2010 EM Applicant Survey: Please participate!

As the interview season comes to a close, it is time for the annual SDN EM applicant survey.

Introduction: I am looking for current applicants in EM to volunteer their residency application information in order to determine the probability of Matching to first choice. Click to find survey results from 2009, 2008, and BKN's original survey. After Match Day, I will follow up with you to see where you landed on your ROL.

Participant Criteria: Current applicants to EM residencies. Those with "low scores" are especially encouraged to contribute, as their information will be the most useful to future applicants.

Full disclosure: While this survey has not sought IRB approval, all submissions are kept confidential, and are de-identified prior to reporting here on SDN.

Instructions: Cut out the bullet points below, paste them into a PM to me (click on my screen name, follow the prompts), and then fill in the blanks as best you can (even partial information helps):

- Step I score
- Step II: CK score
- MD or DO
- Class rank (by top, middle, bottom third)
- Number of applications
- Number of interview offers
- EM grade @ Home
- EM grade @ Away
- AOA (y/n)
- Number of scientific journal publications
- Number of conference posters & presentations (grouped together)
- Other degrees (e.g. MA, MS, JD, PhD)

Bonus: I am willing to post de-identified interview reviews as well. We've had very few additions this year. This great resource will not continue without your additions.

Thank you to all who participate, and best of luck to all applicants.

EL CAPeeeTAN said:

...I know the previous data from years past helped me a lot. Thanks for doing this survey and putting it all together.

Click to expand...

Great. If it's helped you out, I'm glad.

I have just over 30 responses. That's good so far, but we need nearly double that to equal the number of responses we received last year. If you are reading this and haven't sent me your data, please consider doing so.

...participate in the 2010 SDN EM survey! I have only 35 responses so far, pretty slim pickings compared to last years 50. I need more applicants to step forward and keep this survey going. If it has helped you apply this year, then pay it back by adding your data.

Again, I ask that those with "marginal" stats are especially valuable, as their information is the most helpful for future applicants.

Good luck to all of the applicants.

Folks - If you participated, please send me where on your ROL you ended up. For clarity, I'm looking for a number, not a program location. If you ranked 5 programs, and you matched at #3, then I would want you to tell me you matched at your #3.

Thanks again to all who participated. I will post the results once I get the ROLs positions.

EL CAPeeeTAN said:

I am just curious as to what the final number of participants was this year. I know that it will be posted once all your data is posted. Did we beat last year's number?

Thanks again for all of your efforts in this project. I know it helped me a bunch when I was applying. It is much appreciated.

Click to expand...

I had 60 participants send me their data, the highest number yet.

Right now, I'm trying to figure out how best to analyze and present the data. I can easily create a lot of graphs and let everyone interpret them. But my intent from the outset was to create a tool whereby students with given stats can calculate how many apps they need to send out for a given chance of matching. That requires more data manipulation and thought.

I've also received some constructive criticism regarding previous surveys, and I am figuring out if and how to address that.

And this all competes with other demands on my time!

monkeybutt said:

Just one quick comment on this survey (and thanks for doing it, btw, it is a real service): although I got my first choice of residencies and this will be reflected in this survey, I was not invited to interview at 3 of my top 5 initial choices. So, my number 1 ranking was, obviously, of only the places that invited me to interview.

For what it's worth.

Click to expand...

This is an interesting question, but difficult to look at. Do all applicants have a number one at the outset? I have what I think are my top three or four, but I just don't know enough about the programs to narrow it down further. What if I'm completely surprised halfway through the season by a dark horse?

But assuming everyone did, there are other problems. Say a superstar who gets interviews at every place they apply has a #1 at the outset, and they interview at their #1, and they match at their #1. Simple. A non-competitive applicant may apply at 50 places, get 20 interviews, and match at the #10 spot on their ROL. Their preferences may change widely throughout the process. Much more difficult to assess.

The biggest problem with tracking this from my point of view is technical: How can I ask this question? I would have to ask for three different bits of information at once or I have to conduct surveys at three different times and combine the data. The former is subject to recall bias, and the latter will likely suffer from terrible attrition. Both are time-intensive.

As an aside, the 2010 survey may be the last time I do this. I might collect data from my class, but it will be impossible for me to do this during my intern year.

Back to your question, neither option is good, so we'll have to rely on the fact that most of these influences (which I would call self-selection) will probably be spread out over the study group. Some non-competitive kids will match high at surprisingly competitive places, and some competitive applicants will match lower than they expect.

Note that another factor that I've never attempted to capture is the "competitiveness" of the programs applied to. There will be programs that are more selective than others with respect to offering applicants interviews, and this would obviously influence the numbers I've been analyzing. But because this is such a contentious and multifactorial question, I made the conscious decision to not include it.

Folks, while I appreciate the entries that have continued to trickle in, I can no longer accept new participants for the 2010 survey. Beyond the hit to science that occurs (spec. selection bias), I don't have the time to re-do the data entry and analysis for each new entry.

Thank you for your interest, but the survey is now closed.