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2 vs. 3+ SubIs?
#11
I did 3 AI + home as well. I didn't get a letter from the last AI, I already had a letter from home chair, 2 AI chairs, and home mentor. I spoke with the chair of my last AI and explained this, he was understanding and told me to tell other programs to feel free to call him with any questions. Anytime I was asked at an interview about it people understood, and I matched at my #1 at a well-respected program.

DO NOT hide that you did the last sub-i. All PDs/chairs talk and they'll likely find out if they inquire about you at all, the fact that you hid it will look terrible.

My advice is this: if you are confident you'll have the stamina to still perform in that 4th month and you have a good reason to visit all 3 programs then absolutely do it. If you're thinking of doing it just because you're paranoid about not matching then spend that time relaxing with an easy home rotation, it won't make a difference.
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#12
How do you guys recommend timing the third away? Are you basically doing four rotations (Home + 3 Aways) back to back?
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#13
Yeah to echo that advice, definitely don’t hide the fact you did the other away.

I would say do a home and two always. That gives you three letters off the bat, doesn’t crush your spirit, and then you can have the fourth letter be of your choosing. At my institution when we review candidates, not having a letter from a sub I when you have 4 letters from research and clinical faculty at your home is a huge red flag. Recently in the case of a stellar application from a candidate like that, we actually just called the residents at their sub-I and asked what they thought of them. Didn’t go well, as they had called the residents at their home and received unfavorable feedback. If we had had any semblance of a letter from their Sub-I, that chain of communication that ultimately ranked them would not have transpired.
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#14
(12-18-2019, 01:50 PM)Guest Wrote: Yeah to echo that advice, definitely don’t hide the fact you did the other away.

I would say do a home and two always. That gives you three letters off the bat, doesn’t crush your spirit, and then you can have the fourth letter be of your choosing. At my institution when we review candidates, not having a letter from a sub I when you have 4 letters from research and clinical faculty at your home is a huge red flag. Recently in the case of a stellar application from a candidate like that, we actually just called the residents at their sub-I and asked what they thought of them. Didn’t go well, as they had called the residents at their home and received unfavorable feedback. If we had had any semblance of a letter from their Sub-I, that chain of communication that ultimately ranked them would not have transpired.

So you're saying because they had no away letters you called their home residents and they gave lackluster evals?
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#15
(12-19-2019, 06:31 AM)Guest Wrote:
(12-18-2019, 01:50 PM)Guest Wrote: Yeah to echo that advice, definitely don’t hide the fact you did the other away.

I would say do a home and two always. That gives you three letters off the bat, doesn’t crush your spirit, and then you can have the fourth letter be of your choosing. At my institution when we review candidates, not having a letter from a sub I when you have 4 letters from research and clinical faculty at your home is a huge red flag. Recently in the case of a stellar application from a candidate like that, we actually just called the residents at their sub-I and asked what they thought of them. Didn’t go well, as they had called the residents at their home and received unfavorable feedback. If we had had any semblance of a letter from their Sub-I, that chain of communication that ultimately ranked them would not have transpired.

So you're saying because they had no away letters you called their home residents and they gave lackluster evals?

How do you know that resident you spoke to have an unbiased assessment of the student? I don’t think that’s a reliable source
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#16
(12-19-2019, 09:00 AM)Guest Wrote:
(12-19-2019, 06:31 AM)Guest Wrote:
(12-18-2019, 01:50 PM)Guest Wrote: Yeah to echo that advice, definitely don’t hide the fact you did the other away.

I would say do a home and two always. That gives you three letters off the bat, doesn’t crush your spirit, and then you can have the fourth letter be of your choosing. At my institution when we review candidates, not having a letter from a sub I when you have 4 letters from research and clinical faculty at your home is a huge red flag. Recently in the case of a stellar application from a candidate like that, we actually just called the residents at their sub-I and asked what they thought of them. Didn’t go well, as they had called the residents at their home and received unfavorable feedback. If we had had any semblance of a letter from their Sub-I, that chain of communication that ultimately ranked them would not have transpired.

