Interviews, 2006

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rosielo said:
A great clinical problem, you will work hard for 3 years but will come out knowing how to manage everything. They take 7/ year. Residents rotate through 7 hospitals btwn Brooklyn and Staten Island. Some spectacular faculty members including the PD who is an oculoplastics specialist. They include a research afternoon once a week in the program as all resident must participate in research and complete a project. The current chairman is an interim chair, but the residents appear to be quite pleased with him as he is resident friendly. The residents will tell you if you don't want to work hard starting from day one don't come here. Residents get the fellowships that they want.
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is it true they take 3-4 from downstate usually?
Members don't see this ad.
 
Usually about 3. The incoming class will be 4/7 from Downstate, 1st time ever apparently.
 
flattered to get an invite to kresge, but i never applied to the program. i am absolutely terrified at what sf match is doing this year. it is horrible, and they should send out apologies to all of the programs and applicants. yikes.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
xhxlx said:
flattered to get an invite to kresge, but i never applied to the program. i am absolutely terrified at what sf match is doing this year. it is horrible, and they should send out apologies to all of the programs and applicants. yikes.
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That is an insult for those who actually spent money applying to that program. Stuff like that crosses the line and raises serious liability questions about the F*&@ing SF Match. This systems plain SUCKS! :mad: :thumbdown:
 
Strabisman said:
Just heard from UT-Houston by phone. Offered the wonderfully convenient dates of Dec. 1 and 2. The lady on the phone sounded like the "I'm booked that weekend" response was all she was hearing this morning.
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Dude, she was soooo rude to me when I told her I could not make December 1! Give me a break! Way to entice applicants to come to your program! :mad:
 
DiveMD said:
That is an insult for those who actually spent money applying to that program. Stuff like that crosses the line and raises serious liability questions about the F*&@ing SF Match. This systems plain SUCKS! :mad: :thumbdown:
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No kidding...Let's just hope they don't have to "re-run" the match algorithm like urology match did a year or two ago! A friend of my friend :p matched at Harvard the first time they ran the match....After they re-ran it, he didn't have a residency spot!!!! I would effin sue someone's a$$ if that happened to me!
 
I am running out of cash and will be dropping Vandy, UT Houston, UCI, and possibly Utah or Cleveland Clinic tomorrow AM. Hopefully one of you will catch one of these spots! :luck:
 
Rejection via snail mail from Emory
Rejection via e-mail from Michigan
 
hey groundskeeper willie

was that a mass email (ie are the rest of us toast?)
 
Wills email was only addressed to one person....
 
Heard from Drexel by email yesterday for 12/9.
Univ of Rochester by email today for 12/1.
I contacted a bunch of programs yesterday and got 3 rejections, 1 applications are still under review, and 1 application received. One program said that because of the way they received info from SF they couldn't contact me to let me know of the rejection.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Most interviews have been sent out. "A few interview spots left" which will be sent by email. Everyone will know their status next week.
 
Can anyone tell me about the two kansas programs? U Kansas and U Missouri Kansas? how about U South Carolina? thanks
 
When I asked our residents which programs not to apply to, they universally said UMKC. They said you're treated like techs for a bunch of private guys. I don't know anything about KU. KC is a fun place with great BBQ, but the programs are not too spectacular.
 
i had heard that neither program was great (our chairman), but that one was better then (an ophtho resident). any thoughts on the U Kansas program? how about Arkansas?
 
Anyone received an invite from Geisinger MC, replied back but never heard back?
 
I have a conflict with an interview for a program where I did an away elective. Do you think I am committed to going to my away elective's interview? How does this stuff work?
 
phillme said:
I have a conflict with an interview for a program where I did an away elective. Do you think I am committed to going to my away elective's interview? How does this stuff work?
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I don't think you are obligated. I think you have to ask yourself if you would want to go there. If not, then go for an interview where you want to go. Although, if you would like to go there even if you don't rank it first, your chances may be better having done the away...... just my $0.02.
 
phillme said:
I have a conflict with an interview for a program where I did an away elective. Do you think I am committed to going to my away elective's interview? How does this stuff work?
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If you were hoping to match there, then you need to go to their interview....They probably liked you or they wouldn't be offering you an interview....Unless they interview all the students doing away rotations at their program....:luck:
 
Anyone planning on driving from Wake Forest (11/17) to UVA (11/18) and back that night. I have already rented a car and would be glad to car pool.

