Brigham Interview Experience

[Laplace]

Interviewed here 2 weeks ago and my interview just felt off. I'm nearly done with the interview trail and I have to say I'd been fairly confident about my interview performance until this. The PD did say at the beginning of the day that the max the interview counts is ~5-10% and half the people interviewing can expect to match there if they rank the program appropriately to do so, but I'm sure every bit makes a difference given what a competitive program it is.

Did any one who interviewed here already receive responses to their thank you notes or any other kind of feedback thus far?

Also do the 2 "informal" visits/interviews, one of which is with a PD/aPD, have any bearing or is it just the 2 "formal" ones that count?

I was also wondering if any current residents who matched at BWH could comment on their own experience. Sorry if I'm being overly neurotic but it's been my favorite program by a long shot, nothing else is even a close second and I'm worried the interview may have killed my chances.

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[gutonc]

Interviewed here 2 weeks ago and my interview just felt off. I'm nearly done with the interview trail and I have to say I'd been fairly confident about my interview performance until this. The PD did say at the beginning of the day that the max the interview counts is ~5-10% and half the people interviewing can expect to match there if they rank the program appropriately to do so, but I'm sure every bit makes a difference given what a competitive program it is.

So does BWH really only interview 2x the # of spots they have? Or did you just completely misinterpret (or mis-represent) what the PD said?

 

[Elixir6]

So does BWH really only interview 2x the # of spots they have? Or did you just completely misinterpret (or mis-represent) what the PD said?

It's gotta be a fib, and I doubt it because even MGH just a year to two ago had their stats listed on their website. They got nearly 4000 applications in 2013, interviewed 490 and they only have about 50 categoricals and 12 prelims.

At BWH I assume they are interviewing about ~400 people for their ~40 spots. They are probably going no lower than rank 80-100 given that they will lose people to some of the other prestigious residencies, but not down to spot 200. If that were true, then how low down would UMich and Vandy be going then? I mean those places are great and probably have significant overlap with people interviewing at the big 4.

But then again, how should I know; I'm not a PD at an ivory tower and do not want to be one.

EDIT: On FREIDA it says they only conducted 250 interviews last year. So maybe his assertion is not that far off.

 

[Laplace]

I'm guessing 300-400 interviews, and they go down to half of that on their rank list? I don't see how they would have data to make that claim otherwise.

I think Vandy/Mich tier programs interview a higher number of people and go much further down their rank list.

 

[gutonc]

But that doesn't jive with your statement above that "half of you can expect to match here"

 

[Laplace]

Look, I'm simply repeating what the PD said verbatim. If you look through past threads, you'll see he always says this on the interview day. How it comes about is speculation for everyone except Joel Katz I guess.

 

[gutonc]

Look, I'm simply repeating what the PD said verbatim. If you look through past threads, you'll see he always says this on the interview day. How it comes about is speculation for everyone except Joel Katz I guess.

Nice to know that the PD of one of the best IM programs in the country doesn't know that words mean things.

 

[Laplace]

EDIT: On FREIDA it says they only conducted 250 interviews last year. So maybe his assertion is not that far off.

That actually sounds right, they had 12 interview days, and there were 23 people at my interview, making for ~270 interviews. So I guess it's true.

 

[ArkansasMed]

The info is correct, Brigham only interviews like mid 200's for its categorical spots. Not sure if that value reflects prelim and their primary care tract. If that's the case it's essentially 5-1 for categorical spots alone which makes sense (Harvard program, great research, rep for being the more laid back of the upper tier programs). MGH's 500 interviews may reflect a ton of primary care and prelim spots. MGH isn't the easiest prelim year and I can imagine there is high turnover to get people to match there for it. Same happens at similar institutions. Guessing most of the elite programs interview ~300 for their categorical spots, semi-elite or less desirable location more 400 and strong to average programs about 450-500.

 

[Laplace]

The info is correct, Brigham only interviews like mid 200's for its categorical spots. Not sure if that value reflects prelim and their primary care tract. If that's the case it's essentially 5-1 for categorical spots alone which makes sense (Harvard program, great research, rep for being the more laid back of the upper tier programs). MGH's 500 interviews may reflect a ton of primary care and prelim spots. MGH isn't the easiest prelim year and I can imagine there is high turnover to get people to match there for it. Same happens at similar institutions. Guessing most of the elite programs interview ~300 for their categorical spots, semi-elite or less desirable location more 400 and strong to average programs about 450-500.

I can imagine most people liking the Brigham much more than MGH, I didn't like the vibe there and not sure if I'd rank it highly despite the reputation.

 

[mac90]

Did any one who interviewed here already receive responses to their thank you notes or any other kind of feedback thus far?

Also do the 2 "informal" visits/interviews, one of which is with a PD/aPD, have any bearing or is it just the 2 "formal" ones that count?

Interviewed two weeks ago and received a email response to the two emails I sent about a week apart from each other.

The informal interview most definitely does not count as I ended up getting a substitute resident (who ended up being an intern from my home medical school so we had a candid discussion about the program and he explicitly said our conversation had no bearing on the interview process). Not sure about the aPD/PD interview, I imagine because they see so many a day that it would be hard to make a really good/poor impression.

I'm sure you interviewed better than you thought --- several people I spoke to on interview day were considering ranking other programs higher due to location reasons so I think you have a good shot if you make it known to your interviewers / the PD that this is your number one choice by far.

 

[buonassezia]

So does BWH really only interview 2x the # of spots they have? Or did you just completely misinterpret (or mis-represent) what the PD said?

Nah, what I interpreted from the post was half of the interviewees who rank it first (or maybe second, after another program that doesn't 'want them back' and yield a match) will match at Brigham.

This is feasible. It seems they're stating maybe 100 of the 250 "rank it appropriately" to match there. Of those 100, about half will match. Plausible, considering the other 150 who interviewed could ultimately end up preferring, ranking first (or more highly), and matching in California or wherever else for their own reasons.

 

[Laplace]

Interviewed two weeks ago and received a email response to the two emails I sent about a week apart from each other.

The informal interview most definitely does not count as I ended up getting a substitute resident (who ended up being an intern from my home medical school so we had a candid discussion about the program and he explicitly said our conversation had no bearing on the interview process). Not sure about the aPD/PD interview, I imagine because they see so many a day that it would be hard to make a really good/poor impression.

I'm sure you interviewed better than you thought --- several people I spoke to on interview day were considering ranking other programs higher due to location reasons so I think you have a good shot if you make it known to your interviewers / the PD that this is your number one choice by far.

I hope you're right! Though I received only 1 response to my 4 e-mails, including no response from the PD and aPD I interviewed with so I guess that's why I'm more anxious than normal. I realize they probably get tons of e-mails and I shouldn't expect anything but so far have received responses to the majority of the ones I've sent so wasn't sure how to weigh that.