Rejections???

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beri

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I was just wondering if all programs, especially the competitive ones, send out rejections. For example, if I don't hear back from Johns Hopkins or MGH by the end of the week, should I consider that a rejection??? Appreciate your responses.
 
I have gotten an official "rejection" from Stanford, which I have to say stung a little even though I fully expected it. Several others still outstanding.

I would hope that any program you took the time and $$ to apply to would at least let you know one way or the other. I would NOT write anybody off yet. I've heard of offers coming in even through December. I have gotten two offers in the last week.

Good luck!
 
Appreciate your response. Thanks!!! Good luck to you also.
 
A bunch of us (myself included) were dinged from UCSF categorical last week
 
BW and Stanford has indeed started to dish out the tough love. Experienced them first hand. 🙁
 
I second avendesora's assertion RE: the money issue. We do shell out money for programs, and it is truly and literally a waste when there is no reply. Rejections are unpleasant, but these programs should at least notify us for the sake of finality. As for me, I plan to submit a form letter to the PD and department chair at each program I did not hear from (only a small handful, and of course, after the match), in it expressing my disappointment with each program's lack of courtesy and professionalism with regards to the application/communcation process.

Will this ultimately solve a damned thing??

Nope.

This is not about sour grapes; I have heard from every serious program to which I applied. Call me old-fashioned, but common courtesy is timeless and thorough communication is a must in all aspects of professional endeavors, is it not?
 
I just got rejections from Cornell and U Penn today. I actually was just thinking about starting a rejection thread too, so that people could know who is rejecting people already, but I guess that you beat me to it.
 
I have been waiting for the Cornell rejection. In fact, I'm not sure why I applied there in the first place. A wave of irrational, wishful thinking must have overtook me at the last minute before certifying. I suppose I should expect it on Monday or soon thereafter...

Northwestern was the first program to burst my bubble...sometime last week.

From speaking with NYU and Mt. Sinai, I wouldn't be surprised if these programs wait well into December to offer their last interviews or give definitive rejections.

PS. You are absolutely right Scarlett.
 
Got Upenn rejection yesterday. I am still waiting for 10 rejections/invites, so I think I will follow the footsteps of whoever suggested to write to the chairs about the curtesy issue.
 
i see some folks have been rejected by stanford and cornell. i have applied to both just to see if i stood a chance but still have not heard anything. do they go through a round of "third tier" applicants?

-s.
 
I was just wondering about the same thing. There are still quite a few programs (high and mid tier, even community programs) I am waiting to hear from and yet, nothing. No rejection, no updates. I am hoping that if there is no news, then there is good news since I must still be under consideration. Maybe I am a third tier applicant to (all?) those program, even the community ones? But that is strange since I have gotten other mid-higher tier university program invites.
 
DaVinci,

I was surprised by a county program in California that only invited me to interview just a few days ago. As for the others, my guess is that some programs probably do have some kind of staged review process whereby they take a little more time to compare equally qualified candidates closer to the middle of the pack during their initial screen. Then again, maybe it is as simple as an alphabetical scheme or by a certain USMLE score...

Good luck. I'm still holding out on a couple I'd like to hear from but for the most part I'm firming up my interview/travel plans now. This weekend I'm gonna resubmit personal statements revised to target the programs remaining, but I'm not expecting this tactic to be very high yield....
 
rejected from hopkins today. I don't even know why I applied, I knew that they weren't going to interview me. I applied there for med school, had good numbers (3.75, 36 MCAT, research, extracurriculars, good letters, etc) and they wouldn't even interview me then.
 
Originally posted by ckent
rejected from hopkins today. I don't even know why I applied, I knew that they weren't going to interview me. I applied there for med school, had good numbers (3.75, 36 MCAT, research, extracurriculars, good letters, etc) and they wouldn't even interview me then.
Click to expand...

Got my ass busted at Hopkins too today, damn bastards.

Incidently, got an interview there (but declined) for med school, with similar numbers as ckent. Looked like my mojo have regressed over the years... 🙁 Or this being their payback for my showing lack of respect for their esteemed medical school by cancelling my interview.... sigh...
 
Still awaiting rejection and humiliation from the following esteemed institutions, who are no doubt going to mock my hubris for believing that my 2nd-tier self was going to sneak into their hallowed 1st-tier halls.

