CaRMS 2021 Interviews--DISCUSSIONS

[Maverick]

23 minutes ago, Butterfly_ said:

So sorry to hear that you’re feeling that way. But you’re definitely not alone. I do the same thing! This whole CaRMs process is such a crazy emotional rollercoaster. Just counting down the days to 4/20 and praying that we all match to our desired programs!!

Hang in there!

Thanks! You're a gem! Good luck to ya  It's usually a crappy feeling post interview but I've gotta learn to look past that and hope for the best. Sometimes internet strangers can slap some good sense into me behind the veil of anonymity hahah. 

4/20 cannot come soon enough.

[Butterfly_]

4 minutes ago, Maverick said:

Thanks! You're a gem! Good luck to ya  It's usually a crappy feeling post interview but I've gotta learn to look past that and hope for the best. Sometimes internet strangers can slap some good sense into me behind the veil of anonymity hahah. 

4/20 cannot come soon enough.

I find reading the NRMP match day threads and match day YouTube videos a very good distraction and a good dose of positivity!

Feel free to DM me if you ever need an anonymous ear

[Alaska]

On 3/19/2021 at 7:29 PM, sykern said:

Glad I’m not the only one who felt that way bahahaha 

Same here hahaha

[MrWesting]

7 hours ago, 1998 said:

Condescending was intentional, sometimes people need a reality check..

Maybe you should take a moment yourself to reflect on why you feel the need to lash out against a fellow classmate like this on an anonymous message board. Yes - many of us are on edge about getting less interviews than we had hoped for, but direct your frustration towards this shitty system rather than those that were fortunate enough to have more luck. You're making a lot of assumptions about the intent behind certain posts, when the reality is that this is a stressful situation for everyone involved.

[Bluecodon47]

15 hours ago, 1998 said:

Condescending was intentional, sometimes people need a reality check..

If there is one thing medical schools screen for and tries to teach us on a regular basis, is for the ability for us pre-meds and medical students to look at both sides of any statement or argument. However, you've completely failed to do that here. You only noticed the number of interviews but I am hell surprised that you didn't think that a fellow Carms member genuinely might need support.

The real coward here is you, unfortunately - accusing someone and hiding behind a veil. I hope I don't have to work with you as a colleague in the future. I hope you have achieved whatever you wanted to achieve.

[Symphonie]

This forum was made for courteous, civil and anonymous discussions only. 

Any attempts to reference other classmates by their real name, may they use this forum or not, is unacceptable and will lead to a temporarily or permanent ban. 

Thank you, however, to the vast majority of people who've been respectful on this thread, and I wish you all a successful CaRMS season. 

[Med93]

On 3/19/2021 at 4:10 PM, bundleofhers said:

Where does it mention that?

On the program description page under selection process goals!

[gumballs]

Did other people who interviewed at Calgary FM get mailed goodie bags? One of my friends did and I didn’t so now I’m thinking it might have something to do with their rank list

[frenchpress]

8 minutes ago, gumballs said:

Did other people who interviewed at Calgary FM get mailed goodie bags? One of my friends did and I didn’t so now I’m thinking it might have something to do with their rank list

I am certain that they are not giving away their rank list by giving out selective goody bags. And they aren’t even done interviewing. Package delivery times vary, just be patient!

[gumballs]

19 minutes ago, frenchpress said:

I am certain that they are not giving away their rank list by giving out selective goody bags. And they aren’t even done interviewing. Package delivery times vary, just be patient!

Patient??? Lol thanks @frenchpress 

[frenchpress]

4 minutes ago, gumballs said:

Patient??? Lol thanks @frenchpress 

Not that patience is easy to come by during CaRMS lol 

[bearded frog]

Calgary FM is going to send a rose through canada post to everyone they will rank to match, that's how you'll know.

[bellejolie]

I’m officially done all my interviews and am so happy it’s over! Really important not to dwell on interviews that didn’t go as well and focus on the stats which is that MAJORITY of us will match. I am excited and looking forward to match day and residency so much. I know it’ll be more challenging but it’s amazing we’ve come so far and are at this next step. Congrats and good luck to those still interviewing. You’re nearly done! 

[bellejolie]

Also I just got the Calgary FM parcel thing. So cute and thoughtful they did that. Seriously impressed. 

[Throwaway2233]

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2032383

Interesting read, esp now

[CaRMS_anxiety]

Has anybody heard that it is a BAD idea (i.e. would hurt your chances of matching) to tell your honest #1 ranked program that you are ranking them #1? 

I know it may not help / likely wouldn't make a difference, but I am not sure whether or not there is actually a chance it could have a negative effect...

[NoMatchNoProblem]

47 minutes ago, CaRMS_anxiety said:

Has anybody heard that it is a BAD idea (i.e. would hurt your chances of matching) to tell your honest #1 ranked program that you are ranking them #1? 

I know it may not help / likely wouldn't make a difference, but I am not sure whether or not there is actually a chance it could have a negative effect...

Would 100% NOT recommend. It sends all of the wrong signals and will not change your outcome if the decision has already been rendered.

At this point, program selection committees hold what is called the infamous "BIG MEETING" directly after the interviews. It is a very lengthy one where all selection members discuss ALL candidates and rank them based on their final impressions. If this has already occurred (which you have no way of knowing unless you've got insider juice) there's no point sending your message.

