Clicking "Submit"

So it's actually been two weeks since I first clicked "submit" on my ERAS application, and it is such a wonderful feeling. Fortunately, the initial application process wasn't too harrowing. I finished my personal statement early, had no trouble getting all four letters of recommendation in on-time (corralling attendings can be like herding cats), and applied to 26 programs without breaking the bank. It was actually cheaper than applying to medical school. So overall the application process has not been too stressful.

Yet.

In these first two weeks, I have heard back from five General Surgery programs (halfway to my golden number of 10 interviews!). I am told that most programs wait until after the Dean's Letter is sent out on October 1st before making any decisions. So starting next week, I will be on my computer constantly. I have heard horror stories of classmates who were away from their phones/computers for just a couple of hours, and they 1) didn't get the interview day they wanted, or 2) didn't get an interview scheduled at all. Some programs apparently send out more invitations than they actually have spots, and if you snooze, you lose. One internal medicine program sent out invites at three in the morning. When my friend woke up at 7am, she was too late.

I can feel the headache building.

Being ready to reply to these "invitations" is a process in itself. Per suggestions from former applicants, I have multiple copies of "acceptance" emails in my Gmail Drafts box. When an invite comes in, I copy and paste in the following:

____________, 

Thank you very much for the invitation. I was hoping to interview on ____________ if that date is still available. If not, my second choice would be ____________. My specific areas of interest are Pediatric, General, and Rural Surgery. Please let me know if you need any further information from me. 

Thank you again for the invitation, and I very much look forward to interviewing at ____________! 

Best,
Robert Swendiman

I insert the name of the residency coordinator, first and second choices for dates, and school name. Goal time from invitation to acceptance? Five minutes. And this is only half of the craziness.

The other half comes from the MASTER LIST. This is a list of the 26 programs I've applied to, complete with their prospective interview dates. Most schools have posted these online, so I have created an ideal, virtual schedule that would allow me to visit all of my top choices. But there are some mystery programs, and for them I just have to bite my nails. (By the way, I am not the only one who is the this nuts; this is fairly par for the course among the people I know). So if an invitation comes in, I must consult the MASTER LIST first, and then try to get my number one choice of dates. So far I'm 5/5, though one program didn't give me any choices...

What a mess. October 1 is next week and I'm already a nervous wreck. Let the craziness continue...