Contact from programs pre-ROL submission deadline

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Do programs routinely contact applicants they have ranked to match prior to the ROL submission deadline? If so, do they tell their number 1 that they have ranked her or him as such? What then do they tell the rest of the applicants who have been ranked to match?

On the flip side, are there programs who do not contact any of their ranked applicants (no matter how high on the list) prior to the ROL submission deadline?
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(1) there are programs which will never contact anyone on their list, no matter how high

(2) there are programs who WILL DEFINITELY contact their number one.
 
when is this contact usually made? in early february?
 
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I'm not faculty, obviously, but based on the experience of my co-residents across the country, programs have contacted applicants sometime before they submitted rank lists to ensure that applicants knew they loved them.

And it's not illegal for them to do this. It's just illegal for programs to pressure you to say how you're ranking them.

As for the precise time they'll contact you.... logically will vary by when their PD decides to pick up the phone.
 
my dean said that it would be a good idea to solicit someone from our derm department and ask that they call my #1 program on my behalf in order to increase my chances of matching. is this a good idea?
 
I figured it would be insulting to my home department since, well, they aren't #1.
 
I know lots of applicants who matched with no contact at all, but it does happen.

I was contacted by 2 programs around rank list time. Both were very respectful and did not ask for any commitment on my part. One was phone call from PD, one was e-mail from PD. Neither told me I was ranked #1 but they hinted that I might be ranked to match by saying things like "I think you'll be very happy on match day" and "I hope I get a chance to work with you during your dermatology residency"

It can benefit the programs a bit to do this, I think. I was really struggling between 2 programs with which program to rank #1. One of the 2 programs was one that contacted me, so I ranked them #1 and matched there.
 
anybody received contact from programs yet?
 
I made my rank list, and I emailed my #1 place and told them they were my #1. Then recently, I got a call from my #2, telling me I would be highly ranked. I know it shouldn't matter, because I made my decision rationally, and #1 really is amazing...but there's something about being embraced by a program, that is very exciting, and kinda makes me wish I hadn't said anything to anyone yet. And it doesn't help that my #2 is in a better city! I know I can't take back what I said to my #1, and I can't change my list now that I've told them, but I do regret my haste.
 
Long Dong said:
I made my rank list, and I emailed my #1 place and told them they were my #1. Then recently, I got a call from my #2, telling me I would be highly ranked. I know it shouldn't matter, because I made my decision rationally, and #1 really is amazing...but there's something about being embraced by a program, that is very exciting, and kinda makes me wish I hadn't said anything to anyone yet. And it doesn't help that my #2 is in a better city! I know I can't take back what I said to my #1, and I can't change my list now that I've told them, but I do regret my haste.
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Honestly, you're allowed to change your bind. It's not like you signed a contract when you told your #1...but really make sure your #2 is really where you want to go. Remember..it's YOUR life.
 
Long Dong said:
I made my rank list, and I emailed my #1 place and told them they were my #1. Then recently, I got a call from my #2, telling me I would be highly ranked. I know it shouldn't matter, because I made my decision rationally, and #1 really is amazing...but there's something about being embraced by a program, that is very exciting, and kinda makes me wish I hadn't said anything to anyone yet. And it doesn't help that my #2 is in a better city! I know I can't take back what I said to my #1, and I can't change my list now that I've told them, but I do regret my haste.
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that's why I haven't told a soul who my number 1 is. I plan on changing it over and over until 9PM feb 25.
 
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anybody else who has been contacted by a program(s) (apart from the applicant who PM'd long dong)?
 
I have never heard of this happening anywhere outside of these forums. I question how common it is
 
brightoats said:
I have never heard of this happening anywhere outside of these forums. I question how common it is
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there are old posts on ez board where people mention getting contacted by places. seems like if it happens it's mostly the week before the rank list submission deadline.
 
It definitely happens. It happened to my colleagues. I never got contacted myself, but happily I still matched.
 
Now that we are only 1 week away from the ROL submission deadline, has anybody gotten any form of contact from programs?
 
if your home program doesn't want you, what reaction would you expect from them if you tell them they are number one? would most still say nice things to you just to be nice?
 
gimmederm said:
if your home program doesn't want you, what reaction would you expect from them if you tell them they are number one? would most still say nice things to you just to be nice?
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I would love to get an answer to this question myself. I actually am sending out TY letters and telling them that I will be ranking them #1. I wonder what they will think?
 
