Average number of interviews vs applications sent

[Bap2qwrq7]

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I guess I consider myself a new member. I mainly was on here a few years ago when I was a freshman/sophmore but now that I am applying I decided to start checking out the boards again.

I am applying with decent stats 3.8 gpa/31 mcat and was wondering what people's ratios of interviews to secondary completions was? The reason I ask is because I sent my AMCAS in officially early July and it was certified by mid July. I started getting secondaries in August/Sept and completed secondaries from about that time up until the last few ones that I was so-so about a few weeks ago. I applied to a lot of schools, 30+, and it included a wide range of reach schools and "safety" schools.

So far, I have gotten about 5 interview invites and been rejected post secondary to 7 schools, and am supposedly on hold at three schools post secondary (no interviews). So, that makes it 5 interviews, 10 rejections, and 15 schools to go.

Now at first I thought this was decent until I was talking to my counselor and asked him about what a good percentage of getting interviewed at schools is.

Now heres the insane part for me, he mentioned another student, with the same GPA, and a 32 mcat who has gotten 18 interviews so far! Now that got me feeling bummed out as hell. And my counselor mentioned it was probably due to the fact that he applied earlier, I believe he said he turned in his AMCAS the earliest possible date in addition to secondaries.

So heres my questions for you

1. Did the difference in our application date times make that much of a difference, or is it more likely that the other applicant had some kick ass extra curriculars or something. I dont mind the latter option, but the fact that there could be such a difference due to timing is mind boggling.

2. What's your ratio of interviews and rejections compared to the overall amount of schools applied to? I'm looking for answers more from people who do not have any acceptances yet but if you do, don't hesitate to add your experiences.

I'm just feeling a bit bummed about this and just want to see what it has been like for others. I definately don't want to go through this crap again and am slowly getting more and more worried as I haven't heard from any schools for rejections/interviews for the past 3 weeks.

 

[Jason110]

5 interviews! That's great for applying to 30 schools. There are folks on this board who have not received a single interview offer. Consider yourself lucky. I would be very surprised if you did not receive an acceptance (or maybe even two) this year.

Quit worrying. Relax. You're doing great!

 

[sunUCB]

first of all, early july is pretty darn early, you'll be fine.
applying earlier doesn't always mean the school will care - me and i'm sure others (i hope) have not gotten secondaries from schools we applied to 5 months ago...
either way, 5 interviews is good, make the most of them and make a good impression.
really, would you have spent around 6-8 grand to go to 18 interviews? 5 is a very good number and with your numbers you should get in somewhere.

 

[evajaclynn]

5 interviews! That's great for applying to 30 schools. There are folks on this board who have not received a single interview offer. Consider yourself lucky. I would be very surprised if you did not receive an acceptance (or maybe even two) this year.

Quit worrying. Relax. You're doing great!

Agreed! 👍 And good luck with those interviews!!!

 

[sunUCB]

oh, 1 more thing....on average, schools interview something like 10% of applicants (yes, some more and some less, but it's usually around there) so getting 5 interviews is good for 30 schools.

 

[Scubadoc]

i agree with jason, you are doing great! i applied to a lot of schools and have gotten 4 interview invitations. i think this whole process is just so incredibly random that you really can't compare yourself to others. there is a guy at my school who has almost the *exact* same stats as me. i got an interview at the school we both applied to and he did not. makes no sense whatsoever. my mcat was only one point higher than his.

so don't worry about it. with 5 invites, you are doing very well!

 

[Bap2qwrq7]

Thanks for the quick replies.

Sorry, I don't mean to come off like some sort of prick whose ungrateful. I'm grateful as hell that some schools actually want to see me. It's just that 18 interview **** from the counselor really threw me off.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

If anyone else wants to post their stuff concerning the original post, that would be cool, if not I completely understand.

 

[stang]

Thanks for the quick replies.

