Aplpy to 50 programs?!?!

[js4]

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The avreage applicant applied to 50 programs last year. I can't imagine what advantage this kind of shotgun approach confers to the applicant. Can anyone help me understand why one would apply to more than 30-40?

 

[js4]

please excuse the gross spelling errors.

 

[MAYOphtho]

The avreage applicant applied to 50 programs last year. I can't imagine what advantage this kind of shotgun approach confers to the applicant. Can anyone help me understand why one would apply to more than 30-40?

Apply to as many as you think you need to match, some of the reasons are:

(1) average applicant (scores, AOA status, etc) compared to the Ophtho match averages

(2) no preference for part of the country

(3) the whole "I want to match, I dont care where"

(4) sense of security...it's always better to apply to 50, get 25 interviews and turn down 12 (conflicting dates, other personal reasons) than to apply to 20 and get 10 interviews but some dates conflict so u can only interview at 6 programs (note: not everyone gets 50% of their interviews, some get a higher and some get a much lower percent...that's just an example)

(5) your application has lots of spelling errors upon submission (kidding)

good luck