THE SOAP 2013 Thread

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I am just applying for prelims but have also heard from 0/30. Kind of freaking me out but fingers crossed!
 
Axedall said:
I am just applying for prelims but have also heard from 0/30. Kind of freaking me out but fingers crossed!
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At this point, I am just hoping a random offer shows up and I take it....
 
molten said:
Feeling physically sick. I know this is not going to work for me. There is no plan B.
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I'm with you on the feeling sick part. I've tossed and turned in bed the past couple of nights, haven't felt like eating. I just feel horrible.
 
I don't know if I should put this here. I applied for IM cateogrical this year and obviously didn't match. A PD from a prelim spot I'm applying to called me yesterday and made me aware of the fact that my ERAS applications says 06/2008 for MD degree obtained, when in actuality I graduated in 06/12. This is the first I'm hearing of this. I wonder if all the programs saw this and filtered me out. I received 9 interviews overall (2 community programs) but I had to apply to 65 places. My scores are mid 220s and I passed all my classes/rotations in med school. Now I called up ERAS and they won't edit my application to correct the date. FML
 
Illinoisgrad said:
I'm with you on the feeling sick part. I've tossed and turned in bed the past couple of nights, haven't felt like eating. I just feel horrible.
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You know, I feel horribly for you and other good folks who've made it so far and are having to SOAP, including my students.

Partly thanks to the high level of tension, a couple of my colleagues got into a nasty argument with regards to why so many states are opening new medical schools.

As someone stated, it's all about the money. Med schools make money, residencies not so much.

From the way this SOAP is going, for AMGs, US-IMGs, and Non-US-IMGs, changes clearly need to be made, new legislation needs to be introduced that addresses this fiasco.

Anyway, I don't mean to take this thread off on a tangent- this topic perhaps warrants its own thread.

I sincerely wish all you potential colleagues good fortune.
 
luminescent said:
I don't know if I should put this here. I applied for IM cateogrical this year and obviously didn't match. A PD from a prelim spot I'm applying to called me yesterday and made me aware of the fact that my ERAS applications says 06/2008 for MD degree obtained, when in actuality I graduated in 06/12. This is the first I'm hearing of this. I wonder if all the programs saw this and filtered me out. I received 9 interviews overall (2 community programs) but I had to apply to 65 places. My scores are mid 220s and I passed all my classes/rotations in med school. Now I called up ERAS and they won't edit my application to correct the date. FML
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Sorry to hear that... but the fact that you had 9 interview calls is an indication that there is little value on ur grad date.... and at this point it doesnt matter.... makesure you let every program know that contacts you from today onwards.... I think you should be fine.... think positive.
 
luminescent said:
I don't know if I should put this here. I applied for IM cateogrical this year and obviously didn't match. A PD from a prelim spot I'm applying to called me yesterday and made me aware of the fact that my ERAS applications says 06/2008 for MD degree obtained, when in actuality I graduated in 06/12. This is the first I'm hearing of this. I wonder if all the programs saw this and filtered me out. I received 9 interviews overall (2 community programs) but I had to apply to 65 places. My scores are mid 220s and I passed all my classes/rotations in med school. Now I called up ERAS and they won't edit my application to correct the date. FML
Click to expand...

I hate to say it but you ought to have noticed this a while back.

Now, you can perhaps call ERAS back and suggest you're willing to take legal action (something I would not recommend), or wait until the end of the match and start emailing programs like mad with a succinct 2 - 3 paragraphs explaining your situation.

I feel for you, best wishes.
 
Illinoisgrad said:
I'm with you on the feeling sick part. I've tossed and turned in bed the past couple of nights, haven't felt like eating. I just feel horrible.
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I totally understand how you feel. I haven't eaten much either lately.
 
NuckingFuts said:
You know, I feel horribly for you and other good folks who've made it so far and are having to SOAP, including my students.

Partly thanks to the high level of tension, a couple of my colleagues got into a nasty argument with regards to why so many states are opening new medical schools.

As someone stated, it's all about the money. Med schools make money, residencies not so much.

From the way this SOAP is going, for AMGs, US-IMGs, and Non-US-IMGs, changes clearly need to be made, new legislation needs to be introduced that addresses this fiasco.

Anyway, I don't mean to take this thread off on a tangent- this topic perhaps warrants its own thread.

I sincerely wish all you potential colleagues good fortune.
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That is an excellent point, there is no shortage of Drs., just shortage of residency spots... All the new medical schools is going to do is replace the IMGs with AMGs... not really going to address the shortage...
 
notinkansas said:
I started in one specialty but went through ( or attempted to!) the match (as an independent applicant) this year to switch into another one.

