I'm getting pretty tired of interviewing and it was a lot of work and money to get this many interviews (7) out of the way before I start a rotation in January where I will not have time to go out of town (I still have a few more to go). Anyway, I have my top 3 choices narrowed down, and now I'm getting pressured to "come back for a second look". All three of them are at least 8 hours from where I live and I'm broke. Talking to other people, I feel like if I don't do this then the programs "won't know if I'm serious about them or not". I'm pretty annoyed; of course I'm serious, I already dropped 300+ dollars on a plane ticket/rental car, didn't I? Anyway, I guess my question is, is this worth worrying about? Thanks.
The Second Look
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From whom are you getting pressure? The program directors? This did not enter into my experience, and I had my choice of many good programs. A second look should be solely for you, and it would actually make me a bit wary of a program if I thought they were "pressuring" me to make another visit (> 8 hrs away as you say) when they know we're all broke and busy with other interviews, rotations, Step 2, etc. It would make me feel like they were asking for a second interview.
I exaggerated when I used the word "pressured", but numerous PD's, faculty members, and residents have "encouraged us to come take a second look, especially if we think we'd like to end up here." Maybe I'm just reading into it to much. Anyway, thanks for the advice.
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Yes, you're reading too much into it. At least that was my perception. I heard this routinely and never felt pressured to come. In IM, PDs want to make sure they fill their spots w/ people who will be happy (or at least content) to be there. If you think you really want to go to X State or U of Y for your residency, a 2nd look may help make the decision. I ended up ranking the 2 places I did 2nd looks at 1 and 3 (and ended up at #1) but of the 33 other people in my class, I only know of 3 who actually did 2nd looks, so it's clearly not required or even expected.
Do a 2nd look b/c you want to see the program on a regular day, not b/c you want to impress the PD (he was on vacation when I did mine).
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2nd looks are a waste of time and money. Yo won't change your final ranking at a program by doing it and you likely will not learn much new about a program. Maybe visiting a city the program is in to see what it is like if you didn't get a chance during the interview would be more helpful and more likely to influence your decision.
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It would be useful to hear aProg's perspective on this. I also would imagine that by coming in for a second look, you make apparent your interest in the program and it could affect how the program ranks you.
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Just like the advice given to medical students, programs tend to rank people based on how competitive they are, not based on how likely we think they will come to our program. Hence, a second look is mostly for the student to help them decide where they want to be.
Another way to look at it is this: You might use a second look to shuffle your #1, #2, and #3 ranks. That will likely make a huge difference in the match outcome.
I rank 100's of students on my list. If I shuffle you from #80 to #70, it's unlikely to change the final match list. And coming for a second look is not going to bump you from #250 to #20.
Another way to look at it is this: You might use a second look to shuffle your #1, #2, and #3 ranks. That will likely make a huge difference in the match outcome.
I rank 100's of students on my list. If I shuffle you from #80 to #70, it's unlikely to change the final match list. And coming for a second look is not going to bump you from #250 to #20.
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Agreed and this is what I did 2nd looks for. Of my 1, 2 and 3 programs, one of them had a 2 day interview and the others only 1 day. So I did 2nd looks at the other two places. It ended up solidifying my #1 choice (where I matched) and changed my 2 and 3 ranks so I think it was worth the trouble and expense.
YMMV of course but don't expect to do a 2nd look and have it bump you from "ranked to clean the call rooms" to "ranked to match."