At this point, accept that you've done the best that you could and that the only thing you can control now is your rank list . It's tough and unforgiving, but it's kind of already set in stone at this point. What is destined to happen, will happen. 

[Butterfly_]

1 hour ago, NoMatchNoProblem said:

Would 100% NOT recommend. It sends all of the wrong signals and will not change your outcome if the decision has already been rendered.

At this point, program selection committees hold what is called the infamous "BIG MEETING" directly after the interviews. It is a very lengthy one where all selection members discuss ALL candidates and rank them based on their final impressions. If this has already occurred (which you have no way of knowing unless you've got insider juice) there's no point sending your message.

At this point, accept that you've done the best that you could and that the only thing you can control now is your rank list . It's tough and unforgiving, but it's kind of already set in stone at this point. What is destined to happen, will happen. 

For big FM programs that interview 500+ applicants, do they also hold these “big meetings”? How do they decide on final impressions if applicants were only interviewed by 1 or 2 interviewers for like 20 minutes?

[NoMatchNoProblem]

23 minutes ago, Butterfly_ said:

For big FM programs that interview 500+ applicants, do they also hold these “big meetings”? How do they decide on final impressions if they were only interviewed by 1 or 2 interviews for like 20 minutes?

Every program has a big meeting and unfortunately for those big programs, it becomes more of an aggregate score between your file ranking and your interview, making the process more informal.  

For example if you received a 7 for your file and an 8 for your interview, the scores will be added together and the candidates ranked based on the highest to lowest of these. 

I'm guessing that comments are reviewed and standouts are taken into account as well. Every selection committee operates differently and there are for sure clear cut guidelines that differ from program to program. The program may also decide to not rank if scores are just not competitive enough or if any red flags were brought to their attention during file review or interview. 

How do I know all of this? I didn't match last year (hence my name) and program directors explained to me the process. 

[Haribo7173]

2 minutes ago, NoMatchNoProblem said:

Every program has a big meeting and unfortunately for those big programs, it becomes more of an aggregate score between your file ranking and your interview, making the process more informal.  

For example if you received a 7 for your file and an 8 for your interview, the scores will be added together and the candidates ranked based on the highest to lowest of these. 

I'm guessing that comments are reviewed and standouts are taken into account as well. Every selection committee operates differently and there are for sure clear cut guidelines that differ from program to program. The program may also decide to not rank if scores are just not competitive enough. 

How do I know all of this? I didn't match last year (hence my name) and program directors explained to me the process. 

This makes the process seem even more subjective and random than I thought. 

I always did wonder about the impact of interviews on the actual ranking. I guess it’s very program/size-dependant. 

[Butterfly_]

59 minutes ago, NoMatchNoProblem said:

Every program has a big meeting and unfortunately for those big programs, it becomes more of an aggregate score between your file ranking and your interview, making the process more informal.  

For example if you received a 7 for your file and an 8 for your interview, the scores will be added together and the candidates ranked based on the highest to lowest of these. 

I'm guessing that comments are reviewed and standouts are taken into account as well. Every selection committee operates differently and there are for sure clear cut guidelines that differ from program to program. The program may also decide to not rank if scores are just not competitive enough or if any red flags were brought to their attention during file review or interview. 

How do I know all of this? I didn't match last year (hence my name) and program directors explained to me the process. 

Thank you for sharing this information! Best of luck and I hope you match this year! 

[bread]

Anyone else still cringing about an interview? My last one was for one of my top choices - it was two panels, and the first one with the PD felt great, but I found the questions in the second more difficult, and I rambled and didn’t answer the questions well. I know I can’t do anything about it now, but I’m feeling ++disappointed about it  

[aray623]

2 minutes ago, bread said:

Anyone else still cringing about an interview? My last one was for one of my top choices - it was two panels, and the first one with the PD felt great, but I found the questions in the second more difficult, and I rambled and didn’t answer the questions well. I know I can’t do anything about it now, but I’m feeling ++disappointed about it  

Meeeeeee. My last one and my top choice. Feel like I really screwed up an answer and just keep cringing about it and thinking about what I should have actually said. It's so hard not to!

[Butterfly_]

1 hour ago, bread said:

Anyone else still cringing about an interview? My last one was for one of my top choices - it was two panels, and the first one with the PD felt great, but I found the questions in the second more difficult, and I rambled and didn’t answer the questions well. I know I can’t do anything about it now, but I’m feeling ++disappointed about it  

 

1 hour ago, aray623 said:

Meeeeeee. My last one and my top choice. Feel like I really screwed up an answer and just keep cringing about it and thinking about what I should have actually said. It's so hard not to!

Me toooooo. I definitely said some rambly and cringey answers. It's so hard not to ruminate about it, but I find that distracting myself by spending time with family, youtube, netflix, etc helps. 

[When the Moon Forgot]

I believe interviewers have been trained to focus on the overall gestalt of an applicant rather than answers to individual questions (unless those answers raise red flags). Also heard from more than one resident that schools with MMIs have the tendency to drop the worst station. We're all human. "Perfect interviews" simply don't exist. I wouldn't worry about it.