applying to every single psychiatry program in the nation

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JoseyCali123

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What are the pros and cons of applying to applying to every single psychiatry program in the nation? I will be living at my fiance's home and i will have a lot of surplus of $$$ to apply. do you think this will help me match? i know it is costly but i want to know what are the other pros and cons. thank you!

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:boom: this is a waste of your money and everyone else's time. unless you have some red flags that we are unaware of, and even then it would make no sense to apply to programs you have no hope in hell of matching into, nor would it make sense you have no interest in matching into. per you post history, you are looking to match into a program in california. why don't you get a reality check by talking to people from your school who are applying in psychiatry? you will be pleasantly surprised to learn that your score is not so low, and not necessarily a barrier to even the top programs in california (I'm guessing what school you go to based your previous posts). instead of posting silly threads on sdn, you could be working on boosting the rest of your application. this means doing well on your clerkships, passing your CS and doing as well on CK as you can, getting strong LoRs, meeting with your mentor/advisor, getting advice from senior med students at your school, showing a commitment to a career in psychiatry, and demonstrating some initiative of evidence in other areas such as teaching, research, advocacy, policy, innovation, or leadership. this would include things such as being involved with psychSIGN nationally, being on the board of your local NAMI group, being involved in curriculum development in your school, developing mental health education/awareness programs for your local community or targeted individuals (e.g. high school students), developing a CBT app, publishing papers or presenting papers at psychiatry-related conferences (not necessarily research - case reports, review arrticles, perspectives pieces, letters to the editor all count), running your schools' free clinic etc etc. In psychiatry, we consider the whole applicant. Also, because you are already in california for med school, you have the home advantage in terms of matching are are considerably more likely to get interviews at cali programs that similarly qualified applicants from elsewhere in the country.

you may also wish to seek out your own personal psychotherapy if you are not already doing so. maintaining your wellness, developing a capacity for self-reflection, and understanding the process of therapy are all important and may be helpful to you.
 
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1500 residency slots divided unevenly between 248 or so programs.

Ok, yeah, applying to roughly 250 programs seem like a monumental waste of time and money. I'd have to imagine your chances of matching produce diminishing returns after a few dozen at most?
 
Most recent data suggests 19 is the largest number that might have a detectable effect on your chances and it rapidly begins to asymptote at 11 or so. Also the application fees do not scale linearly with number of applications (i.e. over a certain number they are significantly more expensive per application) making it even a bigger waste. There are people in really desperate situations who need to roll the dice as many times as they can because they dearly need boxcars but this is not the OP at all.
 
Most recent data suggests 19 is the largest number that might have a detectable effect on your chances and it rapidly begins to asymptote at 11 or so. Also the application fees do not scale linearly with number of applications (i.e. over a certain number they are significantly more expensive per application) making it even a bigger waste. There are people in really desperate situations who need to roll the dice as many times as they can because they dearly need boxcars but this is not the OP at all.

Those figures (19 & 11) are for number of programs ranked not applications, right? This past cycle at least, psychiatry applicants applied to an average of 52.
 
Those figures (19 & 11) are for number of programs ranked not applications, right? This past cycle at least, psychiatry applicants applied to an average of 52.

Yes, ranked, that clarification is important.

It remains the case that the percentage of US seniors successfully matching hasn't changed since the 80s and is still in mid-90s.
 
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this isn't psych, but you could apply to 150 programs for around $3000 I think, you could get 50+ offers (depending on where and your stats), and then go on like 24 interviews in just as many states, rank that many, and then match to #2 or 3

theoretically

YMMV
 
All of these numbers make me very thankful for my fellowship process. Applied to 8, got 8 interviews. All interviews took place at our big yearly conference. Easy peasy, and pretty cheap.

I mean, my experience was more like yours. Applied to 15, 13 interviews, attended 10 of them. No such luck about the venue, though...
 
Turns out Econ does the same thing. I'm not aware of how many other fields do this, but it makes a lot of sense.

It works for us based on the number of people going for our fellowship specialty for neuropsych. Very manageable number for the size of the conference. It doesn't work the same way for our internship match process, where there are far more applicants and we still do the whole apply, fly out, interview, rank, match process. But, when feasible, the central interview during a several day stretch is really the way to go IMO.
 
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If I could do it over again, I would have gotten generic LORs, written a very general PS and applied to every program in every specialty.
 
What are the pros and cons of applying to applying to every single psychiatry program in the nation? I will be living at my fiance's home and i will have a lot of surplus of $$$ to apply. do you think this will help me match? i know it is costly but i want to know what are the other pros and cons. thank you!

How willing are you to send about 230 "I'm withdrawing my application" notices after your 15th flight?
 
That's honestly not a great plan because it's very expensive with poor payoff. Depending on your qualifications, you'll be ignored by many programs because you're either over or underqualified, and regional bias. In addition, you'll probably have to turn down several interview invites to places you're not really willing to go to.
 
As someone who did apply to almost every program in the country, I would recommend it if you’re a weaker applicant. All of my interviews are from places I would never would have thought to apply to if I chose my 60 or 70 programs like some people apply to. I also got only 2 II from places I didn’t do aways at.


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If you have the money and your application is weak, I would. If you are an average or stellar candidate it's not really necessary. I'm applying for a second residency in another field next year (FP)
and I will probably skip the competitive residency programs but apply to "pretty much every program."
 
As far as it being a waste of money, isn't looking for a job deductible if you itemize? Wouldn't the application fees and travel/hotel stays be a tax write off?
 
As far as it being a waste of money, isn't looking for a job deductible if you itemize? Wouldn't the application fees and travel/hotel stays be a tax write off?
nope. thanks to this trump tax bill, job search related expenses are no longer deductible. only 1099 related expenses are deductible. residency application expenses definitely not deductible.
 
nope. thanks to this trump tax bill, job search related expenses are no longer deductible. only 1099 related expenses are deductible. residency application expenses definitely not deductible.
Good to know. Thanks
 
I suppose once the mode is to apply everywhere, it then can't get any worse. This is becoming like undergraduate Ivy league applications. Unless you have zero support system, I strongly recommend considering geography that will help you be supported. Often this gives you a variety of choices and at least filters you down to something reasonable that offers advantages over other places. Programs vary some and applicants vary some, but both have a lot in the very good/excellent but not outstanding category.
 
I suppose once the mode is to apply everywhere, it then can't get any worse. This is becoming like undergraduate Ivy league applications. Unless you have zero support system, I strongly recommend considering geography that will help you be supported. Often this gives you a variety of choices and at least filters you down to something reasonable that offers advantages over other places. Programs vary some and applicants vary some, but both have a lot in the very good/excellent but not outstanding category.

I think it’s already happened. Met at least 2 people per interview who also applied everywhere.


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