10+ Interviews

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OGMD

OGMD

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I've been browsing SDN for about 3 years now and every cycle I see a fairly decent number of people who get 10-15 interviews. In my observation, the typical number of interviews for an applicant applying to schools within their range is 2-3 interviews per 10 schools applied. I'm wondering what these highly successful applicants are doing that is getting so much attention from the committees? They don't always have 3.99/43 stats or crazy EC's either. So if you have any ideas, or if you're one of those people, I'd love to hear what you're doing.

Thanks!
 
muhali3 said:
Being URM is what they're doing.
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rageguy.jpg
 
muhali3 said:
Being URM is what they're doing.
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I don't know about that...I'm not a URM and I have 10 interviews so far. As to why, I literally have no idea. I have decent but not amazing stats and for the most part pretty common EC's and I don't think that any of my LORs are completely outstanding compared to other applicants. Maybe my PS is really good? I did apply to 32 schools though, and most are within reach with my stats and ~4 are reaches. So this probably isn't much help but maybe it's just because I applied to a lot of schools within my range and therefore got a bunch of interviews.
 
bookfreak89 said:
Oh, I see now. Only URMs receive tons of interview invites. Thanks for clearing that up. :lame:
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Ok, if you want a serious answer...

First you need acceptable stats meaning 3.6+/30+ (66+ LizzyM score). Then you need your typical research, volunteering, shadowing, leadership. This is what every applicant should have at the minimum.

After that, from my observations, it comes down to how unique and interesting your experiences are. This is what will get you multiple interviews. You have to make them read your application and think "this guy actually seems pretty cool, I think he could be a great addition to our incoming class, let's send him an interview invite". They want doctors who have experienced life outside of medicine and academia.

You can't really decide to be unique and interesting; you either are or you aren't, but you should try your best to pursue any non-medical interests you have during undergrad. For some people this includes modeling throughout undergrad to pay for tuition, doing study abroad in numerous countries while learning different languages, having a previous career as a professional wrestler, playing in college-level sports, etc.

Also, this is assuming you do everything like choose schools within you're range from the MSAR, applying early, not having any bad LORs, etc.
 
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The answer is probably simple for most of these cases. These folks with 10+ interviews probably have competitive grades/MCATs and applied to 20 or 30 schools. I'm sure there are some superstars who scored 10/10 interviews but I'd be willing to bet most of these folks applied to tons of schools.
 
I've received 9 interview invitations so far from the 19 schools I've applied to. I have good stats, but I think the real key is that I applied broadly (not just to top 20 schools), early (later than many of the gunners on SDN, but still), and talked about my hobbies and other interests in my essays (to show I'm not just a boring stat-monster).

I could be wrong. It could be just the numbers. But just sayin'.
 
muhali3 said:
Ok, if you want a serious answer...

First you need acceptable stats meaning 3.6+/30+ (66+ LizzyM score). Then you need your typical research, volunteering, shadowing, leadership. This is what every applicant should have at the minimum.

After that, from my observations, it comes down to how unique and interesting you're experiences are. This is what will get you multiple interviews. You have to make them read your application and think "this guy actually seems pretty cool, I think he could be a great addition to our incoming class, let's send him an interview invite". They want doctors who have experienced life outside of medicine and academia.

You can't really decide to be unique and interesting; you either are or you aren't, but you should try your best to pursue any non-medical interests you have during undergrad. For some people this includes modeling throughout undergrad to pay for tuition, doing study abroad in numerous countries while learning different languages, having a previous career as a professional wrestler, playing in college-level sports, etc.

Also, this is assuming you do everything like choose schools within you're range from the MSAR, applying early, not having any bad LORs, etc.
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This sums it up pretty nicely. 20+ interview offers from ~30 schools.
 
Early app, broad list of schools, good stats, strong LORs, cover the bases in terms of ECs (no apparent weakness), and at least one thing unique/different.
When I submitted secondaries I also tried to write something whenever there were optional essays. I don't know how much it helps, but it definitely can't hurt.
 
