Psychiatry Residency Application Process

[LEdaddy]

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I've searched through SDN and have a general sense of what happens once someone hits "send" on their ERAS application, but I still am unsure about how the process works especially for psych programs.

Assuming that someone submits their materials September 1st, the first things the programs see during that month are CV info, a personal statement, and Step 1 scores. Transcript, LORs, and Step 2 scores may not come in until later in the month or into October. Given this, what are the minimum materials necessary for a program to decide to interview an applicant? When should someone send in their transcript? Should they wait until pertinent sub-I grades come in even if that means waiting until late September?

And if the Dean's letter doesn't even come out until November 1st, what is its role in the process? It would seem that it only adds more information after most interviews have been offered. Is it used mostly in the decision of how to rank?

A little more insight into the behind the scenes process probably wouldn't change anything, but it would be helpful to know. I know that those of us who are about to jump this last hoop of medical school would appreciate any words of wisdom from those of you in this specialty who have gone before us.

Thanks.

 

[notdeadyet]

Given this, what are the minimum materials necessary for a program to decide to interview an applicant? When should someone send in their transcript?

You should have your transcript and any LORs you have ready in as close to September 1st as you can. Once you hit "submit", interviews will come rolling in for most programs.

I applied mostly to somewhat competitive psych programs (by their nature of being academic west coast programs) and of the 19 I applied to in total, 10 offered me interviews by Sept 15th. Only 2 waited until the Dean's letter was out.

Psych ain't neurosurgery. Apply early so that you can get the widest offerings of interview dates and schedule intelligently.

 

[PistolPete]

Do the earliest interviews usually start in November, or do any programs interview in October?

 

[notdeadyet]

Do the earliest interviews usually start in November, or do any programs interview in October?

Many start in October.

My surprise was that more programs seemed to interview in October than January. There were only a smattering of seats offered in January when I applied.

 

[LEdaddy]

You should have your transcript and any LORs you have ready in as close to September 1st as you can. Once you hit "submit", interviews will come rolling in for most programs.

I applied mostly to somewhat competitive psych programs (by their nature of being academic west coast programs) and of the 19 I applied to in total, 10 offered me interviews by Sept 15th. Only 2 waited until the Dean's letter was out.

Psych ain't neurosurgery. Apply early so that you can get the widest offerings of interview dates and schedule intelligently.

Thanks for your response, notdeadyet.

You mentioned that the majority of programs you applied to offered interviews by the 15th. Did they all have your transcript and LORs by then? It sounds like I'll be applying to a similar group of programs.

I'll be able to submit my app on Sept 1st, but I'm still waiting on grades from my first 2 psych rotations of my 4th year. Should I wait until those come out or do you think I should submit a transcript that ends with my third year grades as early as possible? Also, I'll be happy if all of my LORs are done by the end of September (and I'm going to gently push for it), but I doubt if any of them will be uploaded before the 15th.

 

[Flushot]

I am also curious about the timing of the LoRs. It seems that from what notdeadyet says, just try to get the app out with what you have completed on your end and check up on those LoRs so they get in as soon as possible. I could be wrong on this, but I'm guessing things work on better when stuff out of your control is all that is left to be added to the app.

 

[LEdaddy]

If there was any question about LORs, you'd think it would come up in interviews.

 

[Flushot]

If there was any question about LORs, you'd think it would come up in interviews.

Well, I mean whether or not an interview is given to begin with. This seems more like a general residency question rather than a psych one. Do you plan to have all your letters in by next month?

 

[LEdaddy]

Well, I mean whether or not an interview is given to begin with. This seems more like a general residency question rather than a psych one. Do you plan to have all your letters in by next month?

Sorry, my prior post was meant for the LOR thread and not in response to your comment. Oops!

Yeah, my goal is to get my letters out by the end of the month.

 

[psychattending]

I've searched through SDN and have a general sense of what happens once someone hits "send" on their ERAS application, but I still am unsure about how the process works especially for psych programs.

Assuming that someone submits their materials September 1st, the first things the programs see during that month are CV info, a personal statement, and Step 1 scores. Transcript, LORs, and Step 2 scores may not come in until later in the month or into October. Given this, what are the minimum materials necessary for a program to decide to interview an applicant? When should someone send in their transcript? Should they wait until pertinent sub-I grades come in even if that means waiting until late September?

And if the Dean's letter doesn't even come out until November 1st, what is its role in the process? It would seem that it only adds more information after most interviews have been offered. Is it used mostly in the decision of how to rank?

A little more insight into the behind the scenes process probably wouldn't change anything, but it would be helpful to know. I know that those of us who are about to jump this last hoop of medical school would appreciate any words of wisdom from those of you in this specialty who have gone before us.

Thanks.

There is no general minimal requirement. Each program is different. Realize that in order to decide to invite you for an interview a program only has to determine whether you are above some minimum threshold. They don't have to figure out where you are on the list until they submit a rank list. For most programs that determination can be made from a subset of the data.