Why do you think you didn't match? Phase 1 2011.

[psyman]

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I knew I had some weak spots on my APPI, but I'm constantly rethinking everything and it's driving me nuts! I was low on reports and still question one of my essays, despite having had 3 other people read it over.

Anyone care to share why they think they didn't match?

 

[erg923]

With all due respect, I think that unless one has an obvious weakspot(s) that faculty and/or internship TDs have confirmed, all this thread is gonna do is further peoples rumination and possibly fill future applicants heads with things that really had no correlation with not matching.

For example, there is alot of emphasis put on the essays. In my case, one of my essays had a glaring typo. Another, according to one faculty who read it after the fact, was just plain "cheesy." Turns out that that "cheesy" one really stood-out to one site, and they even commented on how much they LOVED IT! They wanted to know if i was still working with that patient. Anyway, the point is, I got 6 interviews and matched even WITH a glaring typo and cheesy essay. Thus, even the mistakes we percieve to major may be totally overlooked by sites. Similarly, weakness or slip up that we view as minor, might have actually been a big deal for some sites. Who know...

 

[psyman]

That may be, but it's just a discussion forum.

 

[DrGero]

It's not the end of the world if you don't match. I didn't match way back in 2003 and I ended up hitting paydirt in the Clearinghouse with a fabulous geropsych. internship with a great supervisor. Would do it again if I had a chance. I'm almost glad I didn't match because of how things turned out. Just lucky I guess....

EDIT: Of course, wait, do they still have the Clearinghouse?

 

[erg923]

No, they have a second round of match. Better than clearinghouse I suppose, but sounds like its the wait, wait, wait, anxiety game all over again. Fortunatley, I dont think APPIC is charging applicants anything to apply to sites during this second round, is that right?

 

[psyman]

It's not the end of the world if you don't match. I didn't match way back in 2003 and I ended up hitting paydirt in the Clearinghouse with a fabulous geropsych. internship with a great supervisor. Would do it again if I had a chance. I'm almost glad I didn't match because of how things turned out. Just lucky I guess....

EDIT: Of course, wait, do they still have the Clearinghouse?

I'm not sure why people keep saying there is no Clearinghouse. As I understand it, the (newly termed) Post Match Vacancy functions in the exact same way (after phase 2).

The major difference is there won't be as many position available for the Post Match Vacancy as in Clearinghouse's in the past, as most of those positions will be gone in Phase 2.

 

[paramour]

But if we call it Phase/Match II instead of the Clearinghouse, it sounds much less like the Publisher's Clearinghouse and akin to a sweepstakes lottery for folks to gamble on and win, so we're improving folks' chances to match somewhere, anywhere some many weeks later . . . So it MUST be better! 😀

G'luck, everyone!

 

[AcronymAllergy]

I'm not sure why people keep saying there is no Clearinghouse. As I understand it, the (newly termed) Post Match Vacancy functions in the exact same way (after phase 2).

The major difference is there won't be as many position available for the Post Match Vacancy as in Clearinghouse's in the past, as most of those positions will be gone in Phase 2.

To the best of my understanding, there is a key difference in that Clearinghouse was often a first-come, first-served situation. Thus, there was a large amount of pressure on applicants to immediately "circle the wagons," confer with their advisors and training director, and then contact as many sites as possible as quickly as possible. I believe programs were free to review applications as they rolled in, offer interviews, and then accept applicants whenever they desired, possibly before all unmatched even had a chance to apply. There was no deadline for applications, no second ranking, and no second matching process.

Again, that's how I understand things, but I could be wrong.

 

[psyman]

To the best of my understanding, there is a key difference in that Clearinghouse was often a first-come, first-served situation. Thus, there was a large amount of pressure on applicants to immediately "circle the wagons," confer with their advisors and training director, and then contact as many sites as possible as quickly as possible. I believe programs were free to review applications as they rolled in, offer interviews, and then accept applicants whenever they desired, possibly before all unmatched even had a chance to apply. There was no deadline for applications, no second ranking, and no second matching process.

Again, that's how I understand things, but I could be wrong.

That's my understanding also. What I'm saying is there IS a clearinghouse, it's just after phase 2 and called something different. I'm still not sure which is preferable.

 

[docjohng]

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Look at this shiny new "Post Match Vacancy" match! It's nothing at all like the old "Clearinghouse."

 

[JockNerd]

...it actually is very different from the clearinghouse. The CH was mostly TDs calling their friends to get people *a* match. This is an entire second round. I'm not sure how it could be more dissimilar.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

...it actually is very different from the clearinghouse. The CH was mostly TDs calling their friends to get people *a* match. This is an entire second round. I'm not sure how it could be more dissimilar.

