Any current residents match with <5 interviews?

[Achillees]

Hi all,

Unfortunately the interview trail isn't doing me too kindly. I'm sitting on 4 interviews (1 home) right now. I'll probably enjoy working at any of the 4 programs. Location is my only basis for that. Nevertheless, I am worried about only having 4 and matching. My home program seems happy to take me, but obviously that isn't guaranteed. I'd love to move to a new city, but have started making peace with staying put. I've also emailed PDs and coordinators to no avail. One was kind enough to reject me.

Back to my original question - are there any current residents that attended so few interviews and matched (well)? Only thoughts keeping me from freaking out are that - I only need to match at one program, and hopefully things pick up when people start canceling.

I'm an AMG with 209/217 Steps. Take CS early December. Another program emailed me that my app is incomplete due to CS. Could this be the reason for so little interviews? I understand my board scores aren't particularly impressive.

Thanks for reading.

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[whodunit030]

Hi all,

Unfortunately the interview trail isn't doing me too kindly. I'm sitting on 4 interviews (1 home) right now. I'll probably enjoy working at any of the 4 programs. Location is my only basis for that. Nevertheless, I am worried about only having 4 and matching. My home program seems happy to take me, but obviously that isn't guaranteed. I'd love to move to a new city, but have started making peace with staying put. I've also emailed PDs and coordinators to no avail. One was kind enough to reject me.

Back to my original question - are there any current residents that attended so few interviews and matched (well)? Only thoughts keeping me from freaking out are that - I only need to match at one program, and hopefully things pick up when people start canceling.

I'm an AMG with 209/217 Steps. Take CS early December. Another program emailed me that my app is incomplete due to CS. Could this be the reason for so little interviews? I understand my board scores aren't particularly impressive.

Thanks for reading.

Incomplete due to not having CS? Really? I thought you're fine as long as you have CK in by application time and CS before you rank.

 

[Achillees]

I doubt not having cs is the reason esp as an amg. There's one recent grad from my med school who only matched with 3. Look at charting outcomes and odds are still decent with 4 interviews. I have gotten 10+ invites without cs and a lower step 1 than yours. Maybe u applied to only top programs or big cities?

That could be it, I suppose. I thought I applied broadly enough. Applied to 34 programs.

 

[Achillees]

Incomplete due to not having CS? Really? I thought you're fine as long as you have CK in by application time and CS before you rank.

Surprised me too. The coordinator told me to update them asap with my score...which I won't receive till Feb.

 

[bd290]

Incomplete due to not having CS? Really? I thought you're fine as long as you have CK in by application time and CS before you rank.

Honestly even that is BS with how hard it is to get a freaking date. I've been trying since July to get a date before January.

 

[shan564]

You should check out the NRMP's "charting outcomes in the Match" document. It has a chart showing the match rate broken down by several parameters. Back in my day (I assume this is still true), that document had a chart that summarized the percentage of IMGs who matched with respect to the total number of interviews (i.e. % of applicants who matched with 5 interviews, % with 6, etc.).

 

[Achillees]

You should check out the NRMP's "charting outcomes in the Match" document. It has a chart showing the match rate broken down by several parameters. Back in my day (I assume this is still true), that document had a chart that summarized the percentage of IMGs who matched with respect to the total number of interviews (i.e. % of applicants who matched with 5 interviews, % with 6, etc.).

I understand and have looked at the stats. I was really looking for personal anecdotes and advice. I'm an AMG btw. As of now, my best bet seems to be with my home program and while I'm glad to have that option, I'd prefer going to a new city. Too young to spend 8 years in a location I won't be practicing in.

 

[FlowRate]

Surprised me too. The coordinator told me to update them asap with my score...which I won't receive till Feb.

Might be either a high number of FMG/IMG place or because your step 2 was also somewhat low, so they want to make sure you did pass.

 

[ExcaliburPrime1]

I am sitting on six (also including home institution) and just got my sixth one a few hours ago. I would also love to be reassured, but honestly, it's not like it will make a difference. By that I mean, even if people say you need more interviews, it's not as if you or I could magically make that happen.

My advice is to grin and relax. It's only residency. It's only (late) October. Things will surely pick up and hey, having fewer interviews is less time consuming and less costly, so that's something.

 

[shan564]

I understand and have looked at the stats. I was really looking for personal anecdotes and advice. I'm an AMG btw. As of now, my best bet seems to be with my home program and while I'm glad to have that option, I'd prefer going to a new city. Too young to spend 8 years in a location I won't be practicing in.

Well, there are several confounding factors - if you have 5 interviews and only applied to 8 programs, you'll probably match at your top choice (as most people do). But if you have 5 interviews and applied to 100 programs, then you're probably a borderline candidate. Based on your scores, you're probably somewhere in between those two extremes - it's not too late to apply to more programs.

I also took CS late (but not as late as you), and that probably got me filtered out of a lot of programs. After my CS result came in, I emailed my top-choice program and explained that to them. Soon after that, they sent me an interview invitation and I ended up matching there. I was initially concerned that I'd be unlikely to match at a program that didn't even invite me for an interview until I asked for it, but most PDs are human.

You might want to consider moving your CS to an earlier date. You only need 1-2 days to prepare for it if you went to med school in the US.

 

[PsyYaYaYaYai]

I think the answer to your question depends highly on your own, individual variables. A resident at my home program interviewed and ranked only our program because he had obligations to stay in the area and had 100% vested interest here. He is 100% happy to be here.

So what it comes down to, IMHO, is: are you concerned about getting a preferable match, or any match at all? The answer will give you a sense of how "on fire" you are and what you can/should do next.

 

[Leo Aquarius]

I had 7 interviews and matched. The right applicant can surely do it with 1 interview if his or her home institution wants them bad enough.