Perhaps perhaps perhaps

UPDATE: The official email from our deans, reminding us that scrambling is very much a possibility. Thank you Office of Medical Education for putting our fears to rest during this rather stressful time. All underlining and bolding is theirs.

Dear Class of 2011,Just a reminder for those of you participating in the NRMP. The Main Residency Match - Rank Order List Deadline is Wednesday, February 23, at 8:00 PM Central Time. There are no exceptions! Please do not leave entering your rank list until the last minute. Also, please make sure we have your current cell phone number in CAESAR. This is extremely important in case we need to get a hold of you. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact [any of the deans]. Thanks and have a terrific weekend.

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I know I said I didn't want to talk about it. But let's talk about it. Because after all, I've been talking about it in half of the posts this month anyhow. Because I'm hypocritical. So let's talk.

Rank lists.

They're officially due next Wednesday. Our deans sent out an email yesterday telling us to get them in, and not to make any last-minute changes or decisions. Because those decisions tend to be rash, short-minded, emotional and essentially not good for life-changing matters.

I put in my rank list last weekend. Talked it over with the boyfriend and with family and close friends. Felt good about it. It was in and I was done. No more talking about it.

Except, I keep looking at it. Because I stupidly screenshot my rank list to send to my parents. And that screenshot shows up every time my computer goes idle and starts displaying my five or so pictures still saved on my desktop. Now I'm wondering how much I'd rather go for prestige than location. For example: is Loma Linda really all that bad? Should I really be ranking it way below Mayo? Sure, Mayo has the name, but Loma Linda has sun and family and no snow. And then, if that's the case, maybe Loma Linda should be right up there with my other more academic Southern California programs? But is Loma Linda even going to rank me that highly, given that I didn't email them right after my interview with how I wanted to convert to Seventh Day Adventist-ism?

I don't know what to do anymore. Is making changes to my rank list this weekend considered to be last-minute? Should I just leave it the way it is?

I definitely need to move Mayo down on my list. Rochester, Minnesota! What was I thinking?