I will say that the number of programs unfilled this year, especially in the areas that we'd normally expect to see a bunch of unfilled programs, is significantly less than in past years. I was shocked. Don't ask me for details, I'm not allowed to say.

I knew from reading about last year's soap that each program would get hundreds to thousands of applications per position. So I guess it's not surprising that there is a lot of radio silence.

Does make you wonder if the whole system should be revamped, though...
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I can attest to that, at least as far as last year. Last year, there were a lot more open positions for SOAP. It took me a long time trying to figure out which 30 to apply to. This year, there were far less openings, even in specialties that usually don't fill well. That's another thing that has me feeling down. It seems like there is going to be so much more competition this year for fewer spots
 
luminescent said:
I don't know if I should put this here. I applied for IM cateogrical this year and obviously didn't match. A PD from a prelim spot I'm applying to called me yesterday and made me aware of the fact that my ERAS applications says 06/2008 for MD degree obtained, when in actuality I graduated in 06/12. This is the first I'm hearing of this. I wonder if all the programs saw this and filtered me out. I received 9 interviews overall (2 community programs) but I had to apply to 65 places. My scores are mid 220s and I passed all my classes/rotations in med school. Now I called up ERAS and they won't edit my application to correct the date. FML
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one PD told me that my step 2 and cs scores did not send to him.... i was like WHAT
 
Has anyone heard for any peds programs? any calls or any emails?
 
We still have more than two and a half hours. Remain vigilant and hopeful, my friends. 🙂
 
NuckingFuts said:
I hate to say it but you ought to have noticed this a while back.

Now, you can perhaps call ERAS back and suggest you're willing to take legal action (something I would not recommend), or wait until the end of the match and start emailing programs like mad with a succinct 2 - 3 paragraphs explaining your situation.

I feel for you, best wishes.
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Legal action thing is not going to help at all at this point. Even if they try to make a change, they will need paper work from you to verify... Signatures...blah blah.... by the time they come around making a change... you will miss soap....

It best you ride this out, just incase you get an offer or if they call/interview/email you... and start working on changing eras next week... also start emailing unfilled programs next wk.... BUT for right now... dont think about it or beat yourself up on it...

******OHHHHH one thing you could do is edit your personal statement right now and mention that in it....
 
sair said:
Legal action thing is not going to help at all at this point. Even if they try to make a change, they will need paper work from you to verify... Signatures...blah blah.... by the time they come around making a change... you will miss soap....

It best you ride this out, just incase you get an offer or if they call/interview/email you... and start working on changing eras next week... also start emailing unfilled programs next wk.... BUT for right now... dont think about it or beat yourself up on it...

******OHHHHH one thing you could do is edit your personal statement right now and mention that in it....
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One more thing- I would not recommend you directly contact any programs until the match is over with, you don't want to give anyone any reason to ding you for a violation at this point.
 
I'm not sure if we are all under the same impression, but I just found some information that was new to me. This is from one of last year's SOAP forums:

"The positions are updated in real time. As soon as someone accepts the position on the NRMP website, it becomes unavailable. There is no "notify[ing] applicant "A's" status" - it happens automatically. "

Granted, there is always the possibility that you will apply to a program in Round 2 that has extended an offer that could potentially fill, but as soon as that offer is accepted the program is removed from the list. That being said, rather than waiting until the end of the first round to send out your next ten applications, it may serve you well to wait just a few minutes past 12:00EST before sending them out. My best speculation is that most SOAPers will make their decisions regarding their initial offers within the first ten minutes or so. Just my two-cents.
 
freeman0384 said:
I'm not sure if we are all under the same impression, but I just found some information that was new to me. This is from one of last year's SOAP forums:

"The positions are updated in real time. As soon as someone accepts the position on the NRMP website, it becomes unavailable. There is no "notify[ing] applicant "A's" status" - it happens automatically. "

Granted, there is always the possibility that you will apply to a program in Round 2 that has extended an offer that could potentially fill, but as soon as that offer is accepted the program is removed from the list. That being said, rather than waiting until the end of the first round to send out your next ten applications, it may serve you well to wait just a few minutes past 12:00EST before sending them out. My best speculation is that most SOAPers will make their decisions regarding their initial offers within the first ten minutes or so. Just my two-cents.
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absolutely, completely agree

Thank you for the info!!!
 
No calls or emails here this AM either. I'm working on my resume right now.

