The pain of not matching still lingers. I just want to understand what happened. I was > 260 on both Steps, AOA, worked really hard in my sub Is and was consistently told my letters were fantastic (A really tough question I got on the trail was you seem to be good at getting people to write good things about you, if someone wrote you a bad letter what would it say). I think Im atleast an average interviewer and was told I'm likeable and personable on several interviews. My research was pretty weak but seemed in line with many others I met over sub Is/interviews who matched. I was exposed to and decided on nsg later than many applicants probably and I went to an average medical school where you have to really work to acquire research opportunities. So I didn't get interviews from any of the fancy high profile academic programs but got almost 20 interviews from the normal "mid tier places" with a few "better" and "lesser" sprinkled in. I was told at several I am going to be ranked "very highly", "competitive here" etc. So Im tryna figure out what happened.
Is it a very normal occurrence and I was a fringe applicant and I really need to bolster my research? It is a complete anomaly and fluke and I am very likely to match if I try again?
What really frustrates me is whether programs really don't acknowledge the logic of the algorithm and rank based on who they're likely to get, rather than how they perceive the strength of candidates. Did my profile fit into the perfect set of circumstances where high tiers did not want me, but mid and lower tiers consistently thought I would be taken by programs regarded as higher due to my numbers?
Did programs think I was a flight risk? I got asked a few times things like "why not derm?" with all seriousness. And I'm not sure whether many applicants had this experience, but several interviews ended with me feeling that interviewees were still skeptical about my passion for neurosurgery, or I had not properly convinced them despite speaking the truth. Regardless, I'm not a flight risk and I would have worked my tail off to be good, and I have no quit.
Anyway, if nothing else, I hope my rant serves to prepare future applicants who may be similar to my circumstances to navigate the process better than I did.
(04-04-2018, 12:54 PM)Guest Wrote: The pain of not matching still lingers. I just want to understand what happened. I was > 260 on both Steps, AOA, worked really hard in my sub Is and was consistently told my letters were fantastic (A really tough question I got on the trail was you seem to be good at getting people to write good things about you, if someone wrote you a bad letter what would it say). I think Im atleast an average interviewer and was told I'm likeable and personable on several interviews. My research was pretty weak but seemed in line with many others I met over sub Is/interviews who matched. I was exposed to and decided on nsg later than many applicants probably and I went to an average medical school where you have to really work to acquire research opportunities. So I didn't get interviews from any of the fancy high profile academic programs but got almost 20 interviews from the normal "mid tier places" with a few "better" and "lesser" sprinkled in. I was told at several I am going to be ranked "very highly", "competitive here" etc. So Im tryna figure out what happened.
Is it a very normal occurrence and I was a fringe applicant and I really need to bolster my research? It is a complete anomaly and fluke and I am very likely to match if I try again?
What really frustrates me is whether programs really don't acknowledge the logic of the algorithm and rank based on who they're likely to get, rather than how they perceive the strength of candidates. Did my profile fit into the perfect set of circumstances where high tiers did not want me, but mid and lower tiers consistently thought I would be taken by programs regarded as higher due to my numbers?
Did programs think I was a flight risk? I got asked a few times things like "why not derm?" with all seriousness. And I'm not sure whether many applicants had this experience, but several interviews ended with me feeling that interviewees were still skeptical about my passion for neurosurgery, or I had not properly convinced them despite speaking the truth. Regardless, I'm not a flight risk and I would have worked my tail off to be good, and I have no quit.
Anyway, if nothing else, I hope my rant serves to prepare future applicants who may be similar to my circumstances to navigate the process better than I did.
Can you retake step 1? A 275 might offset your research discrepancy.
If it is my personality then that sucks for me, I'll have to work on it. But my speaking of tiers is me trying to make sense of it, I do not and did not give a flying f*** about tiers, I wanted to match, hopefully somewhere I fit. I posted in the hopes of becoming aware of the existence of others who are now matched, who didn't match the first time with similar profiles.
(04-04-2018, 01:31 PM)Guest Wrote: If it is my personality then that sucks for me, I'll have to work on it. But my speaking of tiers is me trying to make sense of it, I do not and did not give a flying f*** about tiers, I wanted to match, hopefully somewhere I fit. I posted in the hopes of becoming aware of the existence of others who are now matched, who didn't match the first time with similar profiles.
Did you have a home program? Usually stellar applicants who don't match either made a rank list that wasnt representative of how programs viewed them, didn't have a home program, didnt rank home program high enough.
There are politics in this whole process.
Word to the wise. Don't listen to anything PDs tell you. Their words are as good as bile. They dont have to face you on match day.
OP, sorry
-yes I matched
original poster
Unregistered
(04-04-2018, 02:05 PM)Guestaroni Wrote: (04-04-2018, 01:35 PM)Guest Wrote: (04-04-2018, 01:31 PM)Guest Wrote: If it is my personality then that sucks for me, I'll have to work on it. But my speaking of tiers is me trying to make sense of it, I do not and did not give a flying f*** about tiers, I wanted to match, hopefully somewhere I fit. I posted in the hopes of becoming aware of the existence of others who are now matched, who didn't match the first time with similar profiles.
Did you have a home program? Usually stellar applicants who don't match either made a rank list that wasnt representative of how programs viewed them, didn't have a home program, didnt rank home program high enough.
The order of your rank list has literally zero impact on whether you match or not.
I did. This is exactly my point. The lesson I learned is don't believe too much in the logic of how the algorithm works. I wonder if I had put a greater importance on post interview contact and essentially lied to every program I interviewed at I will be ranking them highly, rather than the top few, it would have made a difference. I almost hope it isn't case the case because I want to believe the process is more standardized than that, and it is hard to swallow that a few emails may have changed my life course.
(04-04-2018, 02:06 PM)Guest Wrote: There are politics in this whole process.
Word to the wise. Don't listen to anything PDs tell you. Their words are as good as bile. They dont have to face you on match day.
OP, sorry
-yes I matched
Thank you for that, gives me hope
OP, how many research opportunities, pubs, and presentations did you have?
(04-04-2018, 03:44 PM)Guest Wrote: OP, how many research opportunities, pubs, and presentations did you have?
15
Sorry you didn't match OP. Seems like you "fell through the cracks" and either you didn't have a home program to give you a spot or your home program didn't like u enough. Looking through the match list you can probably spot applicants year after year who matched at their home programs but would have probably have also "slipped through the cracks" if not for the backup they had. This process is rough, many people match below their top 3 /5 choices, there's a lot of politics (attending's son/daughter getting the spot, a significant other of current resident getting a spot). Just a lot of stuff you can't control.
Try to find out what went wrong and reapply. It's not over yet.
|
