It’s early in the season, but some of my clients have already been accepted to
UCSD
University of Chicago
Vanderbilt
Case Western
USC (Keck)
Mayo
UCI
Rosalind Franklin and
Wake Forest!
Most medical school applicants are still early in the interview process. Consider hiring me for mock interviews to improve your chances of success.
I was recently asked by a client about the best way to send post-interview thank you notes – email versus snail mail. This client said he had read conflicting advice online.
As a former Harvard admissions decision-maker who used to receive thank you notes, I can tell you that I strongly advise sending your thank you notes by good old USPS. The reasons are twofold:
1) Email may be viewed as lazy. Hand-written thank you notes take more time, which shows.
2) To put an email thank you note in your file, the receiver needs to take the time to print out your email. You don’t want any barriers between you and your good impression.
I do recommend getting those handwritten thank you notes in quickly. The night after you’ve completed your interview or the next day is a good time to write and send.
I receive a lot of questions about interview attire; I have two rules to guide applicants:
1. Do not be noticed for your clothes. You want to be remembered for your accomplishments, not your attire. Years later, I still remember the applicant who arrived in a Bugs Bunny tie. (This might fly for a pediatrics interview, but even then, I wouldn’t recommend it.) I also recall the applicant who arrived in jeans. (He packed his interview clothes, checked his luggage, his bags were lost, and he had nothing else to wear for his early morning interview.)
2. Be comfortable. No heels that are so high you are in too much pain to take the tour. No coat so light – but stylish 😉 – that you can’t walk out of the building.
What you wear is really much less important than how you present yourself in interviews. For help, contact me. I’ve recently added some mock interview slots to my online calendar because of high demand.
Several years ago I helped a strong applicant who had been rejected by a top medical school. He thought he was a very good fit for this particular institution, so he called the school to make his case. Surprisingly, after the applicant’s phone call, the school granted him an interview, reversing their original rejection.
It was at this time when I met the applicant; we conducted a mock interview so he would be well-prepared.
Ultimately, after being initially rejected, this applicant was admitted to that top school.
Of course, this is an exceedingly rare occurrence. But to me, the moral of this story is that it is worth being assertive (not aggressive!) in the medical school and residency admissions processes: Send an update letter, call institutions (politely) to inquire about your status (if they do not expressly prohibit phone calls), and be proactive during your interviews.
You need to advocate for yourself in order to be noticed.
Those of you who have worked with me know that I am a realist. (That term may be a euphemism for a pessimist, but hey, I’m an emergency physician.)
It’s worth reading this article in the NYT, “Young Doctors Worry About Career Choices.” Although job prospects are good for new doctors, there is still a lot that makes the newbies worry.
Dr. Finkel is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Medical School. On completing her residency at Harvard, she was asked to stay on as faculty at Harvard Medical School and spent five years teaching at the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital. She was appointed to the Assistant Residency Director position for the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency where she reviewed countless applications, personal statements and resumes. Read more