Just curious, are we allowed to contact programs that were unfilled in SOAP after the SOAP is over, to see if they still have slots they might want to put me into?
 
for those sending apps at NOON today, how are you going about selecting the programs/anticipating open spots after the initial round(s)??? im just curious and trying to think of all options; i know there is no guarantee all those programs will still have openings by the end of the first round.
 
freeman0384 said:
I'm not sure if we are all under the same impression, but I just found some information that was new to me. This is from one of last year's SOAP forums:

"The positions are updated in real time. As soon as someone accepts the position on the NRMP website, it becomes unavailable. There is no "notify[ing] applicant "A's" status" - it happens automatically. "

Granted, there is always the possibility that you will apply to a program in Round 2 that has extended an offer that could potentially fill, but as soon as that offer is accepted the program is removed from the list. That being said, rather than waiting until the end of the first round to send out your next ten applications, it may serve you well to wait just a few minutes past 12:00EST before sending them out. My best speculation is that most SOAPers will make their decisions regarding their initial offers within the first ten minutes or so. Just my two-cents.
Click to expand...

I like that. That does make a lot of sense or "cents". 😉
 
Not a single phone call.

DO grad, >245 both steps of USMLE.
Couldn't buy a damn categorical surgery spot for the second year in a row and now THIS!
And it's not like I'm an asshat either. I've been told I interview well. I got enough e-mails from PDs telling me how impressed they were with me, how they hope I'll consider their program, etc. to make me think I had a shot this year.
Oh well. Research purgatory it is, I guess.
Let this be a lesson to any DOs considering MD surgery residencies. There is a bias against DOs at ACGME surgery programs, we all know that. Is it fair? Maybe. I mean, they are MD affiliated institutions so I can understand a their bias towards MDs... that's reasonable.
The point for many of us to go "allopathic" in the first place is to obtain consistently higher quality training than what we feel we would receive at osteopathic programs. The problem is that it seems many of the ACGME programs that truly are superior aren't willing to consider us in the first place, regardless of scores. So we're left fighting an uphill battle for the remaining places that probably are no better than the DO programs we were trying to avoid. All I know is I have plenty of friends that didn't do nearly as well as I did on any objective measure of academic achievement and they are now happy and well into their first year of training at DO programs. I'm the sucker that did well enough to test the waters and I'm drowning. Sorry for the rant. PM me if you want... I'll be happy try and help anyone avoid my mistakes and I'll gladly take any advice from those who may have gone before...
 
tachycardia44 said:
Anyone getting calls or emails this morning??

sigh..round 2...FIGHT!
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Zilch so far today. 3 total. I'mi not sure what's going on, I had an easier time getting interviews last fall. You'd think with almost everyone applying to 30 programs, there'd be someone here judged to be a top candidate and getting non-stop phone calls from programs.
 
passthekoolaid said:
Not a single phone call.

DO grad, >245 both steps of USMLE.
Couldn't buy a damn categorical surgery spot for the second year in a row and now THIS!
And it's not like I'm an asshat either. I've been told I interview well. I got enough e-mails from PDs telling me how impressed they were with me, how they hope I'll consider their program, etc. to make me think I had a shot this year.
Oh well. Research purgatory it is, I guess.
Let this be a lesson to any DOs considering MD surgery residencies. There is a bias against DOs at ACGME surgery programs, we all know that. Is it fair? Maybe. I mean, they are MD affiliated institutions so I can understand a their bias towards MDs... that's reasonable.
The point for many of us to go "allopathic" in the first place is to obtain consistently higher quality training than what we feel we would receive at osteopathic programs. The problem is that it seems many of the ACGME programs that truly are superior aren't willing to consider us in the first place, regardless of scores. So we're left fighting an uphill battle for the remaining places that probably are no better than the DO programs we were trying to avoid. All I know is I have plenty of friends that didn't do nearly as well as I did on any objective measure of academic achievement and they are now happy and well into their first year of training at DO programs. I'm the sucker that did well enough to test the waters and I'm drowning. Sorry for the rant. PM me if you want... I'll be happy try and help anyone avoid my mistakes and I'll gladly take any advice from those who may have gone before...
Click to expand...

Dont sell yourself short... Most surgery spots want ppl to do a preliminary surg before they give categorical... have you done a prelim yet??
 
tachycardia44 said:
for those sending apps at NOON today, how are you going about selecting the programs/anticipating open spots after the initial round(s)??? im just curious and trying to think of all options; i know there is no guarantee all those programs will still have openings by the end of the first round.
Click to expand...

My strategy is going to be to apply to programs that either had a reasonable number of available positions to start with (>2) or that I really want and are unlikely to go the first two rounds unmatched.
 
passthekoolaid said:
Not a single phone call.
Let this be a lesson to any DOs considering MD surgery residencies. There is a bias against DOs at ACGME surgery programs, we all know that.
Click to expand...

I agree. A PD for a lower tier program told my friend point blank he wouldn't take DOs when my friend rotated there. IMGs, Carribean and the worst of the state allopathics matched into his program every year, but no DOs.
 
sair said:
Dont sell yourself short... Most surgery spots want ppl to do a preliminary surg before they give categorical... have you done a prelim yet??
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Doing a prelim at place that I wouldn't accept a categorical position even if they had offered. Several residents here recommended I not rank the program at all and a few are actively trying to leave...
 
