One of the more frustrating aspects of the medical school and residency admissions processes is the lack of response from some institutions. There is no obligation for medical schools or residency programs to reply to a candidate, which leaves applicants in limbo.

If you have not heard back from medical schools or residency programs to which you’ve applied, I recommend that you contact (preferably call) the institutions to inquire about your status.

After I offered that advice to a residency applicant I was advising, she emailed me to say she obtained an interview in a competitive specialty with a phone call. Another said she received two preliminary interviews with simple emails. A third recently told me that, after calling in the morning, he was offered an interview by the afternoon. (Generally, I recommend calls over emails because it’s hard to ignore someone on the other end of a phone line. Still, if you simply can’t bring yourself to call, an email can be effective.)

I’ve seen this phone call strategy work for medical school interviews as well: 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. Shockingly, after the applicant’s phone call, the school granted him an interview, reversing their original rejection. 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 in the application process.Now, if the school or program explicitly asks in written materials that you don’t contact them about your status, then calling is not a good idea, of course.

An additional strong option is to send an effective update letter or letter of recommendation from an influential writer (alumnus, for example). I do edit letters of interest for medical school and residency applicants, but even if you choose not to use my services, I recommend sending a well-written, strategic note in addition to making a phone call.

This process is an uncertain one, but asserting some small bit of control can be useful (and comforting).