Hey resident lurkers, if you didn't match at your number 1 and/or at a program that you weren't enthusiastic about, how did you come to terms with it in a healthy manner?
Speaking of this, does anyone know on average how far down their list people tend to match? do most people match into one of their top three? -- Absolutely not in derm, some do, but I doubt it's even half. I have the same question, maybe a PGY-1 who already match or a derm resident can help with this one <^PGY1 matched last year. This is a great question, there's no good data on this, it's anecdotal and you have to reason through it. The overall answer is, it's not as common to match top #1-3 as in IM or EM or Peds etc (larger specialties) because class sizes are so much smaller, and it's more competitive. It's also not uncommon, at least to match within your top 3. The way I see it play out is, there's kind of 2 scenarios (2 kinds of applicants) where you're MORE LIKELY to match #1 (not a guarantee and not the only 2 ways but just more likely) -Scenario 1: If you're a very strong applicant and have multiple top 5/10/20 invites, AND one of those programs is your #1 etc., you're more likely to match at your top choice. Those programs usually have larger class sizes so the statistics are much in your favor. Furthermore you're in a group of top applicants who will sort themselves out based on geographic preferences more than actual program rankings (they're all kinda similar in the top 10). -Scenario 2: You're a good applicant overall, and your top #1etc. choice is a program of superior interest or fit to you - e.g. your #1 happens to be your home program where everyone loves you and wants you to stay, or you are from a program that's in your hometown which is very regional - for example let's say your #1 is Penn State and you're from Hershey PA and you make it known you want to be there with family - then you're much more likely to match there as long as they liked you since they know you're a safe choice for coming there and having support etc. This is kind of a niche so you'll know if you're a scenario 2 applicant. -also this is all just like my opinion man
< on last year's spreadsheet, on the stats tab, lots of people matched at their 1st and 2nd choices, but it's hard to get a sense of overall how people match
Yeah but maybe thats just a bias based on the people who posted
<PGY-1 matched last year to #12, but honestly not at all dissapointed. There is a notion that not matching #1 there is something wrong with you/ you would be unhappy. Truthfully I would be dissapointed if I matched #15 and 16, but otherwise I would be ecstatic anywhere else.
<- I only have literally half the number of interviews (6). This does not bode well for me :(
< ya super scary for us folks that cant really go 10+ deep into our rank list because we dont have that many invites
<knowing that I’d still become a board certified dermatologist << , and to OP, the program probably feels the same way about people who they ranked highly and didn't match with them. <what do you mean by "OP"