I don't mean to be discouraging at all. But one thing that helped me through this time last year was looking at alternative jobs since I was thinking that I wouldn't successfully soap (which I didn't). That being said I might recommend research jobs looking into patient safety and/or medical informatics which are future areas that will be hot going forward. That way next year if you reapply you'll have a big feather in your cap. None of this is to say you won't successfully soap but just a consideration. I was in this boat last year and I really would wish none of you had to go through this. I'm in a conference all day but I will do my best to reply to any pms. Best of luck to all of you
 
tachycardia44 said:
watching the 10AM sportscenter to distract myself...
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Somehow I've ended up singing the "Fifty Nifty United States" song from grade school in order to keep myself occupied. Perhaps it reminds me of all of the different programs in different states that I am applying to through SOAP. 😛
 
Got a call just now from a FM PD that interviewed me yesterday asking me if I had any questions about her program, telling me I'm on her rank list, and giving me a heads up on the process goes. Also said to make sure I was ready to give up Anesthesiology before I accept it.

I hate it when PDs get my hopes up, lol. I'll take it if its in the first round but I think her spiel about how the process goes is like a way for her to say I'm not going to be offered in the first round but that doesn't mean they don't like me. On one hand, she spent 10 minutes to call me. On otherhand, I've gotten handwritten notes from pds during the interview season telling me how much they like me and yet I'm here.
 
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Its 10:36 am ET and i a going crazy. NO calls No e mails for me... Looks like i will be going through the match again next year. And its not gonna get any easier next year. 🙁
 
Will surgery prelim be any easier for an IM applicant with IM LORs? Also, if one writes a fresh PS, how does one go about justifying applying to surgery prelim when the whole applicantion speaks of IM? thanks.
 
For those fortunate to have received calls from PDs, what speciality was your first choice, and what type of program contacted you? AMG or IMG? Has anyone received calls from categorical medicine positions?

For me, no calls no interviews...pretty despondent, dont even know if its worth applying for the second round today.
 
Still reading up on all this thread; on page 4.
Just to give you guys on some insight.
I'm a DO. Applied only MD categorical surgery. Did 28 weeks of auditions in both surgery and SICU. Shot down b/c I'm a DO. Switching to anesthesia now for the SOAP and beyond.
Stats: 220/253
Top third or quarter of class. Applied to all the gas programs; some prelim im and prelim surg. Have only heard from anesthesia categorical program. Interview went great; about 45 minutes long and the secretary had to kick us off the phone since we ran over the time limit....Crossing my fingers that I'll get that position..otherwise complete radio silence since yesterday morning (had 3 calls from that program, 2 to schedule and one for the actual interview). Will update more once I'm done with this thread.
 
FMDoc13 said:
no calls as of 9:17am, I REALLY believed in my heart people would call!
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not hating on you, BUT there are ppl here with 0/30 calls and you already have 6. dont think you have it as bad as a lot of the others... just saying

good luck to everyone! i pray for you
 
sreenath830 said:
For those fortunate to have received calls from PDs, what speciality was your first choice, and what type of program contacted you? AMG or IMG? Has anyone received calls from categorical medicine positions?

For me, no calls no interviews...pretty despondent, dont even know if its worth applying for the second round today.
Click to expand...

The advice I got from my advisor since I'm flexible and will be happy with any primary care is to apply for FM over IM because there's so many IM spots but only a small percentage made it to SOAP. Alot of people have a stigma towards it too preventing them from considering it.
 
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supraman23 said:
not hating on you, BUT there are ppl here with 0/30 calls and you already have 6. dont think you have it as bad as a lot of the others... just saying

good luck to everyone! i pray for you
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I know I don;t have it bad, I was really hoping my premonition to come through for my colleagues! I feel blessed right now with 6/30 calls and am happy that my wife and I might have a job in July... I wish the same for everyone! Will post more after 12.

For those contemplating not going in round 2, PLEASE DO!!!! Do, do , do.... do not give up until Friday!
 
we made a list last night, 10 categ IM, 10 prelim IM< some FM left that we didn;t apply to. and 10 Prelim Surgery.

We jotted down name and ACGME code and number of spots. We were planning at 12:10 if no offers, go see which of the programs on our list are still out there and apply to those, choosing 10.

Plan C: for the 3rd round same thing with Prelim Surgery spots

PLan D: look for unmatched positions.
 
After SOAP has concluded at 5PM on Friday, is there a place where we can obtain the list of programs that incompletely filled so we can call them and beg them for a spot?
 
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