theory, yes. However, we now have two prime examples in as many weeks of SDN posters who actually changed their rank lists by moving less desirable programs higher, thinking it would decrease their chances of not matching at all (or something along the lines of that thinking). Their fundamental lack of understanding of how the match algorithm works is troubling. And there are surely others out there like them.

I will agree that it’s tough to know which program really is the “best” for you, so it’s rarely worth it to stress after the fact (unless you didn’t match at all).

 

[mehc012]

In theory, yes. However, we now have two prime examples in as many weeks of SDN posters who actually changed their rank lists by moving less desirable programs higher, thinking it would decrease their chances of not matching at all (or something along the lines of that thinking). Their fundamental lack of understanding of how the match algorithm works is troubling. And there are surely others out there like them.

I will agree that it’s tough to know which program really is the “best” for you, so it’s rarely worth it to stress after the fact (unless you didn’t match at all).

Yup. Basically the only way to shoot yourself in the foot is to not rank the programs in the order of your preference. Which is apparently a thing that people do.

 

[TurtleyReady4Med]

@Oso Totally agreed. It could have happened and likely would have followed that pattern.

 

[Redpancreas]

I am confused.
Here are three programs

A - good
B-Best
C- Ok


My list before communication

A
B
C

here is my list after promising communication from program B

B
A
C

I end up matching at C. I dont understand how that is problematic, I was going to match at C anyway because thats where I was ranked by them and I was too far down the rank list for A or B.

Exactly, I’m sorry but OP’s logic makes no sense. I don’t know how many times this has to be said. Just because of this some PDs no longer send post interview communication and all precautions have been taken to prevent this even though students should use their common sense, yet student are still making these mistakes.

 

[mvenus929]

OP. If you moved a place higher on your rank list and didn’t end up matching with them, you are no worse off than if you had ranked them lower. It didn’t decrease your chances of matching at the program you ultimately matched with, just increased your chances at matching at the place you moved (because it was higher on your list, so if they liked you, you would’ve matched there over a program lower on your list).

So I fail to see how you shot yourself in the foot. You matched where you matched. If your unsatisfied with it, think of the people who didn’t match. If you ranked someplace you didn’t want to go higher on your list and matched there, that’s your own fault.

 

[IlDestriero]

I received post-interview communication from several PDs and one of the schools I received an email from was very convincing. I decided to rank them slightly higher than I had intended but ultimately I did not end up placing with them. Overall I wasn’t very satisfied with my placement and I think I may have shot myself in the foot. Did anyone experience something similar?

If you're more comfortable DMing your personal experience, that works too

As noted above review how the match works.
Your moving the program up your list didn’t affect your match results at all if you didn’t match with them. You still wouldn’t have matched at the other places you ranked higher than where you ended up. They filled with applicants ranked by them higher than your rank number on their list. You could have ranked any of those programs #1 and you still wouldn’t have matched.



--
Il Destriero

 

[3member]

I was kind of hoping the title was a bit more literal.

found the trauma/CC surgeon