AFTER APPLYING : MAXIMIZING INTERVIEW CHANCES

Tons of applications, hundreds of good scoring candidates, lotsa strong credentials and yet the Program Director's gotta choose who makes it for the interviews. Choose not just the best of what they got, but also choose candidates with a good likelihood of actually ranking their program - coz' as I explained on another post, the interview quotas are limited by time and budget.


It may pay to remain proactive even after you applied to residency programs, instead of letting only programs and fate work with your ERAS application ;-) No matter how unbiased a selection process maybe, personality and soft skills do play their role in all walks of life ! Here are some steps you could take AFTER YOU APPLY, to push your luck into improving your chances for that residency interview (...After all, aren't we all in the business of improving chances of landing that Interview , so that we have a chance to show-case what we got & earn a spot on the program's Rank-Order List?)

1. 3 to 4 weeks after you apply, call up programs that you did not hear back from at all, and inquire about the "status of your application". This makes the program coordinator look up your application again, if not already looked at. If a decision of a reject was already taken and not communicated, they will let you know. If no decision was taken , your calling may at least prompt most of the programs to have a another better look at your application . A friend of mine with low scores in the 2006 match, will vouch for this strategy, which helped him get more interviews than he anticipated. It definitely may help to keep you in the spotlight, considering that there will be hundreds or thousands of applications received ....and not everyone will be calling to check in. ( Of course, you may email - but I would rather that you call. ) A note of warning though, if the program clearly communicates that they would not like people emailing or calling back to check status, refrain from doing so.


2. If you manage to get your first or another useful US clinical / research experience AFTER you apply - like say an externship or observership or a publication, etc, sending an email to all programs informing them about them would make many programs, if not all, give your application a second look in a positive light. Thus, just because you finished applying does not mean you should stop seeking resume-enhancing US experiences.

3. Calling up programs becomes especially relevant as the interview season nears the end in Dec-Jan-Feb of the match year. Why ? Remember that a lot of strong candidates either cancel excess interviews at the last moment or simply don't show up at all (which I think is very impolite ). Secondly as programs start giving out prematches, other programs see more 'match withdrawals' of candidates they had already interviewed. Unmet Interview Quotas and match cancellations put the programs at risk of having some seats unmatched - and trust me - as much as we hate to the post-match scramble, the programs themselves hate that too ! Towards the end of the season, there may not be enough time to send off formal invites to candidates on their list - and if you happen to call in such a situation - Bingo ! :-)


Hmmm...having said so, these approaches are especially relevant to slightly disadvantaged candidates like those low scores, no USCE, etc. But again, please please please do not overdo it and bug the programs enough to hate you !


Also read:

- Tips to Indicate your strong interest in a residency Program
- More Residency Positions for your Dollars: Positions v/s Program Numbers