Agreed. Although I misunderstood psyman's earlier post in which he referenced the post-phase II process, which does seem to be similar to clearinghouse.

 

[psyman]

...it actually is very different from the clearinghouse. The CH was mostly TDs calling their friends to get people *a* match. This is an entire second round. I'm not sure how it could be more dissimilar.

Like I said, the new Clearinghouse comes after phase 2. It didn't go away, it's after phase 2.

 

[Existenz]

A few thoughts....

I think this new match is not really better for intern applicants; and it is unclear how it will end up for the sites themselves. Think about it: this year there are less sites in the clearinghouse than normal; they were aware of match II so my theory is that the sites actually may have interviewed more people to avoid ending up in the match II or were way more careful about who they interviewed. I think it's interesting that Brown, for example, pulled out of the match II by just not filling 2 spots (one of which is a research slot). That is an indication of what the sites think of the new match phase II, at least in my view.

At this point, the coveted spots will be gotten by those lucky enough to know someone who can make a call. How can a site really look at 300 more apps (in many cases double the apps they looked at in phase 1) and really carefully look over them to invite. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[erg923]

Like I said, the new Clearinghouse comes after phase 2. It didn't go away, it's after phase 2.

Right, I just think people were trying to get across that its a totally different type of "clearinghouse" this year. That is, I cant imagine there being more than dozen or so spots available after this second match. We will see though. In previous years there were hundreds of spots in the "clearinghouse" because there was no second match round.

 

[KayJay85]

A few thoughts....

I think this new match is not really better for intern applicants; and it is unclear how it will end up for the sites themselves. Think about it: this year there are less sites in the clearinghouse than normal; they were aware of match II so my theory is that the sites actually may have interviewed more people to avoid ending up in the match II or were way more careful about who they interviewed. I think it's interesting that Brown, for example, pulled out of the match II by just not filling 2 spots (one of which is a research slot). That is an indication of what the sites think of the new match phase II, at least in my view.

At this point, the coveted spots will be gotten by those lucky enough to know someone who can make a call. How can a site really look at 300 more apps (in many cases double the apps they looked at in phase 1) and really carefully look over them to invite. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

I didn't know sites that agreed to participate in Phase II could still just cancel the position. 😱

That sucks. I thought that was one reason why the number of unmatched applicants had gotten out of hand- sites would cancel unfilled positions to save the $$.

Still I'm not sure I understand your concern.. Why do you think this could be worse than CH?

Edit-- never mind. I just re-read you comment. I can def see how some sites would want to avoid the hassle of an extra month on internship selection.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

A few thoughts....

I think this new match is not really better for intern applicants; and it is unclear how it will end up for the sites themselves. Think about it: this year there are less sites in the clearinghouse than normal; they were aware of match II so my theory is that the sites actually may have interviewed more people to avoid ending up in the match II or were way more careful about who they interviewed. I think it's interesting that Brown, for example, pulled out of the match II by just not filling 2 spots (one of which is a research slot). That is an indication of what the sites think of the new match phase II, at least in my view.

At this point, the coveted spots will be gotten by those lucky enough to know someone who can make a call. How can a site really look at 300 more apps (in many cases double the apps they looked at in phase 1) and really carefully look over them to invite. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

I believe Brown re-opened one of their spots (MIDAS) for Phase II, while the health psych/behavioral med spot remains closed.

It will be interesting to see how Phase II may have changed the way programs approached Phase I of the match.

However, it's my personal opinion that the reduction in Phase II spots this year is likely due to the increasing awareness on the field of the internship imbalance, as well as the large number of spots available in CH last year (which you pointed out). Programs may have restructured the way they reviewed applications, conducted interviews, and made decisions in Phase I so as to fill as many spots as possible. As for interviewing more applicants, I can only speak to the sites at which I interviewed, which all seemed to indicate they were interviewing roughly the same number of people this year as last.

 

[cara susanna]

I was told that you are charged for Phase II applications. Adds insult to injury, huh?

 

[docma]

Another important difference affecting the numbers (besides the economy just reducing some numbers due to lost funding) is that in the second match ONLY sites that were in Match I and students who were in Match I can participate. In the prior Clearinghouse scrum, all manner of sites and students could jump into the process, which meant that students who had not been in the Match could seize a position that had not been available to earlier applicants. The new order really does improve things for those disappointed in Match I.

Also, keep in mind that there can be some excellent positions that open up in the "post Match" phase. There are not many--but you only need one, the right one...and positions do get funded later, or a matched candidate withdraws for health reasons, etc., and a position opens up.

