Post Match Thoughts

So I matched. For some reason it feels like the match happened weeks ago even though it's only been six days. Speaking of the whole match thing, wow. I got up at like 7:30am and was basically staring at my inbox for an hour and twenty minutes until a magic little email showed up. For a while there I didn't think it was coming and we were going to have to wait another day or two. But sure enough at about 8:50am, ten minutes before the deadline it was there. Now, I was expecting an email that said basically you matched and gave a link to click in order to find out where you matched. Nope the program was right there two lines in to the email. Bam!

So I ended up matching at my 4# ranked program. It's a great place and I am really excited to get started. I think it's natural for anyone who didn't match at their number one to feel a little resentment. I did. You start to think about why the picked other people ahead of you? About all the great things they said about you and if they really meant it or they said it to everyone.Was it just all in your head that you thought they "really" liked you? Did you say something wrong? And the list goes on and on. I basically could repeat the same questions for why I didn't match at my number 2# or 3#. Then it really sets in. You are going to this program next year no if's and's or buts about it. No more imagining what it would be like at this program or that program, now you start planning where to  live, how to move and maybe how to start saying your goodbye's.

I was amazed how quickly I got over the fact I didn't match at my number 1# and really got stoked about the program I did match at. Hell it's a really good program. I think when I looked at this site in past years it seemed like a pretty high percentage of people matched at their 1#. I think one reason I saw this is that there is a bias on who exactly is willing to post their experiences, naturally someone who matched at their number 1# would be more likely than someone who matched at their 8#. I also think that applicants who may be be looking at programs outside of the most competitive programs tend to match more often at their 1#. This could be because they decided that the big competitive programs are not for them or that they knew going in to the process that they would be at a disadvantage due to their stats. These applicants then applied and interviewed at less competitive programs at then likely made their list based  much more on their "feel" and "fit" of a program. I think in my case I applied and wanted to match at traditionally competitive programs. While I did have strong parts to my application I wasn't someone who knocked step 1 out of the park like many of the applicants that I interviewed with. I also was not AOA which I thought I might have been but almost every other person I interviewed with was (which reminds me to say that some people tell you that if you do well on step 1 you can coast but I think I may have done just that and lost out on AOA, don't slack like me). Lastly I think that when you list very competitive programs as your 1, 2 and 3 that you are putting your self up against 30-40 of the best applicants in the nation so it becomes a numbers game. The best applicants want to match at the traditional powers and the traditional powers tend to look heavily on your stats, AOA and research. So when I think back about why I didn't match at my top 3 I really feel to lucky that I was able to match at my 4# which is a traditional top program too. In fact my top five was was all very competitive programs and  I would have been happy at any of them, granted I still would have liked to match at my 1#. I think it works the same way from the programs perspective too. They are may want some applicant ver bad but know that that person is also interviewing at every other top program in the nation too. So if you put the top programs in the nation at the top of your list you have to know that your list likely looks like many other top applicants and there is only so many spots to go around.

Since matching, this week has been a blur. Being an early match almost everyone in my med school knows where I matched and it became the topic of almost every conversation I had this week. I think it would be nice to have the other students have their match results so I could talk to others about their experience instead of just mine. But soon enough they will.

Now my focus has shifted to moving, which for me will be a fairly big one both in distance and in culture. The residents have all been very open to helping me with anything I need and willing to answer all my questions which has been great. I also realize that if I thought I was lazy before the match, now I am just worthless. I really have a hard time getting ready for rotations that will have absolutely no impact of my future training but I digress. I am just trying to really enjoy the time I have left with all my friends since in a few months we may all be spread far around the country at different hospitals. Also trying to enjoy having minimal responsibilities and lots of time on my hands.  

-UMuser