Reapplicants

[pipetman]

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Hey guys,

For the re apps, how did it go this year?

What did you do differently this cycle?

What's your game plan for the scramble?

We are rooting for you. Good luck!!

 

[chober]

I stayed active in podiatry, under a "preceptorship", going to conferences, cadaver labs, rep dinners. Took Boards Part III and passed. This year applied to a huge number of programs instead of just a handful, interviewed with 50+

Hoping not to have to scramble again. Learned alot the past year. Scrambles usually sourced from limited pool. Majority of programs the applicants will not have a chance if they do not have some sort of connection or know people in the right places. During this process programs have the power and students left in the dark usually with no indication as to what is going on.

 

[apollofx]

Congrats Chober on sticking to it and not giving up when the going gets tough, regardless of outcome you could never say you didn't put 100% into it. In addition Chober I have to say that I agree with your analysis of the match process, it quite often boils down to WHO you know not necessarily WHAT you know unfortunately and that students are told that "they hold the advantage in the match process" is simply a truth in technicality not in reality in my opinion because as you say they are often in the dark, mislead, and flat out lied to. While students also play the same game I would dare say it is out of necessity given the environment that exists.

I also am curious Chober, how did you manage to interview at 50+ programs? Were they all at CRIP or did you travel extensively because that number seems outrageous but hats off to you.

As a returning applicant how did you feel that general perception was? Did any programs indicate a high rank?

 

[podpal]

I stayed active in podiatry, under a "preceptorship", going to conferences, cadaver labs, rep dinners. Took Boards Part III and passed. This year applied to a huge number of programs instead of just a handful, interviewed with 50+

Hoping not to have to scramble again. Learned alot the past year. Scrambles usually sourced from limited pool. Majority of programs the applicants will not have a chance if they do not have some sort of connection or know people in the right places. During this process programs have the power and students left in the dark usually with no indication as to what is going on.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you! I was in the same boat as you over a decade ago. Graduated near the top of my class, had a prior health care degree and experience, research oriented, great personality, good with people-it's why I changed from my prior job to podiatry to have hands on patient care ability-good diagnostician, and hard worker. Applied to 44 programs the 2nd time around, got nuttin'. Applied a 3rd time, can't remember how many programs. Finally I got old and stopped the whole podiatry thing. It worked out though, met someone nice, got engaged, hang out, watch soaps on tv. It would've been nice to work, think I could've contributed a lot but it wasn't meant to be. I give you a lot of credit for riding it out like you are doing. Reminds me of me when I was younger. You could be creative, think outside of the box, and try for a related career, perhaps sales or something lucrative if you don't get anything again. We're considering selling sandwiches at local events over the summer. It isn't ankle surgery, but it's fun, and beats the heck out of cutting toenails!

 

[chober]

Congrats Chober on sticking to it and not giving up when the going gets tough, regardless of outcome you could never say you didn't put 100% into it. In addition Chober I have to say that I agree with your analysis of the match process, it quite often boils down to WHO you know not necessarily WHAT you know unfortunately and that students are told that "they hold the advantage in the match process" is simply a truth in technicality not in reality in my opinion because as you say they are often in the dark, mislead, and flat out lied to. While students also play the same game I would dare say it is out of necessity given the environment that exists.

I also am curious Chober, how did you manage to interview at 50+ programs? Were they all at CRIP or did you travel extensively because that number seems outrageous but hats off to you.

As a returning applicant how did you feel that general perception was? Did any programs indicate a high rank?

You can schedule roughly ~10/ day on average. If need be you can contact CASPR to see if they can massage your schedule a bit to help fit in a few more programs. Most of my interviews happened at CRIPs, I had 2 more teleconference ones afterwards. Last year, I was a nervous wreck and struggled through my interviews. I knew was gonna need more practice so that was my main reason for scheduling so many. Also, I have had no prior contact with about 85% of these programs and knew that I had to make a strong impact during interviews. I think by day 3, I was in full swing. I was too tired to tell programs what I thought they wanted to hear, instead of censoring I just spoke my mind and programs tended to respond positively to it.

As a returning applicant, most programs would ask similar questions as to why I believed I did not match the prior year, what I have been doing in the meanwhile to remain active. Many programs were sympathetic to my situation. Given, these were the programs that granted me interviews. I'm sure many programs did not grant me interviews because I was a reapplicant. Putting it out there my gpa was 3.29, and my class rank was 15/32.

Some programs expressed interest and its great to have positive feedback, but in the end the whole matching process can be very misleading. Don't trust anyone until you have a contract in front of you, and pursue any and every possible avenue.

 

[apollofx]

Yes, great advice indeed. Rank programs AS YOU WANT THEM, ignore what others and programs say and if you do this you will end up with the advantage. When you let programs guide your ranks you lose the small advantage you have as a student in the match process. Take pride in programs that express interest but don't let them dictate your choices as you finalize ranks today!

 

[chober]

Interviewed 54 programs..........matched my #1. This chapter is done.

 

[Pod Zilla]

Chober, you are an excellent example of someone who gives it their all! So glad it paid off in the end for you. Now, how about that book . . .