The harvard triplets
penn
UW
Yale
Stanford
Columbia (almost forgot about them...)

At least UCSF had the humanity to reject me quickly and painlessly, rather than stringing me along.

exjersey
"2nd tier applicant - and OK with that"
 
Do residency really look at your med school application? Seems unlikely since that would mean they need to dig up your app. from 4 years ago. But, maybe that explains why I got rejected from several 2nd tier programs for some clandestine reasons
 
exjersey...i'll second that...
i also have yet to hear from cornell, columbia, yale, duke, harvard x3, emory...

and upenn decided for the 3rd time (undergrad, medschool and now residency) that they are too good for me....

second tier applicant and "i'm lovin it"
 
Originally posted by dharmabum7
exjersey...i'll second that...
i also have yet to hear from cornell, columbia, yale, duke, harvard x3, emory...

and upenn decided for the 3rd time (undergrad, medschool and now residency) that they are too good for me....

second tier applicant and "i'm lovin it"
Click to expand...

Haha got the "triple reject" treatment? This is too funny... i think they are making their points clear...

My favorite personal triple rejection was Stanford... damn... I just have no idea what the hell it takes to get my ass in that friggin insitution. UG, medschool without interview and now residency without interview...

Maybe I'll apply for faculty job or fellowship and they'll reject me for the 4th time to make the story complete. Maybe I am not meant to be in the sunny Northern California by fate.

I have no idea what "tier" of applicant am I, but I am sure a weird one judging by the pattern of the interviews I have been getting.
 
Originally posted by ckent
rejected from hopkins today. I don't even know why I applied, I knew that they weren't going to interview me. I applied there for med school, had good numbers (3.75, 36 MCAT, research, extracurriculars, good letters, etc) and they wouldn't even interview me then.
Click to expand...

got the rejection from Hopkins today as well a painfull one from UCSF on Friday🙁
I've got a 3.85 GPA, 254/259 USMLE scores, MPH from Berkeley and research at Stanford....and still I was a hopeful IMG 😎
 
Denied by THE Brigham and Women's hospital and Stanford today.
 
Got my ****-can from JH yesterday and BW today...can you feel the love tonight?!?
 
got the axe from ucsf.
something about 40 applicants per position.
 
No rejections for the past week...still waiting on high tier programs....my fingers are crossed. I just hope I won't end up getting rejections up the wazoo in the next few weeks when all those programs decide to dump me at the same time. Happy thoughts...
 
Received a nearly overly gracious rejection from Cornell today.
 
ditto as exjersey: both bwh and stanford today

still awaiting a response from:
uwashington
vanderbilt
cornell
u of chicago (even though i rotated there!)
yale
mt. sinai
-s.
 
Originally posted by Da Vinci2
No rejections for the past week...still waiting on high tier programs....my fingers are crossed. I just hope I won't end up getting rejections up the wazoo in the next few weeks when all those programs decide to dump me at the same time. Happy thoughts...
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, my gut feeling tells me that with each passing day of inactivity it is becoming more obvious that rejections are pending, or that they dont plan to send out any notification if they are not going to interview. Especially those programs that have started to invite people a month ago. Some programs I an still waiting on have already started conducting interviews. It is also interesting that some of those programs have Dec 1 application deadline. Does that mean that they will send out their rejections en mass in Dec 2?

I guess my only feeling of hope is that if your place on the alphabet is a waste back (like mine) they might still be getting to my application... Right now I am getting notifications at about 1 or 2 programs a day for the 15 or so leftovers on my list.
 
The thing is, I know the programs I am waiting on have sent out rejections, and that they are also still shelling out interviews. My last name is actually within the first 5 alphabets so if thats the way they do thing, I should have gotten rejected a long time ago.

I don't know whats going on. I also have about 15-20 programs I am still hanging on but out of the bunch, the ones I am really really waiting for are only Wash U, UVA, UCLA, and UCD, which are the only four I will go over my home program. Maybe I am just holding on to a imaginary thread of hope. 🙁

And its weird, I applied to a few no-name community programs just in case, and somehow, they are not inviting me. Whats up with that.
 
Originally posted by Da Vinci2
The thing is, I know the programs I am waiting on have sent out rejections, and that they are also still shelling out interviews. My last name is actually within the first 5 alphabets so if thats the way they do thing, I should have gotten rejected a long time ago.

