Residency applicaiton process

[pathstudent]

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Is there a best time to interview? I was going to leave Januray open for interviews, or is it more appropriate to interview earlier?

Or does it not matter one way or the other?

 

[cabbages]

I mentionned the possiblility of interviewing in January to the residents at my school during my elective in path and they said that was kind of late for Path. They thought that it was better to interview earlier, meaning December, I guess. Unfortunately I only remember the suggestion and not the reason behind it. Who knows.

 

[rirriri]

hotly debated....when to interview.

Early: they might forget you
Middle: you might get lost in the clan
Late: they may have already found their candidates

i'm always confused thinking about which is better.

 

[Mindy]

My *last* interview was early November--mgh. I never gave them much of a chance to forget me. It was my first choice program (and in some ways, my only choice program). I never did any away electives... wasn't sure it would help and thought it could hurt if it went wrong somehow. Never did a second look. In fact, I asked the pd during my interview at mgh whether or not I should come back later on. He asked me what I hoped to accomplish by returning. I very honestly replied to let people get to know me since I already knew they were my first choice. He bluntly told me not to bother with a second look because they were very busy and that they would have enough information to evaluate me by after the interview. I still got a spot.

The "big" additions to my cv were a psf and 2 first author papers. No phd. Academically fairly average to slightly above average.

My point? Whatever program you decide to go after, balance the fine line between pest and persistence. Also, selection committees meet fairly regularly once the interview season gets rolling. This means you are initially evaluated only with other early birds if you get an early start. I think getting into the action somewhat early establishes a precedence...and you become the benchmark for others...instead of the other way around.

Mindy

 

[Jim Bob]

Now that I've started posting messages, I just can't stop!

I started my interviews in late October (where I was doing an away) through the end of January. It's true, you get pretty tired, and I had scheduled my Harvard interviews at the end, thinking those were my top choices and I wanted them to remember me. However, by mid January I had enough, and I cancelled the Harvard hospitals just out of exhaustion. Now, I dunno how the order of my interviews affected the programs' ranking of me, but I do know that it affected my rankings. The last program I interviewed at stuck out the most and ended up being my first choice.

 

[Mindy]

My first choice was my last interview too.

...Maybe, be careful what you put last?

Mindy

 

[Jim Bob]

Exactly, Mindy. It's too late for me, but perhaps someone else can learn from my tale of woe: fatigue can really make a difference even if it's a place you think you'd love to go to. But then again, I did 15 interviews, perhaps too many.