 

[psyman]

Right, I just think people were trying to get across that its a totally different type of "clearinghouse" this year. That is, I cant imagine there being more than dozen or so spots available after this second match. We will see though. In previous years there were hundreds of spots in the "clearinghouse" because there was no second match round.

I was thinking the same thing. Getting a spot in Clearinghouse...errr...Post Match Vacancy will basically a non-option.

 

[blindchaos]

I was told that you are charged for Phase II applications. Adds insult to injury, huh?

As long as you applied to at least one place in Phase I, there is no charge for ANY Phase II application. I applied to 21 places and didn't pay a single penny. If I had to pay per application like in Phase I, my list definitely would have been different! I wouldn't have bothered applying to Baylor since it was such a longshot but since it was free, I applied and got an interview today 🙄

I think it's a good AND a bad thing that it's free. Good because I can't afford the expense again, but bad because there are loads of people just like me who applied much more liberally than we would have if we had to pay. UC Davis got 300+ applications for one spot, which is more than double what they typically receive during Phase I.

When I was deciding where to apply, I had my "definite yes" pile, "definite no" pile, and a "maybe" pile. Then I thought....it's free, it's close enough to what I want to at least try for it, so then all of the "maybe" sites instantly became "definite yes" sites. Why not? It's worth a shot!

 

[psyman]

As long as you applied to at least one place in Phase I, there is no charge for ANY Phase II application. I applied to 21 places and didn't pay a single penny. If I had to pay per application like in Phase I, my list definitely would have been different! I wouldn't have bothered applying to Baylor since it was such a longshot but since it was free, I applied and got an interview today 🙄

I think it's a good AND a bad thing that it's free. Good because I can't afford the expense again, but bad because there are loads of people just like me who applied much more liberally than we would have if we had to pay. UC Davis got 300+ applications for one spot, which is more than double what they typically receive during Phase I.

When I was deciding where to apply, I had my "definite yes" pile, "definite no" pile, and a "maybe" pile. Then I thought....it's free, it's close enough to what I want to at least try for it, so then all of the "maybe" sites instantly became "definite yes" sites. Why not? It's worth a shot!

I think most of 'phase 2' applicants flooded the market. Not our fault. What did APPIC expect? What a mess.

 

[docma]

It is still not the mess of the prior version--where indeed hundreds of applications were faxed, emailed and calls flooded sites and positions were offered very quickly with no time for students to consider alternatives or rank among choices. The odds are still awful due to the imbalance, but this process has much more order and fairness to it than what went on previously.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

As long as you applied to at least one place in Phase I, there is no charge for ANY Phase II application. I applied to 21 places and didn't pay a single penny. If I had to pay per application like in Phase I, my list definitely would have been different! I wouldn't have bothered applying to Baylor since it was such a longshot but since it was free, I applied and got an interview today 🙄

I think it's a good AND a bad thing that it's free. Good because I can't afford the expense again, but bad because there are loads of people just like me who applied much more liberally than we would have if we had to pay. UC Davis got 300+ applications for one spot, which is more than double what they typically receive during Phase I.

When I was deciding where to apply, I had my "definite yes" pile, "definite no" pile, and a "maybe" pile. Then I thought....it's free, it's close enough to what I want to at least try for it, so then all of the "maybe" sites instantly became "definite yes" sites. Why not? It's worth a shot!

It'll be interesting to see the data, but I'd imagine this may have happened in Phase I as well (although to a lesser extent due to the per-application fee). Given that everything was electronic this year, compounded by the increasing match disparity, it seemed like applicants applied to a significantly greater number of sites than in years past. At my program, for example, up until possibly even this year it was almost unheard of to apply to more than perhaps 10 or 12 sites; I applied to 16 as did two other cohort-mates, and I regularly heard other applicants from around the country mention at interviews that they'd applied to upwards of 20 programs.

 

[DrGero]

It'll be interesting to see the data, but I'd imagine this may have happened in Phase I as well (although to a lesser extent due to the per-application fee). Given that everything was electronic this year, compounded by the increasing match disparity, it seemed like applicants applied to a significantly greater number of sites than in years past. At my program, for example, up until possibly even this year it was almost unheard of to apply to more than perhaps 10 or 12 sites; I applied to 16 as did two other cohort-mates, and I regularly heard other applicants from around the country mention at interviews that they'd applied to upwards of 20 programs.

Back in 2004 my program advised to us apply to 10 programs. I understand now that the advice from my program is to apply to no less than 20.