I don't know whats going on. I also have about 15-20 programs I am still hanging on but out of the bunch, the ones I am really really waiting for are only Wash U, UVA, UCLA, and UCD, which are the only four I will go over my home program. Maybe I am just holding on to a imaginary thread of hope. 🙁

And its weird, I applied to a few no-name community programs just in case, and somehow, they are not inviting me. Whats up with that.
Click to expand...

I dont think any of those four you listed have been rejecting people yet, at least to my knowledge. They've been inviting but not rejecting yet.

So far, among high-end programs, been hearing people getting rejected are: BW, Stanford, UCSF, Cornell, Penn, JH, NW, Washington-Seattle.

Am I missing any?
 
Sigh, every e-mail that I've gotten from residency programs in the past 2 weeks have all been rejections. I just got rejected from Duke today. Thus far, my rejection list includes B+W, Duke, U Penn, Hopkins, and Cornell. I think that I overshot with my application.
 
Originally posted by ckent
Sigh, every e-mail that I've gotten from residency programs in the past 2 weeks have all been rejections. I just got rejected from Duke today. Thus far, my rejection list includes B+W, Duke, U Penn, Hopkins, and Cornell. I think that I overshot with my application.
Click to expand...

Add Duke to my pile of rejections as well.

Yea I have to say I overshot as well, but I am playing this game Russian style - ie. apply to many many programs, and fully expecting lots of causualties of war.

Still suspiciously quiet from the traditional elites in the NE. Not a peep yet from UChicago, Penn Cornell and Columbia for me, which are the four I am most interested in finding out.
 
whoa, i just got duke today also...well i guess my undergrad connection didn't hold any weight...bastards...see if i contribute to the alumni fund....
 
Rejected from Duke today, BW earlier this week, Stanford a week ago. Been a rough couple of days. Oh well, the only one I really wanted was BW.
 
duke yesterday...ouch! not unexpected, though. and dharmabum7...i would definitely reconsider that alumni fund. i can't believe they didn't even give you that consideration. i would say you at least earned an interview🙂 .

the only one i am waiting on is uva.....and i'm weary because it has been so long........
 
MGH dopped the bomb today. :clap:
 
guys MGH today...man's greatest hospital is losing out :laugh:

hey ncotter, thanks for the kind words...i wasn't too disappointed b/c i didn't see myself going back down south...i applied to duke just to see if they would by chance give me the courtesy of interviewing there...really i didn't have the stats!!! 😀

guys hang in there with rejections...they are humbling but nonetheless, i still feel that things have a way of working out for all of us...good luck....
 
Just came back from an interview at Emory tonight, was in a good mood (the PD pretty much told informally me if I decide I want to go there, just gave her a call). But, when I got home and checked my email, guess what? MGH and Washington Seattle gave me a can of whoop-ass. This whole process is getting kinda gay.
 
UCLA sending out rejections now? Thats good to know. At least I have not been rejected...yet?
 
Oh, well. Can't say I wasn't expecting the rejection.
 
Originally posted by ckent
Sigh, every e-mail that I've gotten from residency programs in the past 2 weeks have all been rejections. I just got rejected from Duke today. Thus far, my rejection list includes B+W, Duke, U Penn, Hopkins, and Cornell. I think that I overshot with my application.
Click to expand...

I hear you! It's almost as if 'no news' still may hold the promise of 'good news', while every new email in the inbox usually signals death. But there's nothing wrong with overshooting...it's how you end up as high as you possibly can. Keep the fire burning!
 
Received a denial from OHSU on Friday...ouch🙁

While I'm sure there is some randomness to this process, I've personally found things to be very predictable...

*Class rank is much more important than USMLE scores, and is probably the single most important factor in determining competitiveness.

*Dean's letter really doesn't amount to much, and one shouldn't expect a significant influx of invitations post Dean's letter.

*More competitive programs tend to offer invitations later in the process. Many of them waiting for the Dean's letter to begin reviewing applications.

*Reputation is in fact a real factor. Just having a cadidate from a school with a good reputation adds appeal to the program regardless of how mediocre that student may have performed.

*Applying to "safe" i.e. automatic programs in IM is pretty much a waste of time.

*After all is said and done, the quality of training really doesn't differ so much between programs.

