Interview cancellations and declines

[ARCOS]

I’m curious if anyone else has realized an increase in interview cancellations and declines. This year, more than ever, we have had a record number of cancellations/declines. I have been doing this for 20 years and have never seen so many and I still have a few weeks before our interviews. If you have noticed an increase I would also like your opinion on why you think this might be happening. I believe it is the ease of applying and the unlimited number of programs they are allowed to apply to, that is driving this. This concerns me that lesser competitive applicants are missing out on interviews because the more competitive applicants are booking all the slots and then cancelling as needed. I would appreciate any insight any of you may have.

[ARCOS]

Good Morning,

My team and I were talking this morning about how we’ve had fewer cancellations this year than in years past. Although we have had cancellations, they’ve come later in the process. In previous years I’ve had candidates who immediately declined the interview invite and didn’t even move forward with scheduling.

This year, every single person accepted the invite, picked a date, and then a few candidates later on told me they couldn’t attend. I think this was due to the fact that we got our invites out earlier and thus students didn’t have any conflicts with dates yet.

Although cancellations can add extra work for coordinators I still go ahead and fill any spots with waitlisted applicants if possible. I’ve never gotten a cancellation less than a week out from interview day, so with a weeks’ notice I can make adjustments and invite someone else.

I agree that lesser competitive applicants are likely missing out on interviews as it is very easy to apply to 100+ programs. However, I do think that programs who extend more invites than spots available and programs who violate the NRMP Code of Conduct by communicating with students after interviews with information about where they may stand on a rank list only adds to this extremely stressful process for students.

Courtney Matlach
Montefiore Medical Center

[ARCOS]

We have definitely seen an increase in cancellations this year. We only had one invited applicant who did not reply and select a date, but have had four or five cancel. Many years we have no cancellations and seldom more than one or two. We do not invite more than we have spots for and do not place applicants on a waitlist, so we will be interviewing fewer applicants this year.

That may be a good thing as it will eliminate some who were obviously not highly motivated to come to our program but may have been ranked highly.

We did lose two excellent applicants who did not receive military deferments.

[ARCOS]

I recently addressed this issue with my PD this year as I have noticed the same. There has been a significant increase in interview cancellations this year for my program, even some just a week before the interview date. We actually extended interview offers a little late this year, but every candidate pretty much accepted almost immediately. I am wondering if many programs are offering later interview dates this year, or if the applicants are accepting offers until they receive the interview offer they really want. Either way, this is frustrating and presents more work for the coordinator. For me, the candidates are cancelling so late, that it is hard to fill the spot due to such late notice for the applicant. Glad to see we are not the only program experiencing this.

[ARCOS]

I have had close to twenty cancel in a week, while I was off for the holiday. My interviews are next week, so going to see what the PD wants to do. We sent ours out early only with the amount of spots we had and then had a list of the ‘next in line’. I am at the end of this list too. I have never had this many cancel either.

[ARCOS]

We have seen an increase as well. Just curious, are you getting more cancellations from female applicants or male?

[ARCOS]

We have had more male applicants cancel.

[ARCOS]

More males for us as well.

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