I did not match, please advise. - iceman100

[ArchivalUser]

I congratulate everyone who matched, and i request those who matched to please advise on necessary improvements to make my cv strong . My credentials are 235/244/213/1st attempt/2011 and 3 good letters(applied with 4 letters on the whole). I have 4 months externships at private clinics, and 3 months university observership. I have 6 months of research now, but just 2 months at the time of application. I applied on 23 Sept. I applied to 130 programs and got 2 ivs, i thought i did good on the iv but unfortunately did not match. i realized during the interview that one of the letters had major flaws.
I now think, the late application coupled with the flawed letter and probable mediocre performance on my ivs resulted in me going unmatched.

i now plan on doing research at a reputed place and get a good letter.

kindly advise if there is anything els i can do to make my profile better. research vs externship
Thank you

[ArchivalUser]

hey iceman, sorry to hear that, if ou don't mind can you explain what are the kind of flaws in LOR??? how a LOR will be a negative thing? I mean every LOR suppose to have good things about the person talking about.....plz explain this to me..as I don't know if there is anything wrong with my LOR
thanks

[ArchivalUser]

That is unbelievable for me how it is possible not to match with such a credentials...
Your cv looks very strong.
The only benefit from ext/res for you will be connections which could help. Other than that you could do nothing to significantly improve things.

[ArchivalUser]

I am thinking, probably working at an ivy league university and getting a good letter would help.

One of the letters had a flaw. like the letter writer addressed me as a resident, and the program director asked me about this during the interview.

[ArchivalUser]

That flaw alone is not a major thing. I cant imagine how it can hurt.

[ArchivalUser]

Your credentials are really good. How are your visa issues ? And did you apply widely or only to university programs? These are the only things I can think of you not getting enough interviews. Your dater of applying is not super late as I myself applied on 20 sep.

[ArchivalUser]

The biggest mistake I can see is applying late (though admittedly not THAT late). That can really kill interview opportunities. Other things are:
1) Was your PS/CV grammatically perfect? Did others read it?
2) Your letters, as you mentioned. I don't think that 'flaw' is huge, but who knows how that affected you really.

The issue is with getting the interviews, more so than your interview performance. With 2 interviews you'd have to rock the PD's world to match (or get lucky). Focus on getting more interviews!

[ArchivalUser]

Thanks guys for the valuable input. I had others proof read my personal statement. I plan on applying to peds as well to increase my chances. yes i do need a visa.

[ArchivalUser]

you have good scores.

1. were you ecfmg certified at the time of application? when did you get your step 3 result?

2. how realistically did you apply? most people with scores like yours failed to get IVs because they chose a lot of ivy league programs. you need to apply to a lot of community programs. I don't see why at least 3 community programs in New York/Illinois wouldn't call you with such scores.

I don't believe the LORs was a factor. programs read your LOR AFTER you have been invited. Most invites are based on your scores and overall profile.

[ArchivalUser]

most definiltely ur lor affected ur chances. random observerships wont help. after couple of weeks contact the programs where u interviewed and explain ur situation and see if they can u give an observership. try to be in touch with them until next interview season. do observerships only where they give consideration to their observers.random observerships in places where there is no residency training wont help its just waste of money.have ur application and good lors ready by sep 15th next yr. u wil match.