*You will spend a lot of time stressing for no real good reason...
😉
 
I second that, although for me the process seems to be

School rep>geography>personal statement=letter of Rec>USMLE=class rank>Dean's Letter.

A lot of this also depends on who is reading your application. If they like what they read, they will invite you. If not, you have no chance. :laugh: A somewhat random process.
 
Originally posted by bartholomew

*You will spend a lot of time stressing for no real good reason...
😉
Click to expand...

I could not agree more. After having gone on a fair share of interviews at larger programs, I would add the additional comment that there is increasingly fewer and fewer things that differentiate one program from another *in terms of call, logistics*. As programs are required to comply with RRC guidelines for the 80 hour work week, with the seemingly ubiquitous night float system, it only makes sense that programs have a lot more in common (a lot more) than not. Quality of faculty, etc. are other variables which may affect ones training, but since the amount of time spent with faculty is usually not great, much of the learning process of being an intern/resident seems to me to be related to one's own capacity for learning as well as the strength of those around us (e.g. our housestaff colleagues).
 
How much of a factor does pubs play for interview/acceptance to residency programs?

Sucks to know school name is so important. If I would've known, I wouldnt have chosen my state school. What is a couple more $$ for my residency of choice? I cant believe everyone lied to me saying..."Doesnt matter what school you choose as long as you do well there, and besides, better to save a couple $10000 than waste time/money on out of state prestigious schools." Damn liars.
 
Originally posted by profunda
How much of a factor does pubs play for interview/acceptance to residency programs?

Sucks to know school name is so important. If I would've known, I wouldnt have chosen my state school. What is a couple more $$ for my residency of choice? I cant believe everyone lied to me saying..."Doesnt matter what school you choose as long as you do well there, and besides, better to save a couple $10000 than waste time/money on out of state prestigious schools." Damn liars.
Click to expand...

Just got rejected at Penn. Ouchie...

I would say important factors are, in order of importance for interviews:

AOA STATUS/class rank (very important at top programs like BW, pretty much if you are not from HMS or comparable schools, all they interview are AOA's - even some AOA's get rejected) > 3rd year record > school name (top 5>>top 25ish>sort of everywhere else) > Pubs=PS=Step1=Recs (highly variable between institutions, hardly any institution in my knowledge positive screen with step 1 alone, although there may be some that uses it as a negative screen) > DL (although it contains info that is used for more important factors above) > Extracurriculars (maybe some exceptions like class prez, but all they do is give it a cursory glance over).
 
Denied by Penn today. Not unexpected, but I was clinging on to a bit of hope with this program.

I pretty much agree with Renovar regarding what programs use to evaluate candidates. Coming from a top 10 school is important if you want to go to a top ten program, AOA & USMLE scores are heavily weighted and all candidates applying to these programs will have great reccs/Dean's Letters - not sure how much difference letters make in this regard.

90% of american IM applicants are not going to end up at in a top ten program, but 100% will become MDs and plenty of non-top 10 programs have great fellowship placement. Ultimately, we have to remember that being a physician is not entirely about fulfilling our ego and ambition, it is about caring for people, and your patients won't care where you did your residency if you treat them without compassion.
 
ummm, i wouldn't rank med school reputation as number one. so many people from my school (a very small school, little known outside of our state) have gone to do awesome residencies at places like UPenn for IM, UCLA for ortho, OSU for ENT/derm, UNC for optho etc etc. And its not just a few people from the top of the class, our school has done exceptionally well...and still no one knows that it exists (perhaps i should mention the name to spread the word!? heheheh)

i do think class rank/AOA/boards play a huge role. dean's letters are so vague and similar, i wouldn't know the difference between a great and a so-so candidate even if i dissected the letter.

personally, i think its all about where you go for residency not the med school. if you're bright, you're going to kick a** ANYwhere, harvard or not! besides, wouldn't it be easier to become AOA and top 10 at a smaller school? and if you want a good fellowship, you certainly want a kick a** residency program (even though you do learn the same stuff everywhere). i'm quite happy having gone to my med school - now i'm at a great place for residency (Penn) and have very little in debt to pay off.
 
couldn't have said it better myself!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Ultimately, we have to remember that being a physician is not entirely about fulfilling our ego and ambition, it is about caring for people, and your patients won't care where you did your residency if you treat them without compassion. [/B][/QUOTE]
 
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