Unofficial WAMC Thread Psych residency 2021

[BobaBoba]

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It has been a slow week so I wanted to see what all of your thoughts are on my app. I am an MD student from a low-mid tier medical school who applied to 65 programs, mostly university programs. Step 1/2 = 22x, 24x. No research or pubs. Pretty average app IMO. I started off getting some non-regional IIs from places in the South like Univ of Louisville and another large Univ. based program. Then came some regional Midwest and home program invites. Now I have not heard a peep for a week. Sitting at 6 interviews but was thinking this past week was really going to pick up. Hoping to reach 10-15 interviews but thinking that may not happen now after a fast start. It seems that my interview doesn't have any huge red flags given I have received these invites. It looks like some programs have filled up already which is making me nervious. Trying to be patient is becoming difficult...

Edit: applied mostly regional all throughout the Midwest and some in the South

 

[Sushirolls]

It has been a slow week so I wanted to see what all of your thoughts are on my app. I am an MD student from a low-mid tier medical school who applied to 65 programs, mostly university programs. Step 1/2 = 22x, 24x. No research or pubs. Pretty average app IMO. I started off getting some non-regional IIs from places in the South like Univ of Louisville and another large Univ. based program. Then came some regional Midwest and home program invites. Now I have not heard a peep for a week. Sitting at 6 interviews but was thinking this past week was really going to pick up. Hoping to reach 10-15 interviews but thinking that may not happen now after a fast start. It seems that my interview doesn't have any huge red flags given I have received these invites. It looks like some programs have filled up already which is making me nervious. Trying to be patient is becoming difficult...

Edit: applied mostly regional all throughout the Midwest and some in the South

Similar to hunting deer during the Rut, you just witnessed a flurry of activity, and now you need to sit tight and wait for the second Rut in coming weeks/months when cancelations happen, spots open up and then *boom* your application fills that hole.

 

[BobaBoba]

Similar to hunting deer during the Rut, you just witnessed a flurry of activity, and now you need to sit tight and wait for the second Rut in coming weeks/months when cancelations happen, spots open up and then *boom* your application fills that hole.

Ha! As a person who grew up as a very unskilled bow hunter, I love that analogy. I think I am mostly worried about this being such an odd year that the second rut never occurs due to people being able to take more interviews via Zoom. I have only received one rejection which makes me feel like my app is still in play, but gosh, this wait is a killer. Someone put out a survey about how many interviews people have as of today. The average was around 5-6 so I should feel good about where I am, but this slow week was painful.

Edit: It also makes me wonder why I have not heard from some of the lower-tier safety programs in my region.

 

[Psych95]

If you are interested in research you should apply to research tracks. The grants (R25s) go to the residency program not the resident so you do not have to be a US citizen and in fact these tracks thrive on IMGs for their sustenance. IMGs tend to receive interviews later in the cycle so do not be discouraged from not hearing back or early rejections.

Thank you for your advice, I will look into the research tracks and apply if I am eligible. I have a few interview invitations already so I am somewhat optimistic at this point.

 

[Psych95]

I wanted to post an update in case anyone was wondering, I had 5 interviews and didn't match. 3 of the invites were university programs, 1 was a prematch program and 1 a community hospital. I don't know if psych suddenly became more competitive or if the COVID situation made programs reluctant to consider VISA requiring applicants (I guess this explains the low number of interviews), but in the end I blame only my horrible interview performance for not matching.

 

[splik]

I wanted to post an update in case anyone was wondering, I had 5 interviews and didn't match. 3 of the invites were university programs, 1 was a prematch program and 1 a community hospital. I don't know if psych suddenly became more competitive or if the COVID situation made programs reluctant to consider VISA requiring applicants (I guess this explains the low number of interviews), but in the end I blame only my horrible interview performance for not matching.

Psych was very competitive this yr. I have several students who did not match including from top 10 medical schools. This would have been unthinkable in years past. There are several factors at play. One is the increase in the number of medical students overall. Second is an increased proportion of medical students choosing psychiatry (more than 6% vs 4% in past yrs, i.e. 50% increase in interest). Third was that remote interviews allowed students to interview at more programs and programs to interview more residents. Fourth is a significant increase in the number of programs students are applying to, leading to a small number of students having a disproportionate number of interviews at the expense of other applicants.

You may have been disadvantaged by lack of USCE and lack of US letters. If oyu are interested in research your best bet is to do a post-doc with a psychiatrist PI at and institution with a residency program and getting some clinical experience that way too. if you do well you will you likely find your way into that program. If you look at IMGs at top residency programs who are research oriented they tend to have found their way into the program via a post doc at the institution.