rank list:caution about letters from PDs

[ckent]

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Here is a slide that I have from an NRMP Presentation:

"Dear Applicant:

We have thoroughly enjoyed your visit with us and it is clear that you will excel wherever you choose to go.

You represent the kind of candidate that has traditionally done well in our program and we hope to have the opportunity to work with you in the coming year.

Yours sincerely,
Program Director
* Did the applicant who received this letter match to this program?
* No - and this is taken from a real letter.
* Be wary of such comments or letters. They are not binding. Do not put too much weight on them when preparing your rank order list."

 

[Da Vinci2]

Thanks for posting it. I heard the same things from multipule different sources and I am taking such letters with mixed feelings as you suggested. My question; What kind of program was this (which tier)? And whether or not the candidate ranked this program #1? There are a lot of variables going into this matching process and I am trying to figure out if the candidate who didn't match into the program did it purposefully or did the whoel thing happened unwillingly (its one thing to not match into a top tier program or to a program s/he didn't want to go, its another thing if the person put a mid tier program as a number 1 choice and still didn't get in).

 

[ckent]

I don't know anything about the student, that quote was taken from a slide from a NRMP powerpoint presentation. I assume that the program was ranked highly or that the student had to scramble based on what I've posted here. I would just view any "positive" communication from programs cautiously as many do seem to do so just to ensure that they will fill. I would actually ignore these communications and just rank your programs in the order of which you would like to go to disregarding any communications or how likely you feel you are to match at particular programs. My understanding is that there is no downside to ranking Harvard as number one even if the PD director told you during your interview day that it'd be a cold day in hell before you got in, because you never know and you don't lose anything by it.