urgent prematch/rank list q, help!

[VommoV]

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hi guys,

i'm at the end of my interview trail, my last one being tomorrow. i've pretty much made up my top 4 list out of 11 interviews i've had (rest will be dealt with soon), and i just received an email from my #2 program saying that PD wants to talk to me over the phone. the email strongly suggests prematch offer ("i would like to discuss with you about possible position here"), and i'm not sure what to do with this situation. while i'm quite happy to receive such enthusiastic response from my #2 program, i'd like to wait and see if i'll match at my #1 program (their response was good, but not as strong as #2). my question is, if i decline their prematch offer (assuming that's what PD will discuss with me), will it affect my ranking in #2's list? will #2 rank me lower or even drop me from ranking b/c i've declined their prematch offer? (this actually happened to me at one of the interviews) should i tell the PD that they're #2 on my list when i decline their offer? a prompt reply/suggestion would be appreciated since i have to talk to the PD next week! thanks guys,

VommoV

 

[vitriol102]

Hey,

I understand your predicament.

I had two friends that are in the same year and program. One matched and the other prematched. Both have good people skills.

Friend 1 - Matched
Had a great interview. After the interview he contacted the program a few times telling them of his interest, but asking for a stronger confirmation that they wanted him. The program didn't give him a definitive answer and just told him that based on previous years stats, if he ranked them number one he would match. And he did.

Friend 2 - Prematched
Again, had a great interview. But he stayed in contact with the program. Eventually he got a prematch offer from another program and then used it to call up the program he was interested in. Somehow he convinced his top choice program to prematch him.

So, VommoV one way to do this is that you could contact program #1 and reiterate your interest in that program. Let them know that you have a prematch offer but that you really want to come there.

The outcomes are variable as mentioned above. Your decision will all boil down to how well you know the PD's at programs at 1 & 2. The final outcome will be based on how these PD's take what you have to tell them...and how you told them...finess.

If you did turn down the prematch offer then it could affect your chances on #2's rank list. But only the PD at that program will know the answer to that.

You're playing with probabilities. If I were in your shoes, I would contact program #1 as I mentioned above. If program 1 didn't sound interested, I'd go with #2.

GL

 

[VommoV]

vitriol102,

thanks for your reply. that's exactly what i was thinking about doing, contacting #1 and testing the water. thanks a lot for your reply, examples of your 2 friends were especially helpful. i appreciate it!