Sorry, I don't mean to come off like some sort of prick whose ungrateful. I'm grateful as hell that some schools actually want to see me. It's just that 18 interview **** from the counselor really threw me off.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

If anyone else wants to post their stuff concerning the original post, that would be cool, if not I completely understand.

I'm a below average (3.4/30) reapplicant. I had one interview last year which ended in a rejection. This year I have gotten three invites, gone on two of them so far (one waitlist and one rejection) and have one more in a couple of weeks. I knew a Phd student in my lab who had a 99th percentile MCAT, applied to 13 schools, got 13 invites, and ended up with 6 waitlists and 7 rejections. Bottom line, you only need one acceptance and if you're a really good interviewee you'll probably get into multiple schools. If you're not so good, like I apparantly am, you could get a bunch of invites and a bunch of rejects/waitlists.

 

[erin682]

So here's the thing. I know it seems like it now but the number of interviews people get and the number of applications sent out really doesn't matter. I met a girl who was on her 13th interview and was stressed and exhausted as hell. I went to 4 and well both of us are in med school this year. The only number that matters is that 1 acceptance.

As for school counselors/advisors, I guess I'm biased b/c I had an especially bad one but they don't all really know that much about the process. If you want advice you need to talk to people who have actually gone through the process of applying. So that said I guess you've come to the right place. Just don't get to stressed reading about all the people who are so obsessed that they can't even decide what watch to wear. Thats ridiculous!

Just relax and let the process happen. Worrying about numbers won't do anything but make you sick. Good luck!

 

[bigbassinbob]

I guess I consider myself a new member. I mainly was on here a few years ago when I was a freshman/sophmore but now that I am applying I decided to start checking out the boards again.

I am applying with decent stats 3.8 gpa/31 mcat and was wondering what people's ratios of interviews to secondary completions was? The reason I ask is because I sent my AMCAS in officially early July and it was certified by mid July. I started getting secondaries in August/Sept and completed secondaries from about that time up until the last few ones that I was so-so about a few weeks ago. I applied to a lot of schools, 30+, and it included a wide range of reach schools and "safety" schools.

So far, I have gotten about 5 interview invites and been rejected post secondary to 7 schools, and am supposedly on hold at three schools post secondary (no interviews). So, that makes it 5 interviews, 10 rejections, and 15 schools to go.

Now at first I thought this was decent until I was talking to my counselor and asked him about what a good percentage of getting interviewed at schools is.

Now heres the insane part for me, he mentioned another student, with the same GPA, and a 32 mcat who has gotten 18 interviews so far! Now that got me feeling bummed out as hell. And my counselor mentioned it was probably due to the fact that he applied earlier, I believe he said he turned in his AMCAS the earliest possible date in addition to secondaries.

So heres my questions for you

1. Did the difference in our application date times make that much of a difference, or is it more likely that the other applicant had some kick ass extra curriculars or something. I dont mind the latter option, but the fact that there could be such a difference due to timing is mind boggling.

2. What's your ratio of interviews and rejections compared to the overall amount of schools applied to? I'm looking for answers more from people who do not have any acceptances yet but if you do, don't hesitate to add your experiences.

I'm just feeling a bit bummed about this and just want to see what it has been like for others. I definately don't want to go through this crap again and am slowly getting more and more worried as I haven't heard from any schools for rejections/interviews for the past 3 weeks.

I have very similar stats to yours (3.85/30) and am a reapplicant. Last year, I applied to about 10 schools, had 4 interviews, 3 waitlists, no acceptances. This year, I applied to 21 schools, and I've had 8 interviews and 2 post-secondary rejections so far. No acceptances yet though. So my odds at getting an interview it seems are roughly 40%. It seems a little odd (though definately not catastrophic since 5 interviews should be plenty for most people) that you havn't received more interviews. I think a lot of it is basically luck. Maybe after January you'll receive some more invites, and a few acceptances as well. Good luck to you.