a concern this interview cycle....

[psychotrope]

It seems like(just from people on this board and people I have talked to) that because there were 1-3 real scramble slots last year more of the medium to above average amg's are applying to more schools and more safety schools.

Are pd's likely to take this into account?

Say south alabama has 4 slots every year, and generally interviews ~50 people for those 4 slots and ranks 35-40 because in past years they've never gone past 30 or whatever on their list(Im just guessing at numbers but you get the idea). Well this year if they interview the same number of people, wouldn't they be in danger of not filling simply because candidates are applying to more programs and more safeties?

for the programs in california and the columbias and such of the world, this wouldn't matter. But it seems like for many of the programs it seems like it might.

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[TexasPhysician]

I'm no PD, but here is my take if I were one:
Say a school ranks 200 people the year before and matches a student they ranked #199, I would have to think they would increase their numbers this year or make a HUGE change. However if the same school is ranking 200 and usually fills the class by 120, I don't think a few more applicants will cause a problem. Individual schools would have to evaluate this much differently based on their stats.

 

[WhoisJohnGalt]

It seems like(just from people on this board and people I have talked to) that because there were 1-3 real scramble slots last year more of the medium to above average amg's are applying to more schools and more safety schools.

Are pd's likely to take this into account?

Say south alabama has 4 slots every year, and generally interviews ~50 people for those 4 slots and ranks 35-40 because in past years they've never gone past 30 or whatever on their list(Im just guessing at numbers but you get the idea). Well this year if they interview the same number of people, wouldn't they be in danger of not filling simply because candidates are applying to more programs and more safeties?

While I think what you're saying is probably true (last year I would have told you I intended to apply to about half the number I actually applied to as the 09 match had me so nervous), I don't know that it will actually make a difference in filling. My guess is that PD's probably don't rank 35-40 if they usually go to 30, they probably rank more like 80. So even if they go lower on their rank list this year, most will probably fill as there's no reason to think the overall number of people interested in psych has gone down this year.

 

[Sneezing]

I think it might have a small impact on programs interviewing more people. But the good news is there will be an upper limit to how many interviews a candidate can go on. So it won't balloon out of control in an inflation like fashion. There is only so much time a person can take to interview, and programs seem to like Monday and Friday. There are only so many of those days...

 

[whopper]

I do think most PDs will make some changes in the way they approach the match based on what happened last year, though I also believe several will not because they do not pre-plan well.

Not every doctor is a responsible person who tenaciously preplans every event. Most doctors I've seen are late, forgot several things, and do things at the last moment. E.g. I've seen doctors who know how to execute a surgery very well, but don't pay their bills on time, and their personal life is in shambles.

Medical school and residency are great filters to keep out those who are not academically skilled, but I've seen several (actually most) doctors lack executive skills. Those are the types of skills that are more useful in planning an application/interview/match season.