Anyone else going from Temple, TX to Atlanta, GA on the evening of December 2nd....Must not have a fear of flying in small planes!

PM me if interested.
 
xaelia said:
Wills has a zillion positions to fill; you'd think they ought to be inviting a ton of folks to interview.
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I'm pretty sure the secretary sat there and sent an individual email to every applicant, or used some fancy software, b/c the email has your name and address at the top. Also, they definitely invited a lot of people already, because the email went out at around 8AM, and when I called at 2:30PM, there were only a few time slots left!
 
kulkarka said:
I'm pretty sure the secretary sat there and sent an individual email to every applicant, or used some fancy software, b/c the email has your name and address at the top. Also, they definitely invited a lot of people already, because the email went out at around 8AM, and when I called at 2:30PM, there were only a few time slots left!
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She told me they might be opening more spots to accomodate people if all the existing spots get filled....That's really nice of them I think.
 
Heard from WashU today by email (begging works!), offering only 12/1...releasing UT Houston. Good luck to all!
 
The secretary at UTH who was super-rude yesterday just hung up on me while I was still talking:thumbdown: :thumbdown: ....Pretty much right after I told her I won't be able to make it to my interview and she found my name on her list....I guess she got bored of playing computer games all day and needed to run and do some butt stretches. Little B! :smuggrin:
 
NYMC B&Q by phone today 12/1 or 12/2...
 
Does anyone know if NYEE has any interview slots left? I didn't get the letter until today and of course no one is answering the phone.
 
Also got SVMC B/Q by phone today for 12/1 and 12/2.
 
Has anyone heard when Mount Sinai in NYC will be offering interviews? they haven't even published interview dates yet (I'm sure they'll turn out to be Dec 1 and 2). They never answer their phone, and as far as I can tell, no one has heard a word from them. I'm starting to question if this program even exists...
 
jata said:
Does anyone know if NYEE has any interview slots left? I didn't get the letter until today and of course no one is answering the phone.
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when i called her yesterday morning they had 1 spot left on the 9th (after me)...don't know about the 15th.
 
xaelia said:
Wills has a zillion positions to fill; you'd think they ought to be inviting a ton of folks to interview.
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Wills has 8 spots and they never have any trouble filling them. I think they invite 40-50 interviewees.. good luck!
 
sisyphus22 said:
Has anyone heard when Mount Sinai in NYC will be offering interviews? they haven't even published interview dates yet (I'm sure they'll turn out to be Dec 1 and 2). They never answer their phone, and as far as I can tell, no one has heard a word from them. I'm starting to question if this program even exists...
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If I remember correctly from last year, Mt Sinai was one of my last interviews, like on Dec 13 or something. They interview late. Don't worry!
 
Hi y'all

I just happened upon this thread because I'm trying to dig up some helpful info for my boyfriend who is applying for residency this year. i've already matched in Ophthalmology at a very good program so if you have any questions, especially about the New York, NJ, PA, and VA programs, let me know. I'd be more than willing to give advice (as much as I remember!). Good luck to all. Also let me know if you have any questions regarding Transitional/Prelim year.
 
u of maryland by email 11/28, 11/30, 12/4, 12/6, 12/8
 
Also received U of Maryland by email, same dates as above.
 
Does anybody know anything about Univ. of Maryland?
 
Heard by email this afternoon 11/13
dates are 11/29, 12/6, 12/11, and 12/13 (whew not 12/1 and 12/2 :) )
interview runs from 12pm-6pm

eyegirl - I would love to know what you think of the NYC programs and UMDNJ - I always hear NYEE and Columbia are the two best, but then not too much about the others. Thanks and good luck to all.
 
NJ Ophtho said:
eyegirl - I would love to know what you think of the NYC programs and UMDNJ - I always hear NYEE and Columbia are the two best, but then not too much about the others. Thanks and good luck to all.
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I'm also really curious to hear thoughts about the Cornell program from anyone with more info on it
 
Finally! Just got Mount Sinai as well. They sent it via a mass email with everyone's names.
 
anyone hear from UMDNJ yet?
 
someone mentioned "courtesy interviews" earlier.

