post-interview calls and letters

[bbmf03]

Do any past applicant have a read on this stuff? Who does it? Who definitly doesn't do it? What does it mean, how should you respond...

[bonemechanic]

I've heard that Campbell Clinic has been known to call their top 15 or so to let them know. I don't know when these calls are made though. h well:

[Bone_Jock]

These programs definitely contact applicants (at least as of last year):

CWRU: contacts their top 6

Mayo: sends out letters during february placing you into a couple of different tiers i.e. you have a/an [excellent, good, poor] chance of matching here.

Indiana: Also sends out letters splitting you into tiers i.e. you are in our top 5, you're in our 6-10 group, you're in our 11-15 group, so forth and so on.

U of Kentucky: Phone call from the chairman.

Those are the ones that I know of personally. How do you handle those. Most of the notices that I got were kinda FYI things. . . .meaning that they didn't expect a reply. They just wanted me to know that they had me high on their lists. They didn't seem like they expected a reply. But in general I told them that I had planned to rank them high. Pretty ambiguous statement that doesn't committ you to anything.

[bbmf03]

Just wanted to throw this one on top again. Seems to me that people are interested in this topic, but this years applicants are hesitant to divulge any info on this stuff yet for obvious reasons. So, thanks Bone_Jock. We'd appreciate it if any other residents could offer up some examples/advice.

[orthopaedia]

Places that contact applicants from FIRST HAND info:
(Sources - people I know who got them, info that programs told me about contact etc)
The list is certainly longer than this, I only listed what I know from first hand info that hasn't been posted (or is different from what has been).

Columbia - calls, "ranked to match" (week after interviews)
Penn - calls, "ranked to match" (week after interviews)
Pitt - calls, top ? (sometime after applicant emails, letters)
HSS - letters, indiciating levels (Amy said "probably" this week, historically end of Jan/beg of Feb)
Harvard - calls, "ranked to match" (close to list due date, historically)
U of Chicago - letters, "highly likely to match" (done)

Remember, competitive programs often don't get the majority of their "top x" (x being number of spots they offer) unless they negotiate (fewer and fewer programs now days). That means that many (sometimes most) people at any given program didn't get a letter/call from that program and are perfectly happy being residents there...

Good luck making your list and detoxing from email and orthogate overload

[jway]

Duke has made phone calls in the past as well. Along the lines of...we would really like to have you in our program...we think you'll fit in great...if you let the chairman know that we are your first choice, you should be ranked to matched

[250GTO]

What's the real deal with these calls and letters? I know so many stories of applicants that received these calls/letters, ranked those programs 1 or 2, and ended up matching at their 7th or 8th choice.

[bonemechanic]

Rules 1 and 2 on the interview trail:
1. Trust no one.
2. Believe nothing

[Bone_Jock]

The take home message is, Take all these offers with a grain of salt. In short, don't go house hunting in the program's city until Match day

Although I sincerely believe that of the programs that contacted me they were all straight up with me about my chances of matching. Hey, call me naive.

[paladin]

Email from program director at Greenville Memorial "reaffirming their interest," whatever that is worth and means.

[soudes]

i was under the impression from the NRMP website that for either party to ask where the other will be ranked was a violation of the rules.

NRMP Website

A program director "guarantees" an applicant that he/she will rank the applicant within the program's quota, but only if the applicant will rank the program first on their rank order list.

[OrthoDreamer]

Of course it is against the rules, but this does not mean that it doesn't happen. Many of the questions that are asked at interviews are against the rules too, but what are you going to do, not answer?
The programs (and you) can be vague enough to avoid a direct violation and still get the message across. Obviously no director is going to "guarantee" anything, but they can certainly "imply" a lot.
just my impression of the situation... :smokin:

[NailIt]

OD is right. It would be very unlikely that a chairman or director would tell an applicant that they are "ranked to match" or "you are our top choice" (although I'm sure some of you probably did hear something like this).

This is a game so most faculty, if they call anyone, would probably say something like "we'd like to see you here" or "have you started house hunting" or "the faculty looked favorably upon your application."

Frequent calls or a call from a chair or program director is a good sign, but as always PLAY THE GAME AND DON'T TRUST ANYONE!

Good luck.

[freeheel]

I will dissent here and say that they really are not breaking the rules by calling you and telling you where you are ranked... just can't solicit the info...

The NRMP rules state (this is direct from the user guide),

The Policies of the NRMP do not preclude one from expressing a high level of interest in the other. Although not recommended, it is not a Match violation for an applicant or a program to tell the other how one will be ranked; however, any attempt to request such information is a violation. Statements implying a commitment should be avoided. Rank Order Lists take precedence over verbal commitments.

:tired:

[soudes]

that's what i meant -- freedom of speech is pretty universal. i was just talking about the coercion aspect of the whole deal.

soudes