Medstudentquest said:
I would love to get an answer to this question myself. I actually am sending out TY letters and telling them that I will be ranking them #1. I wonder what they will think?
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i doubt it matters in dermatology, they'll rank who they want in the order they want
 
has anyone been contacted? isn't it approaching feb 25. i'm surprised no one has been contacted yet
 
goodies said:
has anyone been contacted? isn't it approaching feb 25. i'm surprised no one has been contacted yet
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i bet several people have been contacted but are either not saying it or they are not on this board...

i wonder what everyone thought about an applicant emailing his/her program that they are his/her number 1 and not getting any response from the program (not a single word). does this mean anything at all?
 
My friends roommate apparently got an official thumbs up from nyu.
 
iluvskin said:
i bet several people have been contacted but are either not saying it or they are not on this board...

i wonder what everyone thought about an applicant emailing his/her program that they are his/her number 1 and not getting any response from the program (not a single word). does this mean anything at all?
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how long has it been?

i think people are just not saying. why don't we just generalize it to this: did anyone get contacted by any program at all? yes or no? you don't have to say the name of the program if you don't want. or if you do, you can just say if it's an east coast program, west coast, midwest, south...
 
no contact from the one program i interviewed at.

emailed them last week to tell them i was ranking them number 1 (i dont think they know they are my only shot) and put it in the context of the ROL deadline coming up soon. i did not get a reply (it has been a week).

i think i am toast :(
 
iluvskin said:
no contact from the one program i interviewed at.

emailed them last week to tell them i was ranking them number 1 (i dont think they know they are my only shot) and put it in the context of the ROL deadline coming up soon. i did not get a reply (it has been a week).

i think i am toast :(
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I don't want to freak you out but if anyone reads this thread in the future. If you only have one interview you've got to go to that interview telling them they are your number one. Do your homework and tell them what makes them special, programs are like girls they like hearing that they are special. Also now as a resident I know my program had there meeting the week after the last interview so waiting would not help much. On a brighter note most of my coresident didn't get any contact from my program but still matched there so don't worry to much.
 
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Programs will often not respond to such emails, as applicants can misinterpret and misread any email sent as a response in the context of a stressful match.

I would not take the lack of response as anything bad or good.

I would, however, take the one interview offer as a relatively serious situation, and be prepared to sprint for a fellowship if you do not match.

Please do not beat yourself up if you don't match. Keep your head on and work furiously to gun for a fellowship position if you are 100% focused on derm and derm only.

Do realize that people match even with one or two interviews; usually, however, they have maximized their opportunities at those one or two interviews.
 
Long Dong, dude, methinks you were posting drunk up there.
 
Thank you Long Dong and DermMatch. Matched or not, I will let everybody know on March 16...
 
so when would you ever take contact as a good thing?

seems like no contact = contact
 
Contact = good. Programs will contact you only to tell you that they want you.

No contact = meaningless.
 
Received an email from a program last week. Also received an email from the chair of another program immediately after my interview.
 
Dermified, was the latter at Northwestern, by any chance? I had that happen to me too, and have been wondering if they do that for everyone?!
 
I know a few people who got the email from NW chair after the interview, it was a nice touch.

I received contact from several great programs after interviews, by phone and/or email, and am fortunate to have heard the phrase "ranked to match."

I don't want to be more specific, but I know you inquired whether contact does occur.
 
CandyApple09 said:
Dermified, was the latter at Northwestern, by any chance? I had that happen to me too, and have been wondering if they do that for everyone?!
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Yes, it was at Northwestern. If they do it for everyone then that is a very nice gesture. :)
 
unfortunately, no pre-rank love letters, but...

would you put any merit into a chair telling you you had nothing to worry about in match and another "promising" you you would not have a problem matching during your interview (or is this just the lip service that everything else is)?
 
opencomedo said:
unfortunately, no pre-rank love letters, but...

would you put any merit into a chair telling you you had nothing to worry about in match and another "promising" you you would not have a problem matching during your interview (or is this just the lip service that everything else is)?
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I would not count on it. It may be true, but try to not expect, lest you get disappointed. I have heard of so many people get told this sort of c**p, only to find out they did not match.
 
even if it's in writing, there's no guarantee

that being said, as someone who got no love (verbal or written), I'd prefer false promises over no promises :)
 
Mariah246 said:
even if it's in writing, there's no guarantee

that being said, as someone who got no love (verbal or written), I'd prefer false promises over no promises :)
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i did not get any love either --- kind of good in a way because i am not expecting much and it has allowed me to look into alternatives earlier...
 