OGMD said:
I've been browsing SDN for about 3 years now and every cycle I see a fairly decent number of people who get 10-15 interviews. In my observation, the typical number of interviews for an applicant applying to schools within their range is 2-3 interviews per 10 schools applied. I'm wondering what these highly successful applicants are doing that is getting so much attention from the committees? They don't always have 3.99/43 stats or crazy EC's either. So if you have any ideas, or if you're one of those people, I'd love to hear what you're doing.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

It has a lot to do with stats, state of residency, "background and fit," timing, the schools to which the applicant applied, and most importantly, the rest of the applicant pool. Overall, med school admissions boils down to a numbers game. A school has only enough resources to interview so many candidates. Hence, they interview people who are the best fit or are most likely to go there. While many private schools say that they have no bias towards state of residency, they are far more likely to interview someone in the state/region.

To put the numbers into perspective, the interview rate for many private schools is 2-15% of applicants. Take for example a schools seen by many as a safety: RFU and Loyola. Loyola recieves 8700 OOS applicants for about 400-500 interviews. RFU is roughly the same.

The numbers game is really why being a California applicant sucks.
 
Also, the number of interviews can also come from what schools you applied to. In TX there are several schools and most kids make the rounds to all of them if they have average scores (so that is usually 4-6 schools without even filling out AMCAS). Also, you have kids who have 32+ and a 3.8+ who freak out and apply to lower tier schools and get interviews from both uppers and lowers.
 
Most people apply to at least 15+ med schools which is why they have so many interviews 🙂
 
cyanide said:
I've received 9 interview invitations so far from the 19 schools I've applied to. I have good stats, but I think the real key is that I applied broadly (not just to top 20 schools), early (later than many of the gunners on SDN, but still), and talked about my hobbies and other interests in my essays (to show I'm not just a boring stat-monster).

I could be wrong. It could be just the numbers. But just sayin'.
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Of course, the 3.9 + 41 MCAT doesn't hurt...
 
Even with a 3.9 with a 41 MCAT and standard research/clinical/volunteering experiences, without some major extracurricular achievements and/or impressive leadership roles, one likely won't receive interview invites from ~50% of school applied to. Numbers + standard stuff can definitely guarantee you a spot somewhere, but the truly impressive and unique individuals are the ones who get multiple top 10 acceptances.
 
OGMD said:
I've been browsing SDN for about 3 years now and every cycle I see a fairly decent number of people who get 10-15 interviews. In my observation, the typical number of interviews for an applicant applying to schools within their range is 2-3 interviews per 10 schools applied. I'm wondering what these highly successful applicants are doing that is getting so much attention from the committees? They don't always have 3.99/43 stats or crazy EC's either. So if you have any ideas, or if you're one of those people, I'd love to hear what you're doing.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I applied to 25 schools and got 10 interviews, yielding 6 acceptances and 4 waitlists.

I think I did a really good job of compiling my list of schools. I had a few reaches but most were aimed right at my stats, which were solid but not anything to get too excited about.

Other stuff: Went to HYP; 2 years of full time research/clinical at NIH; one publication; lived overseas and worked in a hospital in rural Asia after college; wrote great PS and secondary essays (I was told that many times).

I guess I had a well rounded app.
 
muhali3 said:
Being URM is what they're doing.
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This is complete BS. It seems that everyone who complains about this is an "equal opportunity" conservative who values "personal responsibility." However, these people are whining about URMs instead of worrying about their own applications. Seems a tad bit hypocritical to me...🙁
 
^ 😉 SDN is still a reallly SERIOUS place

haha love it.
 
pharaoh88 said:
This is complete BS. It seems that everyone who complains about this is an "equal opportunity" conservative who values "personal responsibility." However, these people are whining about URMs instead of worrying about their own applications. Seems a tad bit hypocritical to me...🙁
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4.0/40 mcat with 7 acceptances detected
 
Thanks guys/girls, those were a lot of very good answers! I'm already mid-application cycle so at this point I can't change anything to increase my chances. It's hard not to compare yourself to other applicants and SDN definitely contributes to that effect. I applied to 26 schools last year and only got 2 interviews so I didn't know if there were some secrets haha.
 
I applied to schools I wanted to go to, I spent a lot of time on my secondary essays (reused little), etc. I also have really good ECs and a major that most pre-meds don't have, which have been the focus of a lot of my interviews so far My research is also really good (consistent over four years, even though I don't have a first author) and I can articulate it really well.

I am bumping this thread because I want to see others and why they think they have been successful.
 
IvyHopeful20 said:
I applied to schools I wanted to go to, I spent a lot of time on my secondary essays (reused little), etc. I also have really good ECs and a major that most pre-meds don't have, which have been the focus of a lot of my interviews so far My research is also really good (consistent over four years, even though I don't have a first author) and I can articulate it really well.

