Reading too much into replies to Thank You emails??

[Swisych]

So, I have done a few interviews that, in my view, went pretty well and I wrote personal thank you emails to all interviewers. I was pleased to receive replies, some polite and some with nice remarks like "we would be lucky to have you as a resident" or "interviewers were impressed by you"...
Now, of course I want to read too much into that and think that I will be ranked by that program... Don't slam me, it's human nature, since I am also genuinely interested in them as well. But I am trying to be realistic as well

So, I am curious if such enthusiastic comments are just common because they would not have invited me if they did not see something interesting in my application and every "half-decent" applicant receives them or it is not that common and I could have a real chance?

Background: old IMG with so-so USMLE scores but good US clinical and research experience and green card status, hence the anxiety about chances of matching...

Thanks

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[peppy]

None of it means anything unfortunately. There are programs where they will literally tell everyone they interview that the applicant will be "ranked highly". There are a lot of examples of people hearing positive feedback directly from the program director and then being surprised not to match at the program.

Bottom line, most places will try to be polite to applicants even if they aren't going to rank them to match. After all, it would be super awkward if they went further down the rank list than usual and you ended up matching there after being told that they didn't like you. The pleasantries are meaningless. Don't make any decisions about how to rank places or how many interviews to go on based on what they say to you.

 

[atsai3]

So, I have done a few interviews that, in my view, went pretty well and I wrote personal thank you emails to all interviewers. I was pleased to receive replies, some polite and some with nice remarks like "we would be lucky to have you as a resident" or "interviewers were impressed by you"...
Now, of course I want to read too much into that and think that I will be ranked by that program... Don't slam me, it's human nature, since I am also genuinely interested in them as well. But I am trying to be realistic as well

So, I am curious if such enthusiastic comments are just common because they would not have invited me if they did not see something interesting in my application and every "half-decent" applicant receives them or it is not that common and I could have a real chance?

Background: old IMG with so-so USMLE scores but good US clinical and research experience and green card status, hence the anxiety about chances of matching...

Thanks

Agree with peppy, you're reading too much into it. The most likely explanation for the emails is that they are being polite.

Unfortunately,

1. "we would love to have you match here" is uninformative, because they would also love to have 500 other applicants match to their program (and 499 of them may be ahead of you on the rank list). The noncommittal statement "we would love to have you match here" is not dishonest, it's just noncommittal.

2. If you do not receive a polite email that is also uninformative. You cannot conclude that the program dislikes you so much that they have decided to dispense with common courtesy. Many programs make a point of not communicating with applicants: you have all the information you need up front, you rank what you want to rank, they rank what you want to rank, and the Match makes it transparent.

 

[Swisych]

Thanks for the grounding and realistic perspectives, that was the point of my question. Just that the comments I quoted were a bit more enthusiastic than what I expected. So, as I wrote, of course I want to read too much because I would like to match there, but it is good to know that I should not get my hopes too high...

 

[notdeadyet]

Polite psychiatry post-interview correspondence tends to be much more heartfelt-sounding and positive than what I've seen from other residencies. Probably from the misunderstanding that it's helpful to the applicant.

 

[billypilgrim37]

Probably from the misunderstanding that it's helpful to the applicant.

I think it's more that psychiatry is such a buyer's market, so it makes sense for programs to try to woo you a little. It costs them little to try to bump themselves up a few notches higher on everybody's list trying to be extra nice, and "not filling" is a real concern for many programs, even if it only happens every 5-10 years. And every year there are the horror stories about programs, even good ones, that don't fill, and everyone is on guard about this. Excellent programs like Stanford, Longwood, Yale, and UIC have all not filled in recent memory. That freaks people out.

And once a few programs start sending you love letters, it becomes a love letter arms race, with programs trying to out love-fest each other.

Except Cambridge, which plays super hard to get, which is kinda sexy.

 

[tiburones]

Except Cambridge, which plays super hard to get, which is kinda sexy.

