Who should I contact to tell them I love them?

[Poitiers2]

Just wondering if some with a greater understanding of how all this works could fill me in.

I was thinking about just writing the program director and email, but a classmate told me I should be writing the chairman and the associate program director, too. I'm not sure if writing the chairman would be of any service. Seems they were a bit removed from residents...

And should I be sending letters or emails? I don't know if that matters, but I thought I'd ask.

I'm probably just fidgeting. I guess we're all nervous/anxious/ready to get this over with now.

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[psychiatry2009]

If you are the guy who looks for a reply then send an email and CC it to the PC too so that it is kept on your file. I guess sending emails to the chairman depends on how the selection committee works for that program. If the PD is an autocrat then no need to email the others..

 

[tomato]

You could consider telephoning the PD to let him or her know that the program is your top choice. That would definitely underscore the point. At most programs, just contacting the PD should suffice.

 

[cleareyedguy]

I think it's reasonable to write a letter or email to any program that you liked, and probably to all of them. I'd probably suggest writing to all of your interviewers, since you don't know who has the ear of the PD. If you met the chair and have some sort of actual connection, it's not a bad idea to write that person as well.

In terms of the content, I'd view "no letter" as a negative, as would be a letter that has mistakes or is dumb sounding.

A brief thank you note is neutral to slightly positive.

A note that mentions specifically what you liked about the program is a positive. Even more positive would be notes to each of your interviewers and to the PD, explaining what you liked about the program and (if you can remember details) what you specifically liked about that particular interview (they may compare notes, by the way, or bring them to meetings).

If I'd interviewed someone and didn't get a thank you note or at least a follow-up email, I'd assume they were uninterested. If I contact them and don't hear back, then I'd assume they were thoughtless as well as uninterested, and they would likely drop in our rankings.

I'd say the above is true for every job interview that you have for the rest of your life.

While you may take the whole interviewing thing for granted, do remember that a) no one aside from the PD gets paid for the many hours that are required to be on a selection committee; b) everyone likes to be appreciated; c) everyone likes an enthusiastic group of residents.

 

[psychattending]

Just wondering if some with a greater understanding of how all this works could fill me in.

I was thinking about just writing the program director and email, but a classmate told me I should be writing the chairman and the associate program director, too. I'm not sure if writing the chairman would be of any service. Seems they were a bit removed from residents...

And should I be sending letters or emails? I don't know if that matters, but I thought I'd ask.

I'm probably just fidgeting. I guess we're all nervous/anxious/ready to get this over with now.

1) I would first stick with writing to only the person who is running things. That is typically the PD.

2) There is no difference between emails and letters

3) If you are referring to sending communication to your top school, then I would recommend sending it and telling them they are your top choice. I would do it only to your top school.

4) If you are talking about a general thank you letter. I understand why people do them. I think they are a big waste of time on everybody's part. I have never held it against someone if they did not send me one.

 

[califdoc]

I wouldn't base my judgment on getting or not getting a letter, but if some place is on your top three or four, I'd be liberal about sending them notes.

 

[nancysinatra]

Oh no--can someone please clear something up? I am in a dreadful position otherwise. I have just barely finished all my interviews! But I just heard through the grapevine that many programs have ALREADY completed or submitted their rank lists. How can this be?

Does that mean any letters I send are too late? I sent thank you's to every program along the way, saying nice things, but they were general, with few specifics about how I'd be ranking them. Now I am almost ready to be more specific in that way. I have a letter ready for my top program and ones for the others too. I am afraid though that it is too late, and that these programs submitted their rank lists already thinking I totally forgot about them and lost interest, and that probably affected how they ranked me!

How can they be done with their lists when some people are still interviewing? I know people with two interviews this week alone!

Someone tell me this is wrong information, please!

 

[OldPsychDoc]

We're done interviewing and our ranking meeting is next week.
It will vary by program. And programs have until the same date you do to finalize their lists.
The expressions of love are a nice courtesy, but in the end aren't going to make or break you if you didn't get it there "in time".

 

[whiskey]

I'd write the program director and associate program director. Contacting the chair of the department directly seems misguided, especially at a large institution.

 

[nancysinatra]

Thanks OPD!

 

[deejayshakur]

after a program's rank list is created/determined, how much up/down movement is there typically before finalization?

 

[psychmatch]

Yes,I would like to know this as well. Plus, how much can the PD influence the rank list? Can he/she(pd) also move people up or down to make the final list?
Does the review committee just see our application and vote or listen to the people who interviewed us?

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Yes,I would like to know this as well. Plus, how much can the PD influence the rank list? Can he/she(pd) also move people up or down to make the final list?
Does the review committee just see our application and vote or listen to the people who interviewed us?

It's going to vary by program. In ours, the interviews have resulted in a score based on several rating scales ( commitment to area, sommitment to psych, academic ability, interpersonal ability, etc. ) filled out by the interveiwers. This makes up our initial rank order. Then we review a power point with everyone's pictures, comments by the interviewers (most of whom are present at this meeting) , and the fun begins as we push people up or down a few notches, or toss them off the list altogether. Last year we ranked ~40-45 for 3-4 slots (already had some prematches)--think we went down to about #20-25.

Don't know if that reassures you or not, but that's how it goes here.