I am bumping this thread because I want to see others and why they think they have been successful.
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so you're hardworking and really awesome
 
cyanide said:
I've received 9 interview invitations so far from the 19 schools I've applied to. I have good stats, but I think the real key is that I applied broadly (not just to top 20 schools), early (later than many of the gunners on SDN, but still), and talked about my hobbies and other interests in my essays (to show I'm not just a boring stat-monster).

I could be wrong. It could be just the numbers. But just sayin'.
Click to expand...

Key!
 
lots of interviews can mean a combination of the following (and in no particular order):

1) early apps - June 1st AMCAS...no later than two weeks after secondaries were up (and sometimes even earlier)
2) amazing LORs, PS
3) great experiences/research...seriously some people have saved entire countries already -.- (makes me cry at my relatively inferior activities) and have published like 15 times already in Nature and/or Science (exaggeration...but you get the point)
4) unique experiences that make someone look interesting
5) disadvantaged/URM (it DOES matter more than some people would like to admit, but seriously...many URMs have just as great #s AND many times even better experiences as well - why do people think URMs just have a free ticket into medical school?)
6) amazing number >3.9 and 38+, good undergraduate schools like HYP
 
How I got 10+ interviews:

1. Figured out schools that I really had a chance at.

With the help of SDN and MSAR, I applied to 16 "good chance" MD schools, 14 "reach" schools, 3 new MD schools, and 5 DO schools (also good chance).

I applied to alot of reach schools because I thought they would like my research experience and that good chance schools would think I had too much research. I also applied to schools that interviewed a good percentage of applicants (I didn't apply to schools were less than 7% of applicants were interviewed and maybe less than 13% at reach schools that I didn't care about too much)
-- of those schools applied to, 5/16 of the good chances have invited me to an interview, 0/14 reach, 3/3 new schools, and 4/5 DOs

... so really goes to show I should have only applied to schools were my number's matched

2. I have awesome LORs. I mean it - awesome. I haven't read them but I know.
3. Lots of clinical experience -- with mostly allied health professionals but some docs.
4. Good ECs and leadership -- with experiences outside of medical care.
5. Good PS -- had lots of help. Interesting beginning story and 3 characteristics about me (with stories to prove it)
6. For schools with secondaries, I have interesting life stories.

My weakness is probably too little volunteering experience so I write update letters with my new experiences.

Good luck! and remember, apply to schools that your numbers match with. You don't need a 3.8+/36+ or a URM to get 10+ interviews, I have done that with a 3.6c/3.5s/32 [and I could have saved a ton of money by not applying to schools with better numbers than me -- though I did verify that I was in their range of MCAT and GPAs accepted... so I am still hoping for a northwestern interview]
 
11 Interviews, sGPA of < 3.5, cGPA ~ 3.6. 34 MCAT.

Edit: Apparently I should add that I'm a white male, since there's a bunch of whiners who didn't work hard enough in college and are now afraid that those URMs (who obviously don't have to work hard to get these interviews, which is why you see SO many people of color on the interview trail </sarcasm>) are going to take their interview slots.

Have interesting ECs, write solid essays that are proof-read by a ton of people, be genuine in those essays about your motivations, and show that you give a rat's gluteus about humanity writ large and that you've done more than talk about it. And if you haven't declared a major yet, pick something because you love it, not because you think it will help you get into medical school.

Also, live in Texas if at all possible.

And if you don't live in Texas, don't waste your money applying to ridiculously out-of-reach schools. Apply to schools that are within your range but take those "safety" schools seriously. Places that are commonly "safeties" (which is an absurd term in the context of American MD institutions) get 10,000+ applicants. They want to know you are seriously considering going there, or they'll circularly file your application and smile when they cash your $125 check.
 
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DrDrummer said:
11 Interviews, sGPA of < 3.5, cGPA ~ 3.6. 34 MCAT.

Edit: Apparently I should add that I'm a white male, since there's a bunch of whiners who didn't work hard enough in college and are now afraid that those URMs (who obviously don't have to work hard to get these interviews, which is why you see SO many people of color on the interview trail </sarcasm>) are going to take their interview slots.

Have interesting ECs, write solid essays that are proof-read by a ton of people, be genuine in those essays about your motivations, and show that you give a rat's gluteus about humanity writ large and that you've done more than talk about it. And if you haven't declared a major yet, pick something because you love it, not because you think it will help you get into medical school.

