Scramble

[Non-Trad DO]

Sorry if this a little pre-mature (I've had that problem my whole life). Has anybody out there ever had to scramble into a Path slot? If so how many interviews did you go on and if a program didn't fill that you ranked (interviewed at) did you call them? Just curious. I've only had five interviews and I'm starting to get a little worried.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[deschutes]

Correct me if I'm wrong (I haven't had to Scramble, thank heavens!) but I think it doesn't involve "going on" interviews very much, unless you are in the same area. From what I can tell it involves hunkering down with your updated CV and faxing it all over the place while being on two phones at once.

If the Match is random, the Scramble is worse.

A long time ago when the U and the county were separate programs, the county didn't fill. They got a ginormous stack of applications in the Scramble and the only reason an IMG applicant was picked was because the reviewer saw that said applicant came from the same medical school as one of the at-that-time-current residents.

This info is at least 5 years old now since said resident is an attending.

But breathe for a sec! It's easy to go a bit nuts thinking of the What ifs. Five is still a good number. We've had residents match with less than that.

 

[drPLUM]

I heard that statisically if you have 7 interviews you are extremely likely to match, reguardless of the field. I would think that number would be lower for pathology, but that is just a guess.

 

[AngryTesticle]

I heard that statisically if you have 7 interviews you are extremely likely to match, reguardless of the field. I would think that number would be lower for pathology, but that is just a guess.

You never know. I know someone who ranked over 10 programs and didn't match into pathology. He was a pretty good candidate too...the fact that he had to scramble was total BS. He's a friend of mine and hell, I'm even pissed about this!

 

[cytoborg]

People have matched ranking fewer programs than 5 - i.e. 3 - as recently as last year. It depends a lot on where you stand in the pool and which programs you're talking about. I tend to be too conservative to feel comfortable with this, but to each his own. With five interviews, I would rank all of them (unless there's something reeeeeally wrong with one of them). And also be very aggressive in showing interest - have your PD/chair make "the one call" and make sure to write to the others. Just to get the most mileage out of the 5.

You never know. I know someone who ranked over 10 programs and didn't match into pathology. He was a pretty good candidate too...the fact that he had to scramble was total BS. He's a friend of mine and hell, I'm even pissed about this!

Wow. Wonder what the problem was? Does he make a bad first impression?

 

[ChipLeader]

You never know. I know someone who ranked over 10 programs and didn't match into pathology. He was a pretty good candidate too...the fact that he had to scramble was total BS. He's a friend of mine and hell, I'm even pissed about this!

That kind of thing scares the hell out of me. I consider myself a decent applicant but I'm still going on 12 interviews and will most likely rank all of them. I think too many people make the mistake of not ranking programs they didn't totally love. It's understandable but the key question to ask yourself is would you rather match such a program or go unmatched and scramble. Unless a program is total crap my answer would be the former.

Three months and 2 days till match day.

 

[miko2005]

People have matched ranking fewer programs than 5 - i.e. 3 - as recently as last year. It depends a lot on where you stand in the pool and which programs you're talking about. I tend to be too conservative to feel comfortable with this, but to each his own. With five interviews, I would rank all of them (unless there's something reeeeeally wrong with one of them). And also be very aggressive in showing interest - have your PD/chair make "the one call" and make sure to write to the others. Just to get the most mileage out of the 5.

Although I personally met someone who ranked around 10 programs and didn't match (but scrambled into my home program, which is still an excellent program), I am still going to only rank at most 3 programs. I know its risky and even scarier, I am applying to top programs. However, I need to do this for my marriage and I am probably willing to not match as opposed to matching in a place I would rather not spend next 4 years.

 

[drPLUM]

Although I personally met someone who ranked around 10 programs and didn't match (but scrambled into my home program, which is still an excellent program), I am still going to only rank at most 3 programs. I know its risky and even scarier, I am applying to top programs. However, I need to do this for my marriage and I am probably willing to not match as opposed to matching in a place I would rather not spend next 4 years.

In the event that you don't match, what are your plans? Research year and go through the match again?

 

[Non-Trad DO]

Thanks everybody.
I will rank every program because so far everybody has been really nice and none of the residents have nothing but good stuff to say when I ask them. I understand they have an interest in filling the program also but the things they have considered needed work or that they weren't real happy with I think I could tolerate.
Deschutes,
Sorry if I wasn't clear. What I meant by interviews was pre-match interviews.
ONCE AGAIN THANKS EVERYBODY I WILL TAKE ALL OF YOUR ADVICE.

 

[deschutes]

so far everybody has been really nice and none of the residents have nothing but good stuff to say when I ask them. I understand they have an interest in filling the program also but the things they have considered needed work or that they weren't real happy with I think I could tolerate.

This was sorta kinda a pet peeve of mine.

I don't think it serves anyone, because programs want the people who will fit and who will like the particular program to join the program. And people having been through worse (i.e. med school) should be able to see the value of a straight-up opinion.

I mean, even if I were having to fish for something to say like, "Well... we don't have a coffeemaker in the residents' room" the point would be that if you were complaining about something as minor as a coffeemaker there probably aren't some major deep-seated faults with the program...

 

[miko2005]

In the event that you don't match, what are your plans? Research year and go through the match again?

I guess I would do another year of research (I am avoiding thinking about it). I sincerely hope that I will match though!!

 

[yaah]

People in the scramble are often better off if they have contacts in the path world. Thus, if you know an attending with contacts, they can put in a good word for you. I sympathize with anyone who has to do this, which is why you should rank every program possible, just in case. There are always spots open though, and sometimes they are at places where you wouldn't expect (I think Utah had an opening last year) and it doesn't necessarily imply anything about the program either, PDs make mistakes in ranking too.

 

[AngryTesticle]

People in the scramble are often better off if they have contacts in the path world. Thus, if you know an attending with contacts, they can put in a good word for you. I sympathize with anyone who has to do this, which is why you should rank every program possible, just in case. There are always spots open though, and sometimes they are at places where you wouldn't expect (I think Utah had an opening last year) and it doesn't necessarily imply anything about the program either, PDs make mistakes in ranking too.

Case Western had 2 openings after the match last year. Vanderbilt had one opening as well.

 

[miko2005]

Case Western had 2 openings after the match last year. Vanderbilt had one opening as well.

I probably shouldn't ask this, but would the person who ranked 10 programs and didn't match that you mentioned earlier, happen to scramble into Vanderbilt???

 

[AngryTesticle]

I probably shouldn't ask this, but would the person who ranked 10 programs and didn't match that you mentioned earlier, happen to scramble into Vanderbilt???

Unrelated.