what do you think are the main factors that can lead a qualified applicant to not match?
1. Geographic restrictions (this happens a lot to NYC'ers and/or other people who only apply to a region...many of which are super competitive).
2. Bad "fit" for the site. For instance, if you are an analyst and apply to Behavioral Health sites that primarly look at 1-3 sessions. A more common example is someone who wants to work at a college counseling site, but doesn't have any direct experience and/or work with similar populations. People
do match every year without having previously worked in a college counseling center, but people can put themselves in a tough position if most/all of their sites are counseling sites.
3. Too picky. Most people would love to get Brown, Duke, Albert Einstein, etc....but they are
very competitive. It sometimes comes down to numbers, and I don't mean who has the highest GPA. Top placements get the pick of who they want, so a very qualified person can very easily slip through the cracks if they do not diversify their choices.
4. Lacking in an area. For instance, some places will want a minimum # of integrated reports written.....and while they don't come out and say, "you need to have completed at least ## reports"....they may show a history of never taking anyone with less tha 15 integrated reports. The APPIC data can be helpful in this regard.
--
I'll comment on my particular stuff in a bit....gotta get some paperwork done, blah!