Also, live in Texas if at all possible.

And if you don't live in Texas, don't waste your money applying to ridiculously out-of-reach schools. Apply to schools that are within your range but take those "safety" schools seriously. Places that are commonly "safeties" (which is an absurd term in the context of American MD institutions) get 10,000+ applicants. They want to know you are seriously considering going there, or they'll circularly file your application and smile when they cash your $125 check.
Click to expand...

I didn't get 10 interviews (yet?) but I would say this advice is very good.

I would emphasize the point of being interesting and genuine. People like human beings that have some personality and interesting stories or ECs. Be uniquely you.
 
I originally posted this when I had 0 interviews. Up to 8 now, maybe I'll hit 10 and be able to make a constructive comment here. Thanks for all the good feedback everyone.
 
Applied to 13 schools, received 12 interview offers so far (hoping hoping hoping for that 13th one!).

I think what everyone has said is good and true. I wanted to add that I spent a lot of time filling out the AMCAS - I tried to make everything comfortable and clear to read. I used a bullet point format, which probably doesn't look as professional, but I think is easier to read.

I also spent a lot of time writing my essays. I was lucky enough to have one reader who stuck with me through the entire application season; he was not involved with medicine at all, and I think this helped with getting good advice/suggestions.

It's been interesting to read what everyone has written. I hope this helps future applicants! ^__^
 
enterthepanda said:
Applied to 13 schools, received 12 interview offers so far (hoping hoping hoping for that 13th one!).

I think what everyone has said is good and true. I wanted to add that I spent a lot of time filling out the AMCAS - I tried to make everything comfortable and clear to read. I used a bullet point format, which probably doesn't look as professional, but I think is easier to read.

I also spent a lot of time writing my essays. I was lucky enough to have one reader who stuck with me through the entire application season; he was not involved with medicine at all, and I think this helped with getting good advice/suggestions.

It's been interesting to read what everyone has written. I hope this helps future applicants! ^__^
Click to expand...
I think that this was one of the keys to my success. My reader was AMAZING; she does PR for a big-named sports company and her main job is doing PR for athletes. She was the perfect reader because she knew how even a few words in a sentence would make me sound and always had a myriad of suggestions to make things sound better. She also knows me really well, and so if I left something out, she could say "hey, didn't you tell me you applied to X school because of this program they have" or "I know you have lived in this area before so tell them that so they know that you know what you are getting yourself into".

I applied to 25 schools and stat-wise, all but maybe 2 of them were supreme reaches. I would NOT recommend this strategy for the average premed, but I was willing to reapply. I wanted to make sure that the first time I applied, I actually applied to schools that I wanted to go to, and I am convinced that my passion showed through in my essays.

Also, as a non-trad, I had a million things to talk about and even to this day I don't think any school has heard everything that I've done. If you have a lot of experiences to talk about, secondary essays flow easily.

I'm up to 10 interviews out of 25 apps so far....we'll see if I get any more, but I think the well has finally dried up🙂
 
I had over a dozen interviews (applied to a few more schools than that--almost all of these MD/PhD programs). My gpa was quite high and from a top school's honors program with a high MCAT score to complement that. I think what I learned during college was more important than the grades I received in my classes; however, my high scores and gpa in math and physics classes was brought up in several interviews (mostly in a sexist way).

For extracurriculars, I worked in the field of public health in rural Africa for a few months and in an inner city free clinic to gain experience in medicine (and to confirm that I wanted to go into that field rather than others I had considered). I also spent quite a bit of time volunteering outside of the medical field (homeless shelters, service for my 12-step group, tutoring and teaching after-school programs in the inner city, helping out families in which a parent was deployed over seas...). I also helped start a service organization at my college and organized an area convention for that organization (sister program to the Air Force).

For research experience, I conducted a study in sociology during my time at university and helped with neuroscience research after switching career paths. However, my chosen PhD field only tangentially relates to these fields and probably was a hindrance in interviews, rather than an asset.

That being said, I think that the key to getting multiple interviews and acceptances is to follow your passions and make an impact in those areas. Many of the students I know who received 10+ interviews took unconventional routes to their careers and followed a different venue than those suggested by many pre-med counselors/get-into-med-school books.