 

[psychmatch]

Thanks OPD,that was a nice reply. How many people did you interview before ranking 40-45? Also,do you typically fill between 20-25 every yr?

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Thanks OPD,that was a nice reply. How many people did you interview before ranking 40-45? Also,do you typically fill between 20-25 every yr?

I think we interviewed around 60 this year. And we're only filling 6-8 slots/year. I meant that we went down into the 20s on our rank list to fill all our slots.

Frankly, we're a "mid-range" community program, so a lot of the folks we rank highly end up ranking other programs higher, and going elsewhere. OTOH, we have no qualms about offering pre-matches to really top-flight IMGs and non-standard AMGs--and we get GREAT residents this way. I think we've already made offers to fill half our slots this year.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

This reflects only the experience of one program--others may be considerably different:
--very consensus driven. But that's how we play.
--almost all the interviewers were present to offer feedback. Where things got interesting was when two interviewers differed widely on their rankings of the applicant, and were called on to justify their evals. As enjoyable as this was, sadly, a number of faculty ended up having to miss "24" tonight as a result.
--comments covered a WIDE range of things--communication skills, social interactions, and even...body odor!
--there were no comments about the promptness, adequacy, or modality of your thank you notes.
--a word to the wise: if you think a chief resident might call you to follow-up on your interest, and if you're not answering your phone personally, try to make sure that your outgoing message is at least neutral, if not professional. I'll just say that one applicant fell off of our list in part due to a voice mail greeting that was more appropriate for an undergraduate dormitory.
--top third was easy, middle third somewhat subjective, bottom third--the operative question was "would we rather take our chances in the scramble or accept this person?", though knowing that it was unlikely we'd go that deep into our list.

Good luck everyone.

 

[nancysinatra]

--comments covered a WIDE range of things--communication skills, social interactions, and even...body odor!

I hope you didn't take away points on someone whose suit smelled like a mid-range motel. People coming from afar cannot always tell which hotels are nice and which ones are ever so grody. I stayed in one place that was highly touted and plenty expensive but when I got there, it was musty smelling. I worried about my suit the whole night. Safety might have come up too, this being a notorious crime capital of the northeast corridor, and the door lock being on its last legs, if I hadn't been so worried about the suit picking up the musty smell.

Likewise with rental cars. Students are always trying to save money (ie Alamo, Dollar) but the cheaper the rental car, I guess the more likely it is to smell like dog or cigarette smoke, which gets into your clothes.

I don't know how to avoid these things aside from making a lot more money and staying in a lot nicer places, like the Ritz-Carlton!

It is funny how you go on your med school interviews and say how much you want to help people, and you go on your psych residency interviews and say how much you care about mental health, but after all this travel, all I ask of life is to be able to afford something better than Alamo and Days Inn. I hope I had the good communication skills not to say that on any of my interviews though! Seriously, though, they were all so much fun. I met really wonderful people along the way.

Thanks for posting this!

 

[2tall]

I don't know how to avoid these things aside from making a lot more money and staying in a lot nicer places, like the Ritz-Carlton!

Keep your suit in a plastic bag/covering. Febreze yourself upon exiting your cab.

 

[nancysinatra]

Keep your suit in a plastic bag/covering. Febreze yourself upon exiting your cab.

THEN I'll just smell like mid-priced air freshener!!! ;-)

 

[CarleneM]

Sorry to get off-topic, but I used priceline name your own price (along with the information on what bids win and where at biddingfortravel.com) to stay at 4 star hotels for under $100 each/night (even in NYC!). 3.5 and 3 stars were about $55-60. I used to be scared by not knowing where I'd end up but some places (such as New Haven), have only one 4 star hotel so there is no gamble involved and that biddingfortravel website is very helpful for strategizing. My rates were consistently well below the special "residency rates" hotels were offering through schools. Sorry to sound like an advertisement, but I have been telling everyone i meet on the trail to explore this option for whatever price point and star rating you feel comfortable with.

It is funny how you go on your med school interviews and say how much you want to help people, and you go on your psych residency interviews and say how much you care about mental health, but after all this travel, all I ask of life is to be able to afford something better than Alamo and Days Inn. I hope I had the good communication skills not to say that on any of my interviews though! Seriously, though, they were all so much fun. I met really wonderful people along the way.

 

[psychmatch]

Nice write-up of the meeting OPD. Too bad that the faculty ended up missing "24" though!
During the interviewers discussions,if you found people who had a good CV and did very well on the interview but did not have as high scores as most other people-did that mean you ranked them at the bottom?
How much weight do just " high scores" carry?
Anyone else want to write about how their meetings went?-really helps those of us here who have no clue about what happens in there!

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Nice write-up of the meeting OPD. Too bad that the faculty ended up missing "24" though!
During the interviewers discussions,if you found people who had a good CV and did very well on the interview but did not have as high scores as most other people-did that mean you ranked them at the bottom?
How much weight do just " high scores" carry?
Anyone else want to write about how their meetings went?-really helps those of us here who have no clue about what happens in there!

"Just high scores" don't help if you are arrogant or too reserved or unintelligible in conversation. Personality and passion for psychiatry count a LOT to bring average USMLEs or COMLEXes up into the top third, "Hope we get them" range on our rank list.


PS. CarleneM--Look out ! Shatner was posting on SDN using your account!