Wash U unfilled 2004?

[gee]

Is it true that Wash U didn't fill last year and if so does anyone have any insight into this.

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[bigtuna]

I don't know specifically about Wash U but this happens every so often to programs who dont rank everybody or even a high percentage of the people they interview. I think programs generally rank a certain number of people based on historically how many people they have needed to rank in order to fill. Doesn't necessarily mean there is a big problem with a program.

 

[cwy]

I don't know specifically about Wash U but this happens every so often to programs who dont rank everybody or even a high percentage of the people they interview. I think programs generally rank a certain number of people based on historically how many people they have needed to rank in order to fill. Doesn't necessarily mean there is a big problem with a program.

For example, in 2003, the main UCLA program was unfilled by 6 spots, and UPenn was unfilled by 2.

 

[kingofhearts]

Is it true that Wash U didn't fill last year and if so does anyone have any insight into this.

It is true that our program, as well as Vanderbilt, did not fill all of its categorical positions last year.

http://www.scutwork.com/other/match2004/Unfilled_Program.pdf

Bigtuna and cwy are correct; this event does happen to excellent programs from time-to-time:

In 2003, programs such as UCLA did not fill all of their categorical positions.

http://www.scutwork.com/cgi-bin/links/page.cgi?page=InternalMedicine_2003&d=1

In 2002, programs such as MGH, U Wash and Yale did not fill all of their categorical positions.

http://www.scutwork.com/cgi-bin/links/page.cgi?page=UnfilledPrograms2002_InternalMedicine&d=1

No one would dispute the strength of any of these institutions. At such competitive programs, a number of interviewed applicants will go unranked because they do not meet the standards set forth by their respective selection committees. This is the primary reason why such well-regarded residencies go unfilled occasionally.

Our residency program continues to thrive: we recruited a strong group of interns, our residents continue to place into competitive fellowships and our medicine department as a whole is growing.

 

[Jamezuva]

I never quite understood this. Excluding the few people who "bomb" their interviews, why would a program invite anyone for an interview if they were not up to snuff? It seems very inconsiderate for a program to have applicants spend a significant amount of money, in a period where we have very little, to travel to it if they are not going to end up on the rank list at all.

 

[kingofhearts]

I never quite understood this. Excluding the few people who "bomb" their interviews, why would a program invite anyone for an interview if they were not up to snuff? It seems very inconsiderate for a program to have applicants spend a significant amount of money, in a period where we have very little, to travel to it if they are not going to end up on the rank list at all.

I am not privy to the inner-workings of the interview cycle. But, based upon my discussions with our program directors, they would NEVER invite someone to interview for our program whom they would not consider ranking. Most of the candidates that were excluded after their interviews gave an indication to their interviewers that they would not be a good fit for our program (not academically oriented, not happy with living in St. Louis, etc...). This does not mean that they did badly on their interviews. Our program does place significant weight on interviewer evaluations. I imagine that most of the other programs that were mentioned do as well.