not matching

[uclacrewdude]

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how often do people not match at all? if schools always brag about how most people match top 3, do you have to actively self-destruct to not match? or is it just that counselors do a good job of recommending you only to programs that you're likely to match to?

 

[mpp]

link

 

[exjersey]

Failing to match among US grads is far more common among applicants applying for highly competitive specialties (derm, ENT, ortho, neurosurgery, radiology, etc) and is often due to an applicant receiving too few interviews/ranking too few programs or just not being competitive enough for the desired field. Outside of these specialties, failing to match is pretty uncommon.

When picking programs, we're generally advised to aim high and apply to a mix of "safety" programs, programs we'll be competitive at and "reach" programs. If you're a decent applicant and are not too limited by geography, this should yield a fair number of interviews, enough to ensure that you won't have to scramble.

ej

 

[ex-oh-medic]

Someone should point out how stupid it is that schools use the "% who get there top 3" statistic. Some school will actually discourage students from ranking good programs at the top of their lists as this might decrease their statistics. Not very nice...

 

[DrQuinn]

There will always be a few students who do not match (even though they interviewed at an adequate number of places)... but IMHO, the people that don't match are those that ranked too few places (not by necessity but just because). It IS advisable not to rank a program that you do not want to go to, definately, but some students get cocky and only rank a few... I ranked down to #9...

Q, DO

 

[louren]

This might be the stupidest question in SDN history and warrant me to be made fun of forever, but I can't seem to find the answer in a search. What are your options if you don't match????

 

[DrQuinn]

You then scramble into an unfilled position. If you are FP or IM, you're in luck because there will be uber amounts of unfilled positions. Other programs you might have to scramble into a traditional internship or surgical internship (whatever your desire is for residency). Someitmes people luck out and get BETTER programs than they were interviewing at...

Q, DO

 

[BPKurtz]

Originally posted by louren
This might be the stupidest question in SDN history and warrant me to be made fun of forever, but I can't seem to find the answer in a search. What are your options if you don't match????

Trust me, it's really not the stupidest question in SDN history by quite some.

Quinn answered, but more details on the scramble... at least if it was a "regular match" specialty (not early), you apparently get a phone call 2 days before "match day" telling you that you didn't match, and now you need to scramble. You are provided with a list of programs that didn't fill and you call around to these programs and ask them for a job. As I understand, you can scramble for different specialties... for instance, if you were dying to do orthopedics but didn't match, you can scramble into Family Practice programs (which will have a reasonable number of scramble spots) with the idea that someday you'll do sports medicine (which is an FP fellowship). Some competitive specialties presumbably fill all the spots in the country so never need to scramble. One thing I've heard about neuro, which doesn't begin until PGY-2, is that I think they will just hold over their spots and interview the following year for open PGY-2 slots. They'll interview people who applied for neuro but didn't match, or people in other specialties who realize during PGY-1 how much they hate the specialty they've chosen and want to go into neuro instead. A decent number of IMGs are taken this way, I've heard.

So, this all means if you don't get a call before match day, you matched somewhere that you ranked. Which is nice. Prevents that wave of nausea when you open your match envelope which reads "Sorry, you are not a winner."

bpkurtz

 

[UI2003]

Originally posted by BPKurtz
So, this all means if you don't get a call before match day, you matched somewhere that you ranked. Which is nice. Prevents that wave of nausea when you open your match envelope which reads "Sorry, you are not a winner."

bpkurtz

I hate to be picky but it's not a phone call, it's an actual letter from the NRMP. Exactly 72 hrs before Match, you'll get to open an envelope which has the "yay' or 'nay' of whether you Matched at all.

If you're a 'nay', then you have the next 24 hrs to gather *all* of your application materials because then for the next 48 hrs, you get the dubious pleasure of "manning the fax machines" and stumping for your cause all across the country (ie - Scramble). It makes for a fairly ulcer-inducing 3 days stretch for those individuals who'd rather not go un-Matched on the official day.

If you really want to know the nitty-gritty, ask around in your med school office. Those folks are really well versed in the whole shibang since most programs have at least a few people that have to go through it each year.

 

[notstudying]

You also have the option of not scrambling, taking a year off to do research and strengthen your application, and then do the match again. It can be a risky choice, but could be better than scrambling for a spot in a program you don't want, and you might end up in an even better place (or in a more appropriate specialty!).

 

[notstudying]

You also have the option of not scrambling, taking a year off to do research and strengthen your application, and then do the match again. It can be a risky choice, but could be better than scrambling for a spot in a program you don't want, and you might end up in an even better place (or in a more appropriate specialty!).

 

[Apollyon]

Originally posted by UI2003
I hate to be picky but it's not a phone call, it's an actual letter from the NRMP. Exactly 72 hrs before Match, you'll get to open an envelope which has the "yay' or 'nay' of whether you Matched at all.

It's an email. (Trust me, I got one.)