Slash annoyingingly unnecessary

 

[Swisych]

Update:
Well, after completing my round of 6 interviews, I may not have read too much into the feedback from the interviews and the Thank You emails. One month after my interview the PD from my tied-for-second choice, whom I had not met (conference), personally called me to offer an out-of-match position! I doubt that the other-tied-for-2nd and first choices (Ivy League univ) will also extend pre-match positions so I will happily take that offer.
For the record, I also got another pre-match offer from my 6th choice which fills 90% of their spots before the match.
Good luck all! Thanks for honest feedback, it helped me stay grounded.

 

[whopper]

You're likely in a situation where this is very stressful, you don't know much about it, and you want to do everything possible to maximize your chances. Don't make this difficult process worse than it is. A lot of the stress with this process is simply because you haven't been through it before.

 

[Ron Mexico]

do you guys suggest a hand-written note or via email?

 

[heyjack70]

do you guys suggest a hand-written note or via email?

I'd go with email. Shows you care, not a huge waste of your time or interviewers time.

If you sent me (a resident) a written note, it's likely I wouldn't retrieve it from my residency mail box for a week. Probably after I've submitted the interview evaluation. If it's an attending, they may never get it (or maybe a month later) depending on where they work in relation to the residency office. The program director would likely be the exception. Still, I think email is the best way to go.

 

[splik]

so I understand letters/emails don't make a difference to your rank position etc., but is it a faux pax to NOT send letters/emails? Everyone tells me I should and initially I did but I have now decided not to do so except in response to a love letter. Does this look like disinterest? Is there any harm in not sending thank you letters/emails?

 

[Swisych]

so I understand letters/emails don't make a difference to your rank position etc., but is it a faux pax to NOT send letters/emails? Everyone tells me I should and initially I did but I have now decided not to do so except in response to a love letter. Does this look like disinterest? Is there any harm in not sending thank you letters/emails?

Like for any job interview, it has become "good manners" (ie, mandatory) to send Thank You notes, especially since email makes it so easy. I am not sure it is a faux pas not to do it, but when you have genuine interest in the program it can only help to do it. See it as brown-nosing if you want.
One can definitely argue that if a Thank You note helps in showing your interest, then not sending one would show a lack of interest. And then it turns into the usual arm-race and soon applicants will have to send flowers and chocolates...

At least the brown-nosing race is smoothed by the Match format which makes it less dependent on one person opinion.

 

[Swisych]

You're likely in a situation where this is very stressful, you don't know much about it, and you want to do everything possible to maximize your chances. Don't make this difficult process worse than it is. A lot of the stress with this process is simply because you haven't been through it before.

Stressful indeed, as it is my 3rd time around the block this year, so I am aware of what I am up against. The selection process, good bad or indifferent, has a bias against IMGs (me), who graduated from med school more than 5 years ago (me) with bad-to-poor USMLE results (me). So you can understand that the likelihood of being without a position on March 19th was fairly high with decreasing chances of ever matching. By the same token, you can understand my relief of having obtained a position. I just wanted to share my experience.

 

[LEdaddy]

I'd go with email. Shows you care, not a huge waste of your time or interviewers time.

If you sent me (a resident) a written note, it's likely I wouldn't retrieve it from my residency mail box for a week. Probably after I've submitted the interview evaluation. If it's an attending, they may never get it (or maybe a month later) depending on where they work in relation to the residency office. The program director would likely be the exception. Still, I think email is the best way to go.

Anecdote: N=1

Nine interviews.
1st interview --> written thank you card to PD --> no response
Rest of interviews --> thank you emails to PDs --> responses from everyone

These results and the convenience factor make emails the way to go for me.

 

[Leo Aquarius]

After one of my interviews, I sent emails to all 6 residents, faculty and directors whom I met. All replied to my Thank you emails except for the 2 residency directors. I'm wondering if this is a bad sign, or should just ignore it. On my interviews they both liked me it seemed.