second look at duke?

[subtropicmd]

Hey! I haven't been around for awhile but am trying to put together my rank list. was anyone invited for a second look at Duke? They said that they invite peopel for a second look and i was wondering how many, etc and if an applicant is not invited is that a bad thing?
what do you think of this program?
Thanks!

 

[yaah]

Not all programs do second looks. Those that do often invite their top few candidates. But if you are not invited it doesn't mean you won't match, very few programs (probably none) get all of their top choices. It doesn't mean they don't want you either. I don't know what Duke does for this.

 

[medsight]

Hello, I noticed that no one has brought up this issue since 2007 (unless I failed to find another thread about it), so I am hoping for some new information.

Does anyone know when Duke would send out an invitation for a second look?

If you do not receive one, does that mean you can forget about them ranking you high enough to match there?

Would it increase your chances of Duke ranking you if you schedule a second look yourself?


Thank you.

 

[green mantis]

I'm just curious. Does anyone actually go to these 2nd look interviews?

Some of my medical school classmates were getting in trouble w/ their rotation sites since they were taking so much time off for interviews, granted they were interviewing for both internship & residency.


----- Antony

 

[TommyGunn04]

I'm not sure how things work in the pathology world, but several of my colleagues went through this "second look" business when applying for cardiology fellowship spots, and I was surprised about what they told me. For many programs, the "second look" was really more like a mandatory second interview, whereby those applicants who don't attend are viewed as not being truly interested in the program, and are thus not ranked to match. I don't know if things go this way in the pathology world, but in cardiology these types of stories are unfortunately quite common (and unfair, not to mention prohibitively expensive for many). There's a lot of pride out there about how far down the match list a program goes, hence this "second look" foolishness. But fellowship programs are quite different than most residency programs in that they're often quite a bit smaller, and thus want to be even MORE sure that they're getting people who they like, who get along well with the faculty, and are a good "fit" with the program and institution. After all, if you only have 4 spots, two bad apples can just ruin everything!

Again, not sure how much this applies to path, but I thought it might be helpful as a discussion point and as some food for thought.

 

[2121115]

I think if a program offers you a second look, then they are trying to guage how interested you really are. Not attending will be looked on poorly. Is this unfair to the applicant? Yes. Does it really give the program a better idea of how the applicant will fit with the residency? I doubt it.

 

[LoaLoa]

I think if a program offers you a second look, then they are trying to guage how interested you really are. Not attending will be looked on poorly. Is this unfair to the applicant? Yes. Does it really give the program a better idea of how the applicant will fit with the residency? I doubt it.

I'm a recent Duke residency graduate. Despite being offered a second visit, I never did one and I matched here just fine. After having been part of the recruiting process, I can say with some certainty that declining a second visit invitation is NOT looked upon poorly (at least at our program), and this is explicitly stated at the time the second visit is offered. Some people feel that they have an adequate idea of what the program is like based on their regular interview day, and this is something the program director understands.

In my experience, the second visit goes both ways. Several times, there were applicants who the program had ranked in the upper middle of the pack who were moved to be ranked to match based on the second visit (and in fairness, people have moved the other direction as well). We have also had applicants who weren't sure they were interested in the program become much more interested after the more detailed look at the program.
In that sense, the second visit is a useful tool, though as in anything else match-related, there is a certain amount of gamesmanship involved.

 

[HbyHA]

In my experience, the second visit goes both ways. Several times, there were applicants who the program had ranked in the upper middle of the pack who were moved to be ranked to match based on the second visit (and in fairness, people have moved the other direction as well). We have also had applicants who weren't sure they were interested in the program become much more interested after the more detailed look at the program.
In that sense, the second visit is a useful tool, though as in anything else match-related, there is a certain amount of gamesmanship involved.

this is my experience as well (as a former Chief). We had some matches this last year spend a month or even a week with us. They impressed us and we ranked them highly. Others came back for a second look. Some matches didn't.

Best advice: Don't be a weirdo on your interview day. Don't be shy. Speak up and at least PRETEND you have a personality for the day. and if you want to go to some place, TELL THEM. What do you have to lose?