ranking problem

Started by eggplant6
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eggplant6

New Member
7+ Year Member
Hi,

I did most of my IV's in a medium sized speciality in October and November and I had a pretty good idea which program is #1, #2, etc. I sent my #1 an email telling them I will rank them as such, and I received an enthusiastic reply (told I was a great candidate who would fit in well with the program.)

Then I went on my very last interview. I just saved it for last because it was a low key program, not much brand name, and I was going to cancel if it wasn't so close to my home. But I was really impressed during the interview and now I want to rank this program #1 instead.

So now what should I do? Is it okay if I send an email to this program and also tell them they are #1 ? Or should I just say that I will "rank them highly" ? Will there be any consequences if I don't rank the first program #1 ? The two programs are less than 2 hours away from each other I dunno if the PD's know each other or not. Thanks.
 
eggplant6 said:
Hi,

I did most of my IV's in a medium sized speciality in October and November and I had a pretty good idea which program is #1, #2, etc. I sent my #1 an email telling them I will rank them as such, and I received an enthusiastic reply (told I was a great candidate who would fit in well with the program.)

Then I went on my very last interview. I just saved it for last because it was a low key program, not much brand name, and I was going to cancel if it wasn't so close to my home. But I was really impressed during the interview and now I want to rank this program #1 instead.

So now what should I do? Is it okay if I send an email to this program and also tell them they are #1 ? Or should I just say that I will "rank them highly" ? Will there be any consequences if I don't rank the first program #1 ? The two programs are less than 2 hours away from each other I dunno if the PD's know each other or not. Thanks.
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Don't eat where you ****. This is why you don't send any correspondence, especially "you're my #1!!! <3 <3 <3", until the season is over. Karma's a bitch (moreso in small specialties).

Word does get around, probably less so than a high school girl's locker room 😉, but nonetheless it happens. I was just talking with a friend the other day who said an applicant told them "I'm ranking you highly." It was assumed this meant not #1, but high on the ROL regardless. I followed up with, "I'm under the impression that person is coming to our program." We never spoke with the applicant regarding ranking and the applicant never approached either of us.

Some will say send them email. Others will say don't. I'd figure out what you want to do (not on a whim) before your ROL is due and kindly inform the program if you're not actually ranking them #1. I had a very long discussion with a PD at my #3 who told me that I need to rank programs how I feel and that most PDs want you to do well.

Granted, this is in FM, where we're mostly touchy-feely-good-vibes.
 
I don't know if the program will take the email that seriously anyway. Probably a lot of people send emails to that program saying they'll rank them #1.
 
The post interview correspondence game is such BS. Hardly anybody means what they say and when they do nobody really takes them seriously because people have been burned by doing so in the past. Just because you got a reply saying you'd be a great candidate at Program #1 doesn't mean they will rank you #1. PDs take everything sent to them with a grain of salt; so should you.

I sent thank you letters to all my interviewers saying that I like their program (a true statement) and that I would "rank them highly" in the match (complete BS because somebody has to be #10-15 on my rank list at the end of the day) Basically all I was trying to convey was that I was still interested in the programs I went to, and that I would be happy matching there. If you liked Program #2 then it won't hurt to send them a message saying so.

You are under no obligation to rank Program #1 first based on a subjective email correspondence, and you should not feel pressured to do so. The final match is the binding contract. Anything else would be an NRMP violation. Programs will rank their choices based on who they want; you should rank based on where you want to go.
 
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