When to worry about lack of interview offers for Derm?

[PremedSurvivor]

Hi all,

Following the AAMC data and advice of my mentors, I applied to only 41 programs because I was assured that applying to more was both unnecessary and hinders the process for everyone else. Now I'm kicking myself.

3 interviews and 2 rejections, with silence from a bunch of programs that I know already released interview invites, despite sending them love letters. I thought people were supposed to have 5-6+ by mid/late November so my inherent neuroticism is on overdrive. Kind of worried about having to SOAP :/

Can any veterans weigh in on what to do in this situation to avoid SOAP? When should you ask your mentors to place calls and how do you go about it tastefully?

Maybe this is too worried, but I just want to make sure I do everything in my power to try and match. Thanks in advance for the advice!

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[TMP-SMX]

Don't expect to SOAP into Derm it just doesn't happen much. Be happy with the three interviews you have and make the most of that. Work on things to discuss during the interview and things you are doing this Fall. Don't lose hope it may seem arbitrary but that's because some of it is. I know of programs that just sent out invites last week. There's many stellar applicants and unless you have a direct connection it can be tough. Have a backup in plan in place whether a research fellowship or something else. Typically you'll want to match into a separate PGY-1 so you have something to do next year. There are rare programs that take you 1 year in advance rather than the normal 2.

 

[PremedSurvivor]

Don't expect to SOAP into Derm it just doesn't happen much. Be happy with the three interviews you have and make the most of that. Work on things to discuss during the interview and things you are doing this Fall. Don't lose hope it may seem arbitrary but that's because some of it is. I know of programs that just sent out invites last week. There's many stellar applicants and unless you have a direct connection it can be tough. Have a backup in plan in place whether a research fellowship or something else. Typically you'll want to match into a separate PGY-1 so you have something to do next year. There are rare programs that take you 1 year in advance rather than the normal 2.

Appreciate your response! Definitely not counting on SOAP, and hope I didn't come across as ungrateful. I was just wondering at what point you would ask your mentors to advocate for you/ when you can expect interview invites to stop coming in. And thank you for the encouragement; totally needed during this soul-crushing process hahaha

 

[Skindoc83]

When I applied I didn’t get any interviews until thanksgiving and I think invites were going out into February or March. Granted this was years ago but it was common to get invites into December and January.

 

[blackblue]

Appreciate your response! Definitely not counting on SOAP, and hope I didn't come across as ungrateful. I was just wondering at what point you would ask your mentors to advocate for you/ when you can expect interview invites to stop coming in. And thank you for the encouragement; totally needed during this soul-crushing process hahaha

I would say early/mid December would be the time to ask your mentors to make some calls if you were planning to ask them. I was too nervous to ask my own mentors to help me obtain interviews so I can't advise you how to go about that conversation.

It's too early to worry at this point, more interviews will be coming out. I have never heard that anyone should have 5-6+ by mid to late November; I feel like the applicants who have that many are few and far between. To avoid SOAPing, just try to relax and prepare for the interviews you have. FWIW, I matched with 4 interviews, so I would not despair with 3 in just mid/late November.

 

[averageusa]

What if someone has 0 invites at this point...?

 

[blackblue]

What if someone has 0 invites at this point...?

I wouldn't start freaking out yet. It's about the middle of the interview season, so there's a good chance that you'll hear from some programs. I personally went into the cycle with the hope that I would get invites from my home program and where I did my away rotations, and any additional interviews were just the cherry on top. It helped me stay positive when I got an interview from a program I didn't rotate at, and it didn't shock me when I didn't get an interview at a place that I thought could have been a good fit.

If your home program or your away rotations have sent out interview invites, then I would consider reaching out to a mentor to see if there were any red flags to your application or if they would be able to help get you an interview. Otherwise, I'd try to wait patiently and distract myself as best as possible.

 

[Dral]

I feel most of my interviews came in the end of November and then throughout December. January was my major month actually interviewing. I think around October 18 was my first invite for prelim and Feb 12th or so was my last interview (Derm). I think my last derm invite was at the end of Dec. However, I could tell it was a 'someone canceled, start picking ppl on the list' type of interview...but an interview is an interview I suppose.