At what point do I need to apply to more prelims?

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chessknt

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I applied to 10 IM prelims, mostly Socal/Norcal, but at community hospitals. Have only heard from my home institution thus far. I am unsure if I just need to wait longer or if I need to broaden my application scope (and honestly have no idea how to pick if I do since I have exhausted my geographical preference). Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.
 
Hey there,

I'd wait it out a little longer. I applied to about 10 each prelim and transitional years, and so far have heard predominantly from the transitional year programs and not the prelim IM programs, which seems odd as the TYs are generally more competitive. It seems like they're taking their time a little bit more.
 
I'm applying to programs in the west and it has been slow for me too. I got a little bit of love a few weeks ago but I haven't heard from anyone else in the past 10 days. From what I've heard from my classmates, it has been the same for them.
 
same for the northeast.. wondering if i should apply to more too. have only heard back from 4 out of 12 programs...
 
I'm also applying in the northeast (Boston to DC), only heard back from 1 in CT so far. I've checked the IM interview invite site, it seems most of these programs have already sent out invites for regular IM residency applicants, so maybe they send out invites for Prelim med later?

Will wait a week and see.
 
same for the northeast.. wondering if i should apply to more too. have only heard back from 4 out of 12 programs...

I'm also applying in the northeast (Boston to DC), only heard back from 1 in CT so far. I've checked the IM interview invite site, it seems most of these programs have already sent out invites for regular IM residency applicants, so maybe they send out invites for Prelim med later?

Will wait a week and see.

I'm applying in the NE as well. I've heard back from 4/12 and 2 of those I rotated at as a med student. I don't think it's time to worry... yet!
 
I did end up getting nervous and added 12 more to roster for anyone else in the same position. Home institution only interview is a little risky for my taste.
 
Hi all, after speaking with the PD of medicine at my home institution, she suggested that I apply to more programs like yesterday..... so I added quite a few more programs to my roster. Costed me a pretty penny, but I'd rather spend the dough than match into advanced and not have prelim year...

Quoting her: "These programs are very competitive because they are "feeder" programs for radiology, derm, neuro, etc and are usually small programs (separate and distinct from categorical IM). Additionally, many programs have informal alliances, for example when I was the PD at SMITH institution I would reserve a certain number of prelim spots for JOHN's neurology residency (without making it public)"

(names were changed by me, but if you just looked at the title of the hospital and local institution you wouldn't have guessed that they had an alliance)

Good luck everyone!
 
Hi all, after speaking with the PD of medicine at my home institution, she suggested that I apply to more programs like yesterday..... so I added quite a few more programs to my roster. Costed me a pretty penny, but I'd rather spend the dough than match into advanced and not have prelim year...

Quoting her: "These programs are very competitive because they are "feeder" programs for radiology, derm, neuro, etc and are usually small programs (separate and distinct from categorical IM). Additionally, many programs have informal alliances, for example when I was the PD at SMITH institution I would reserve a certain number of prelim spots for JOHN's neurology residency (without making it public)"

(names were changed by me, but if you just looked at the title of the hospital and local institution you wouldn't have guessed that they had an alliance)

Good luck everyone!

UGH if that is true, why evne offer the position outside of those programs! I have low to no interest in a TY and applied to none, but now it seems way too late to apply to any... Still with 1 interview on 20 apps, including 2 rejections from prelims so far.
 
UGH if that is true, why evne offer the position outside of those programs! I have low to no interest in a TY and applied to none, but now it seems way too late to apply to any... Still with 1 interview on 20 apps, including 2 rejections from prelims so far.

Why would you not apply to TYs?
 
I was not interested in the surgery months. I have applied to TYs now.

Letters are from IM docs, no black marks, getting enough interviews in my primary specialty. May be location but who knows.

I'd say most of them, especially the cushier/competitive ones, don't require surgery months (what makes them cush). Out of all the ones I interviewed at only 1 required rotating through surgery.
 
I was not interested in the surgery months. I have applied to TYs now.

Letters are from IM docs, no black marks, getting enough interviews in my primary specialty. May be location but who knows.

Most TYs don't have surgery, mine does but you work ~30 hours a week during it, so it's much easier than a ward month, which isn't that hard to begin with.
 
bumping this one up...is it too late to add prelim programs now? Should I add more? I have 11 interivews out of the 20 total I applied to (10 prelim IM, 10 TY), with 2 rejections.
 
bumping this one up...is it too late to add prelim programs now? Should I add more? I have 11 interivews out of the 20 total I applied to (10 prelim IM, 10 TY), with 2 rejections.


11 interviews already scheduled? That should be plenty. How many advanced interviews are you planning on doing. At some point you run out of energy, money and time to interview at every place that gives you an offer. Seems like 11 would be more than enough.

What are your concerns that you are wondering if you need to apply to more?
 
I have 21 interviews scheduled for my advanced program...probably going to drop a few (or more than a few) before it's all said and done, to get the number down to 12-15. Honestly, I just hear people saying how competitive those first year spots are so I'm worried.
In reality, I already want to drop 3 of my 11 prelim interviews, as 2 are in places that are either not associated with an advanced program, and one where I didn't get invited to the advanced program there. Just concerned that if I only rank 8 (or all 11) that I won't match. 😱

11 interviews already scheduled? That should be plenty. How many advanced interviews are you planning on doing. At some point you run out of energy, money and time to interview at every place that gives you an offer. Seems like 11 would be more than enough.

What are your concerns that you are wondering if you need to apply to more?
 
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