I can say that I did not follow any of the advice that I was given and was told by two pre-med advisors that I had no chance of getting into a medical school because of my unorthodox path and lack of typical credentials. If you are meant for the career, it does not matter what path you have taken; your determination and tenacity to follow such a path will show through your application.
 
7 interviews out of 17 schools so far, and I think it's realistic of me to expect a couple more.

My ECs weren't crazy, but I had a couple of quirky things thrown in there (marching band, scuba diving). I didn't have a heartwrenching story to tell in my PS, but I did talk about an aspect of my motivation that people don't frequently mention: quality improvement. QI was something I did as a volunteer at a hospital (the head of volunteering there wrote me a letter saying I was one of the best volunteers they had ever worked with, which may have helped) and paired with my research I have been told that it puts an interesting spin on my application.

I'm a white Jewish biology major from New York whose family is STUFFED with physicians. Not exactly the most diverse person in the world. The stand-out parts of your application are the things that are entirely under your own control.
 
CougarMD said:
I think that this was one of the keys to my success. My reader was AMAZING; she does PR for a big-named sports company and her main job is doing PR for athletes. She was the perfect reader because she knew how even a few words in a sentence would make me sound and always had a myriad of suggestions to make things sound better. She also knows me really well, and so if I left something out, she could say "hey, didn't you tell me you applied to X school because of this program they have" or "I know you have lived in this area before so tell them that so they know that you know what you are getting yourself into".

I applied to 25 schools and stat-wise, all but maybe 2 of them were supreme reaches. I would NOT recommend this strategy for the average premed, but I was willing to reapply. I wanted to make sure that the first time I applied, I actually applied to schools that I wanted to go to, and I am convinced that my passion showed through in my essays.

Also, as a non-trad, I had a million things to talk about and even to this day I don't think any school has heard everything that I've done. If you have a lot of experiences to talk about, secondary essays flow easily.

I'm up to 10 interviews out of 25 apps so far....we'll see if I get any more, but I think the well has finally dried up🙂
Click to expand...

Does your "reader" know that it is incorrect to say "a myriad of?"

The word "myriad" means "many." Would you say "a many of suggestions?"

I would get a new reader and hope that you didn't use the word "myriad" in any of your secondaries.

Your welcome.
 
slowbutsteady said:
Does your "reader" know that it is incorrect to say "a myriad of?"

The word "myriad" means "many." Would you say "a many of suggestions?"

I would get a new reader and hope that you didn't use the word "myriad" in any of your secondaries.

Your welcome.
Click to expand...

Hmm. Good advice.
 
RoboChicken said:
Glad someone else noticed 😉. I didn't want to burn them twice. :laugh:
Click to expand...

hahaha yep. I'm here for ya 😉

if I can't contribute to the thread to give advice on 10+ interviews (I have three), I might as well take on the role of 'grammar patrol' :laugh:
 
i would say well-rounded people. if you have a good gpa, mcat, and clinical experience, that right there is a huge foundation. then you add in some research, non-clinical volunteering, leadership, and hobbies...boom, done.
 
Avoidthetiger said:
How I got 10+ interviews:

(I didn't apply to schools were less than 7% of applicants were interviewed and maybe less than 13% at reach schools that I didn't care about too much)
Click to expand...

How do you find out what percent of applicants are interviewed? Are you using the 3x of actual matriculants formula?
 
orion333 said:
How do you find out what percent of applicants are interviewed? Are you using the 3x of actual matriculants formula?
Click to expand...

The number, broken out by in-state, out of state, international is right there in the MSAR. This is the best $25 you'll spend in this application process. Seriously, get a copy.

I also could not agree more about targeting your applications to your numbers. This is one of the most important things you can do in the application process.
 
CougarMD said:
Hahaha, I love it that you ladies have my back😍


Also....had it been an actual mistake......that is why I have a reader. Duh😉
Click to expand...

It WAS an "actual mistake." Despite the posters online dictionary explanation, most adcoms are educated people and educated people do not say "a myriad of."

It grates like fingernails on a chalkboard and will be noticed by many people who read your secondaries, just like many SDNers noticed it. And adcoms won't go to dictionary.com to check it!!!!

At a minimum, it is a fundamental rule of grammar to use ONE word instead of THREE whenever possible. Good writing rules should be followed, even if they are not mandatory.

Oh, and some dictionaries allow you to use the word "irregardless" now too, but I would highly recommend against it.
 
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