So you're saying because they had no away letters you called their home residents and they gave lackluster evals?

How do you know that resident you spoke to have an unbiased assessment of the student? I don’t think that’s a reliable source

Then what is? You always have that chance but what you don’t understand is that for the most part programs know how they feel as a group about someone. We discuss you when you’re there, every time you mess up, your successes, and when you leave we submit comments about you to our superiors. You are the topic of conversation for a month. If you think there’s some lone resident who will go to bat for a shitty sub-I, and that your sterling personality hopefully touched one resident while putting off the rest then you’re in for a rude awakening when you finally match.
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#17
(12-19-2019, 09:00 AM)Guest Wrote:
(12-19-2019, 06:31 AM)Guest Wrote:
(12-18-2019, 01:50 PM)Guest Wrote: Yeah to echo that advice, definitely don’t hide the fact you did the other away.

I would say do a home and two always. That gives you three letters off the bat, doesn’t crush your spirit, and then you can have the fourth letter be of your choosing. At my institution when we review candidates, not having a letter from a sub I when you have 4 letters from research and clinical faculty at your home is a huge red flag. Recently in the case of a stellar application from a candidate like that, we actually just called the residents at their sub-I and asked what they thought of them. Didn’t go well, as they had called the residents at their home and received unfavorable feedback. If we had had any semblance of a letter from their Sub-I, that chain of communication that ultimately ranked them would not have transpired.

So you're saying because they had no away letters you called their home residents and they gave lackluster evals?

How do you know that resident you spoke to have an unbiased assessment of the student? I don’t think that’s a reliable source

Your home residents are the most reliable source I have. 

I know the residents personally, they've usually spent the most time with you out of everyone in neurosurgery, and at the end of the day these are my friends so i can be sure they're not bullshitting me.
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#18
(12-19-2019, 04:57 PM)Guest Wrote:
(12-19-2019, 09:00 AM)Guest Wrote:
(12-19-2019, 06:31 AM)Guest Wrote:
(12-18-2019, 01:50 PM)Guest Wrote: Yeah to echo that advice, definitely don’t hide the fact you did the other away.

I would say do a home and two always. That gives you three letters off the bat, doesn’t crush your spirit, and then you can have the fourth letter be of your choosing. At my institution when we review candidates, not having a letter from a sub I when you have 4 letters from research and clinical faculty at your home is a huge red flag. Recently in the case of a stellar application from a candidate like that, we actually just called the residents at their sub-I and asked what they thought of them. Didn’t go well, as they had called the residents at their home and received unfavorable feedback. If we had had any semblance of a letter from their Sub-I, that chain of communication that ultimately ranked them would not have transpired.

So you're saying because they had no away letters you called their home residents and they gave lackluster evals?

How do you know that resident you spoke to have an unbiased assessment of the student? I don’t think that’s a reliable source

Your home residents are the most reliable source I have. 

I know the residents personally, they've usually spent the most time with you out of everyone in neurosurgery, and at the end of the day these are my friends so i can be sure they're not bullshitting me.

Agreed. I am BFFs with my home residents. There's no way that they would be dishonest with me or withhold information. We are 100% equals in every way.
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#19
(12-18-2019, 01:50 PM)Guest Wrote: Yeah to echo that advice, definitely don’t hide the fact you did the other away.

I would say do a home and two always. That gives you three letters off the bat, doesn’t crush your spirit, and then you can have the fourth letter be of your choosing. At my institution when we review candidates, not having a letter from a sub I when you have 4 letters from research and clinical faculty at your home is a huge red flag. Recently in the case of a stellar application from a candidate like that, we actually just called the residents at their sub-I and asked what they thought of them. Didn’t go well, as they had called the residents at their home and received unfavorable feedback. If we had had any semblance of a letter from their Sub-I, that chain of communication that ultimately ranked them would not have transpired.

Is this because they have 4 home letters and no sub-I letter, or because they were missing 1 of their two letters?
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