When a residency program asks you...

[acrolentiginous]

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What does it mean if you receive an email from a program asking you to state whether you prefer a categorical or advanced spot, by a certain date in the near future? The program said they were doing it in preparation for making their rank list. I don't understand what this means for me. Is this just sent out to every single interviewee?

 

[geogil]

What does it mean if you receive an email from a program asking you to state whether you prefer a categorical or advanced spot, by a certain date in the near future? The program said they were doing it in preparation for making their rank list. I don't understand what this means for me. Is this just sent out to every single interviewee?

The program is asking you, hypothetically speaking which you would prefer, should you match, if you would prefer to match categorical or advanced. I'm sure they are sending this to all their applicants so that they can put people on the appropriate list to maximize their probabilty of getting the applicants they want.

 

[acrolentiginous]

That's what I figured -- that this email is sent out to every applicant. I posted this because I was curious about others' responses to see whether this was, in fact, a common email received.

 

[RussianJoo]

yep very common when programs have both advanced and categorical spots.

 

[El Dooderino]

Most programs just turn in the same list for both tracks. I know for mine the advanced was harder to get than categorical. Not sure why programs ask this though, shouldn't affect how they rank

 

[Gern Blansten]

Most programs just turn in the same list for both tracks. I know for mine the advanced was harder to get than categorical. Not sure why programs ask this though, shouldn't affect how they rank

Agree. Nor should it affect how the applicant ranks the two choices.

 

[acrolentiginous]

Agree, but here's where it would matter: If a program really cares about how far it goes down its rank list. That's why I was wondering if I was a fairly high-ranking applicant at that program & they were asking me (along with plenty other applicants) for my preference so they could put me higher on the list I'm going to rank more highly. Does that make any sense?

 

[Nooblet]

Agree, but here's where it would matter: If a program really cares about how far it goes down its rank list. That's why I was wondering if I was a fairly high-ranking applicant at that program & they were asking me (along with plenty other applicants) for my preference so they could put me higher on the list I'm going to rank more highly. Does that make any sense?

i got it too, but they asked me at the interview too which one was my preference, so i highly doubt they had already made the assessment that i was going to be highly ranked. probably more because a few years ago they had 12 cats, and then now its somehow just 8...so maybe trying to gauge interest

 

[Josh1]

Why would people prefer advanced? Isn't it better to get your first year in at the institution you're going to be doing your residency? I would imagine everyone would just say categorical

 

[TrojanGopher]

Why would people prefer advanced? Isn't it better to get your first year in at the institution you're going to be doing your residency? I would imagine everyone would just say categorical

I'm guessing you are single, Josh. When you have a significant other, an advance spot looks pretty nice when it keeps you in your current city (and them at their current job) for another year before moving across the country to further your career.

 

[El Dooderino]

Why would people prefer advanced? Isn't it better to get your first year in at the institution you're going to be doing your residency? I would imagine everyone would just say categorical

Two things, some people need to stay in their med school city for a year. Two, the programs that are hardest to match into have people with numbers who can match into cush ty's. Advanced track means you get a nicer intern year but only if you have the numbers to match into one of these. Much harder than an anesthesia match

 

[acrolentiginous]

I got a bunch of TY interviews & really liked all of them. Well, seems like I definitely shouldn't read into being asked for my preference; I was just confused because I saw no reason for asking when the info regarding whether I've applied to both is readily available to the program

 

[El Dooderino]

I got a bunch of TY interviews & really liked all of them. Well, seems like I definitely shouldn't read into being asked for my preference; I was just confused because I saw no reason for asking when the info regarding whether I've applied to both is readily available to the program

Just be careful, TY in and of itself doesn't mean anything. There are TY programs worse than prelim surg years. You need to find the cush ones, sometimes hard to figure out but the ones that are are incredible competitive to match into. You're going against people in every other specialty

 

[acrolentiginous]

Very true. Honestly, I'm just far more focused upon obtaining a spot at my top-choice program, regardless of whether it's advanced or categorical

I know "cush" is supposed to sound nice, but it's honestly not a focus of mine, personally