For what it's worth, a friend of a friend was told by a program that he was "ranked to match," yet this guy failed to match ANYWHERE. Bummer, huh? He called the program that told him he was "ranked to match," and they said he was the next one on their list and that they usually went much further down their list than they had that year. The only thing that counts is where you land in the algorithm.

I was told by the chair at my top pick that I would "have [my] choice of whatever residency I wanted to go to, and it is [his] job to convince me that program was the right fit." Also I received a couple of kind (but vague) emails from some other places, but I'll believe what I see on match day and nothing before then.
 
that this is a beat-to-death topic that i have contributed to overmuch on other threads, but in general it should work like this.

if someone calls you with more than a vague we like you, but rather a we like you do you like us?, they are trying to make sure they fill their rank list in their top few choices so they look good to the med school dean. in this case, since they are flaunting the rules (and many, many programs do), you are perfectly justified to say, i'm flattered, certainly your interest is a factor to me, CAN YOU TELL ME THAT I AM IN YOUR TOP "X" SPOTS DEFINITIVELY to help me understand the situation more clearly?

now obviously only do this if the program is one you would go to, as mine was. of THESE cases, of which i've heard of and now observed both from the program and resident end dozens, none have ever gone awry. you realize that if they put you in the top "X" (spots), then the algorithm will put you in the program if you rank them.

if you really did hear the horror story from a friend of a friend, i'd put $5 (but not more) that the situation was not verbally discussed as clearly as i am suggesting.

all this means, other than telling you historical knowledge, is if you get a call probing for what you are going to do, nail their hides to the wall (diplomatically as above). they've gotten themselves into it, now they owe it to you. and if they really do screw you, post their names on these boards. pd and the program.
 
formerdermres said:
CAN YOU TELL ME THAT I AM IN YOUR TOP "X" SPOTS DEFINITIVELY to help me understand the situation more clearly?
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i thought that it was against the match rules to "solicit" information. by asking them this, it is against the rules, but it is not against the rules to state your interest to them and vice versa...if i am not mistaken...
 
i'm not sure if it's against the rules for you to ask - it certainly is against the rules for the program to ask, but they very, very certainly do.

and once they do, it should be a no-brainer to make them VERY specific about what they are fishing for and what they are offering, since they've already violated rules.

to put this into perspective, a few years before i matched i visited a friend in a "road" specialty in chicago whose program had just gone down to like the 20th spot to match their 4. the resident was telling me how the program director was freaking out because it made the program look so bad to the school and they were having major reviews to figure out how to fix things.

and now i've seen it at my program, where not going "far down" on the list is discussed among the recruiting faculty every year.

so you see the reason for the calls, at least for programs at highly competitive institutions. just like us, they want to look good too.
 
Why is it always a vague story of people not matching at places that have said "ranked to match"? I agree, you would think the names of these programs would get out because people would be upset with them and would want to warn others.
 
brightoats said:
Why is it always a vague story of people not matching at places that have said "ranked to match"? I agree, you would think the names of these programs would get out because people would be upset with them and would want to warn others.
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I can only speak for the story I told, and I don't want to name the institution for a couple of reasons. First of all, like I said when telling the story, I'm getting it third hand, and I wouldn't throw a program under the bus based on evidence that weak. Secondly, even if I were 100% confident in the story (ie, I heard the conversation with the program & saw the rank list of this guy who failed to match), if for some reason my real identity were discovered one day I would not want to be labeled as the guy that talked trash about a specific program. That kind of stuff can haunt you throughout your career.

I imagine others have their own reasons, but those are mine.
 
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Dermguy, completely defensible and logical reasons.

Chatted recently with residency selection folks - was emphasized to me that my program DOES NOT call people because it's too close to breaking match rules.

It was heartening to hear that my program doesn't play games like that. Historically, we don't go lower than say 10 or 12, so not calling still works out for us.
 
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