Matched at my #2!! Overall I'm pleased but still somewhat bummed out that I didn't match at my #1 (which was UCLA NPI). Overall I thought I was a pretty strong applicant metric wise - 247/249 steps, mostly honors in 3rd year, 97% percentile on psych shelf, strong LORs from home program - however didn't have AOA, come from a relatively middle of the road state MD school, and no psych research, or away rotations. I think my two biggest negatives were lack of demonstrated commitment to psych early on and my resident interviewer and I didn't really seem to connect that well, at least not like with my other two interviewers (PD interview seemed to go very well, went 15min over, told me that he thought I "would be very happy here." Also at the post interview reception, there weren't a ton of residents that showed up and I ended up getting cornered into a conversation with another applicant for a while and didn't talk as much as possible with the residents as I would have liked. Thinking that I missed out on showing them more of my personality. Also, I was interested in dermatology earlier in medical school and my experiences reflected that on my CV, but my application and EC's also showed that I have a very humanistic bent and seemed to "gel" with a lot of the other residents varied interests. But worried that maybe the program thought I was just back-up applying?
Not sure why I'm posting. Was thinking of emailing my resident interviewer and asking if I came across poorly? Is that just like asking an unrequited love for closure that will never come and a horrible idea? Anything else that might have been obvious for not matching at my #1? (Lack of AOA? Not coming from a top 20 med school?).
Again, super grateful to have matched where I did and am determined to be the best psychiatrist possible, but just looking for some answers to those terrible "what if's" that seem to like to linger.