The biggest thing is the impression you make in your very first interview with that company. Your CV is a very secondary thing because there is simply no time to go over it in any detail because we talk to people before we see their resumes at the Midyear. The thing is, can you give good enough answers to the interviewers' questions if you do not have the experiences to base them on? Maybe you can - and then you will progress at least to the second round at the Midyear (a lot more students go through two or three rounds at the Midyear than get invited to onsite interviews). But if you cannot - it is not your lack of experiences per se that has killed your chances, it is your lack of soft skills the company is looking for (and it really is about attitudes and personalities and thinking and communication skills, because even if you have done a couple internships in the exact area where you seek a fellowship, it still doesn't count as any real work experience). We know that students don't have relevant work experience, the fellowship is meant to be the point of entry into industry. We know that different pharmacy schools provide different opportunities to their students - so I will hold lack of an industry rotation against a Rutgers or a USP students because they get those rotations handed to them on the silver plate. I will not hold lack of industry experience against someone from University of Idaho, or Mississippi or whatever. But if the student really has nothing to show for themselves except going to school - I won't consider them because they lack initiative and ability to handle multiple things at once, not because I cannot check a certain number of boxes on the evaluation form.
