What to say to programs to reiterate interest after interview season?

[Random Anesthesiologist]

Interview season is over in a few weeks and I would like to let programs on my rank list know how interested I am and to give a little "hey there, remember me?" presence.

For my #1-3 how can I legally (per match rules) let them know they are super high on my list, and for the rest, how can I tell them I'm still interested without telling them they're not 1-3?

I was fortunate to attend interviews at some very solid programs. I'm ranking 14, and I really, really, really liked about 12 of them. The others I just... liked. Of course, I have my faves, but ending up at any of them would be great, so I want to remind them of my interest.

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[lane]

Second look gets the point across. Letters or postcards just end up being stuffed into a file by the administrative assistants most of the time.

 

[Thepassageofgas]

Along these same lines--is it stupid to do a 2nd look at a place your rotated? I spent four weeks at a place that is way over my head in terms of competitiveness--but they gave me an interview anyway. Do I do a "second look", even though I certainly know everything a typical day there entails? I know I have basically no chance, but the idea of working there keeps popping into head and I can't squelch the hope just yet. Would a second look be disingenuous?

 

[Random Anesthesiologist]

And if a 2nd look is pretty much out of the question? I won't have any more time off or pretty much any money when interviews are over. Unless people do 2nd looks on weekends?

I guess that begs another questions - how important are 2nd looks?

Any other thoughts on the original question?

 

[Dwindlin]

I was under the impression that you can tell them whatever you want. It's not a match violation for you to freely talk to them. The trouble arises when programs ask you for that type of information.

 

[fakin' the funk]

Interview season is over in a few weeks and I would like to let programs on my rank list know how interested I am and to give a little "hey there, remember me?" presence.

For my #1-3 how can I legally (per match rules) let them know they are super high on my list, and for the rest, how can I tell them I'm still interested without telling them they're not 1-3?

First of all, you can legally TELL them whatever you want, just as they can to you. Neither party, however, can legally ASK information about intended rank position.

When I was in your position, I did like so: I sent my top 5-7 programs' PD a brief email with an update (I'd had a paper accepted for publication since the interview) and a reiteration that I was couples matching, with whom and in which specialty. I mentioned a few things about their program that I liked. For my #1, I used the phrase "I will be ranking your program at the very top of my rank list" and for #2-4 I said "I will be ranking your program very highly". For #5-7 I left out a mention of where I was ranking them. All told this was a 5-6 sentence email. As you said, the goal of this email is to keep their memory of you "fresh" and create a warm fuzzy feeling about you, and maybe this will bump you a little on their ROL.

Keep in mind that you always, always have to rank IN THE ORDER YOU PREFER and that programs do so as well, not in the order expected by the other party.