sixty-four dollar question

[AllThumbs]

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Well, I have been thinking about this whole match thing, and it is enough to drive anyone crazy. If I write a program and/or tell my chairman that I really want to go to program X and will rank them number one, do they extend the courtesy of letting you know if they are not interested in having me either directly or via my chairman? At the end of the day, I will not tell more than one program that I am ranking them number one, but it would be nice if I know that there is no chance my number one will work out so that I can "court" other programs.
Also, when people say that PD's "talk," do you think they portion out the applicants, i.e. "I really want this kid to stay here, so don't rank him. This question may seem paranoid, but I did an away at a place which seems very interested in me. The PD, my attending for the month, insisted that he write a LOR, and though I was lucky and sent it only to a few programs including his own, I ended up not getting interviews at any of the schools except for his and my home institution. As I understand it, the letter said " we would very much like to keep this student. . . ."

Anyone having finished the process have advice or comments from the other side?

 

[Scrubbed In]

It's actually the "sixty-four thousand dollar question." Don't sell yourself short.

 

[SocialistMD]

I doubt your program director would bar another program from ranking you because s/he wants to keep you. Program directors want what is best for you, but more importantly, they want what is best for their program. To keep you at their program when you would be happier elsewhere does not serve their best interests anymore than it does yours.

That said, it is difficult to get a straight answer from your top programs. You can write them and email them all you want, but all you will really get is a letter saying nothing more than something to the effect of "good luck in the match." This is what I received from my top program (where I matched), so I think you are just going to have to squirm with everyone else and wait until match day to find out where you will be going. Rank the programs based on where you want to be/where you will be happiest and things will work out for the best.

Best of luck.

 

[surgical06]

i visited a program that i interviewed at today. i say one of the senior faculty that interviewed me, he just gave me an extral long stare.. like who are you, made me stand there with my hand extended until he figured out who i was, and then said, oh right, enjoy your time here, take care.... 😱