<p>Thanks for that, abasket. Curmudgeon, we will be here for you! Right now I am a weepy mess. I just want to talk with D and find out what they are thinking lies ahead…</p>
<p>It’s all good, though. I know this was his very favorite program as they seem to treat their residents really well and are very “family friendly”. He took D with him for a second look their and the head of the program sat with him for over an hour…took them on a hospital tour, etc. I know he will be happy there and it’s an easy drive for D. We have all just become spoiled having her here…</p>
<p>My D. said that she will watch and will send me the current year match list. It is in 2 years for her. As of now, it looks that she would prefer to stay where she is now, but 2 years is a very long time, so it might change. She still needs to get her step 1 score to even think about possibilities. Seh has MS4 friends, so looking forward to see how they do.</p>
<p>churchmusicmom, getting his 2nd choice might be okay. Intern year is tough timewise, getting used to resident life, etc etc. It can be hard on a relationship (ask me how I know!). Being away from each other while working hard can give them both an “excuse” about not being able to spend time together. And then their time together can really be theirs. Congrats on a great match day!</p>
<p>If anyone is coming to Vanderbilt, send me a PM and my son in law (did his residency at Vandy and is now a Fellow here) and daughter can help with the adjustment and any questions.</p>
<p>Finally! D’s dear friend matched at his first choice, but not mine… I am thrilled for him and for his program. They are getting one amazing young man. D is a little sad, as she knows how much free time he will have in the next year. Not much! She will have to visit him.</p>
<p>Congratulations to your STBDBF, churchmusicmom. I’m glad he is happy. . ((HUGS)) to you!</p>
<p>One of D’s other roommates from med school matched at his #2 last year. At first he was a little disappointed - now he is ecstatic about his program and the opportunities there. He and his girlfriend have maintained their relationship and they are 4 1/2 hours apart.</p>
<p>alwaysamom - That is a great idea! It seems that the smaller med school classes do cooler things.</p>
<p>Just found out that D and the STBDBF are having a harder time with this than I thought (from all you get from text messages). They’d really gotten their hopes up for his staying put. They both value family time a lot, and he will not be near his family or ours and not in a position to come and visit. They will work through it, but right now today it’s hard.</p>
<p>And all the celebrating he was planning to do with his friends is apparently not happening. I feel so bad for him. Ugh. I know this could be so much worse and that things will work out and we will all look back and know this was the right thing. But it’s hard to see your kids’ disappointed.</p>
<p>Congratulations on the good news and best wishes to find the positive in the good/bad news!</p>
<p>I am trudging through the SOAP thread on SDN. So, as I understand it there are more residency spots than US MD school grads, but add in FMG & IMG (mainly Caribbean?) and there are more seekers than spots.</p>
<p>I read this
</p>
<p>How many US med school grads go unmatched? What do they do? I guess a year of research? Is every spot now filled today via match & SOAP?</p>
<p>According the NRMP website 16939 out of 17497 US seniors matched this year.</p>
<p>In total, 25,463 applicants matched–including 2677 DOs matching into MD residencies, 5095 IMGS, and 7568 FMGs</p>
<p>There are 1041 currently unfilled positions available thru SOAP.</p>
<p>Because all programs offering any residency positions were required to register their programs for the match this year (in the past programs could hold their own slots aside for a private match), there were an additional ~2400 residency slots available for the match this year.</p>
<p>D and STBDBF came by last night and talked with DH and I for a while about the whole situation. The both looked just absolutely wiped out, poor things. It had been an awful blow…STBDBF had really convinced himself that he would get his #1, which was to stay where he is. It would have been definitely the “easy” route for his personal life—but he readily acknowledges that getting his #2 is much better professionally. They will work this out and we reassured them that we’d do whatever we could do to help. I am hopeful that after a good night’s rest, the world will look much brighter and more exciting. </p>
<p>The really cool thing is that one of STBDBF’s best friends from his childhood (who went to a different med school) actually matched into the same program as him! And as there are only 4 total spots in this program, those are some pretty tall odds. So STBDBF is pretty excited about that! </p>
<p>I really know this is the best thing for him and for them. The Match is just such an unusual process and one that STBDBF is not loving right now. </p>
<p>Thanks, everyone, for being there and giving me a place to vent about all of this. I cannot tell you how much it has helped!</p>
<p>nothing but congrats to all and waiting for my turn as D is 1st yr. She sent us the link for her schools matches and most look very exciting. She and her BF will be in that odd place in a few years–committed and not yet married.
Hope you all stay here to hand hold.
Again, feel proud.</p>
<p>Churchmom, yesterday was such an emotional day. I’ll bet they will wake and be able to move past the disappointment and be able to find more positives. </p>
<p>By the way, it’s been bugging me - what does STBDBF stand for?!!</p>
<p>DD - first year med - was surprised to see so many parents who had come. She didn’t know any of the final year students well because they generally don’t spend time near the classes where DD goes, and she reported that while most were happy, the one that haunted her was the young lady who was sobbing with her friends. We know about a half dozen who were in the pipeline for this year and in this sample the results were middle-of-the-road. All got in, but not necessarily at their first choice. I’m now getting educated on the next area of competitive admissions - specialties.</p>
<p>Interesting to me that med schools handle Match Day so differently–some handle it almost privately, others go quite public. I’m sure there are various degrees between public and private. </p>
<p>I watched the streaming feed of one such gathering. The soon to be residents read their match letters aloud to the assembled group immediately upon receiving the envelope! Some were very excited but there were also some tears–seemed a little stressful for those poor kids! A few of them just took their envelopes and sat down, but most read the results aloud. I’m aware of another program that passes out the envelopes and everyone opens his/her envelope at the same time with parents/spouse, etc standing by for support.</p>
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