WTF is up with the new clerkship process.

[OhEmGee]

This year was a mess.

We had a few top 10 kids go into the 4th round for programs. I feel like the programs were literally just picking randomly out of the pot. Person A would have a 3.7 and be top 10 and not get an offer at some run of the mill program, but then Person B with a 2.8 ranked 70th would get an offer.

Some of the biggest issues were months or preference.

We called a program and they told us that when we rank our 3 months we are actually screwing ourselves. They only get the list of the 3 months, not the preference themselves. So if they are willing to accept you they just pick one of the 3 months at random. I am not sure if this works for every program but the one I got in touch with said it was the case.

Another issue was with rejecting programs. Let's say I wanted to go to said program in November. I put that as my top preference, and put December and October as my 2nd and 3rd choice. I get October so I call the program and tell them that I was accepted in October but would prefer November. The program director tells me to decline the offer and put November as my preference for the second round and he will accept me for the month. However because I decline October, the site automatically declines my 2nd 2 preference. So now I cannot apply for October, November or December.

I know this is only the second year using the site but it is a pain in the ass.

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[janV88]

They tweaked it this year and it sounds like it's not working out. At my last months program I was in the assistant directors office right after the 1st round and he hated it. He said last year went so much smoother.

 

[pacpod]

...because I decline October, the site automatically declines my 2nd 2 preference. So now I cannot apply for October, November or December.

I know this is only the second year using the site but it is a pain in the ass.

That happened last year to me too. I was able to contact the people in charge of clerkships (don't remember who exactly) and they were able to help get things straight.

 

[ldsrmdude]

While it's not perfect, I think this year is better than last year and definitely better than in years past. I talked to our clerkship director today about the students coming next year and how the whole process was working out, and he was happier with it this year. It is much easier to do things all electronically and not have to email programs back and forth. Although I am happy with the programs I visited, there were some programs that I think I would have been able to visit that I just ended up missing out on due to delays in email. I think it's headed in the right direction at least.