I was wondering what anyone thought about this concept. Are all interviews given out based on merit- in other words, once you land the interview, you have just as good of a shot as the next guy interviewing?

or

do courtesy interviews exist where you may land an interview after trying to persuade a program that you really want to go there, such as what some posters had mentioned in other posts (ex: ohio state, sheie), but in reality your chances of matching are not as great as if you were given the initial interview.

I'd also be curious as to what some of the residents reading this thread think.
 
st. lukes/roosevelt yesterday by phone for 11/29

Any opinions on this program?
 
OpTIC said:
someone mentioned "courtesy interviews" earlier.

I was wondering what anyone thought about this concept. Are all interviews given out based on merit- in other words, once you land the interview, you have just as good of a shot as the next guy interviewing?

or

do courtesy interviews exist where you may land an interview after trying to persuade a program that you really want to go there, such as what some posters had mentioned in other posts (ex: ohio state, sheie), but in reality your chances of matching are not as great as if you were given the initial interview.

I'd also be curious as to what some of the residents reading this thread think.
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I think that the playing field is not level once you get the interview. I personally feel that the places that called me early (once they started notifying) are definitely more interested in me than the others. Obviously a great interview can help, but only so much. As has been posted here before, it's the whole package, and the interview counts as some portion of that.

The reason you got/didn't originally get the interview matters. For example, I'm sure that most programs will give all of their home med school applicants and anyone who did fairly well during an away rotation an interview. Clearly the program director knows those applicants better than those from other schools because he/she likely spent time working with them and maybe wrote their LOR. Better a known quantity than an unknown quantity with slightly better numbers. And even within that group of home candidates, the PD knows what his/her rank list would be, and that each applicant is not equal.
There also seems to be a slight preference for programs to take applicants from particular schools, because of personal relationships between the PD's - as in "I know PD x, and if he says this applicant is great, then I believe him."
As another example, say that an obviously stellar applicant, who is interviewing at all the big name places applied to some "2nd tier" program and because of personal reasons would go there over the big name places. That 2nd tier program may think that the applicant would never go there and thus not give them an interview, until the applicant calls (or has their PD call) and indicates personal interest. Since the schools know that each application is just a checkbox, and they have to sort through 400 of them, that applicant could easily have been bypassed in favor of an applicant that they feel is more likely to attend.
Or it may just be that of the 400 applicants, there are 40 "AOA/250+/Great LOR/ some research" applicants and 200 that are just below them numerically and they don't know how to pick from that set of 200, so anyone who makes an extra effort will stand out.
 
I'm curious about this stuff myself.

I also emailed and begged two top20 programs and got interviews in their 3-4round of giving them out since my fellow couples matcher had gotten interviews in those cities/programs, but I also got several interviews at better places without solicitation. My guess is that for each tier of schools there are about 150-200 applicants who's stats match up more or less. Each of these schools can only interview 50-80 of those and sometimes you are just a victim of chance. To support this I would use mayo as an example. The coordinator told me they just invite the top 100 applications they receive since there is no fair way to pick 44 of them. So they leave it to the most frequent email checker rather than pulling your name out of a hat.

On the other hand, when I received a follow up email from one of these top20 programs, everybody on the list was from a top10 school which I'm not. Based on email addresses, they had more exclusive .edus than Wilmer or Bascom so I think some schools don't care if you're a really great candidate from a mid tier school they are still looking for a top tier school candidate even if they aren't AOA/>240.

So in summary, my guess is that you still have a shot if you get an invite, although you may be lower than somebody who got that first invite. Somebody had to cancel to get that spot, I don't think they just create a new spot for you out of pity.

Good luck to all.
 
Vballguy said:
I think that the playing field is not level once you get the interview. I personally feel that the places that called me early (once they started notifying) are definitely more interested in me than the others. Obviously a great interview can help, but only so much. As has been posted here before, it's the whole package, and the interview counts as some portion of that.
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I agree that the playing field is never level even after you get an interview. I have heard from residents and PD's that even before you get to your interview the individuals on the selection committee already have a basic rank list in their minds. Also that they will go back over your "numbers" after your interview.

But a great interview I still think could get you a spot even if you got that offer the day before the interview.
 
Anybody know that Cole Eye interview dates are?
Any thoughts about this program?
 
does anyone want to switch their november 30 AM at columbia for my november 30 PM interview session? I need to get out of the city as early as possible, and whoever gets PM will get to sleep in! i would really appreciate it.
 
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