Check out our free calculator to see how likely your CV is to land you a residency interview

[GradVantageRx]

We are really excited to introduce our new CV strength calculator

This calculator is based mainly on work published by Hu et al looking at a scoring system applied to pharmacy residency applicant CVs and the likelihood of applicants being invited for an interview. We slightly modified their scoring system to add GPA, which was shown by Phillips et al to be significantly associated with likelihood of residency match.

Enjoy!

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[Hels2007]

Have you tested this calculator with those who applied for residencies in the last couple years? For what percent did this calculator accurately predict them being invited to interviews or not?

 

[bacillus1]

I put in my CV as a student, and got the following response:
"Most students with aggregate scores in this range did not get interviewed for residency positions in the 3 year study by Hu et al. However, personal connections to residency sites and strong Letters of recommendation and intent can still help you get interviewed"

That is very strange considering I landed multiple interviews (and matched), had a 3.7 GPA, work experience and leadership experience. Wonder if it's biased toward buying the GradVantageRx program to help you succeed.

 

[GradVantageRx]

I put in my CV as a student, and got the following response:
"Most students with aggregate scores in this range did not get interviewed for residency positions in the 3 year study by Hu et al. However, personal connections to residency sites and strong Letters of recommendation and intent can still help you get interviewed"

That is very strange considering I landed multiple interviews (and matched), had a 3.7 GPA, work experience and leadership experience. Wonder if it's biased toward buying the GradVantageRx program to help you succeed.

That's a fair concern. Each answer is worth between 0 and 4 points, and the point values increase as they go down the list for each question. Although Hu et al did not share their specific criteria for assigning each point value, we inferred these based on our experience.

The formula for the final assessment is simple addition and is strictly based on their reported score ranges. <9 gets you the unlikely to match response, which is accurate per their data, 9-11 gets the middle of the road response, and 11+ gets the best response. These responses correlate well with their reported results.

I have no idea when you graduated, you may be as old as me (2011 grad), but I'll point to the fact that this study was published in 2019 based on their previous 3 year results. I fully admit that my own stats included a 3.65 GPA and almost no extra-curricular activities. I would have a very tough time in today's market.

 

[GradVantageRx]

Have you tested this calculator with those who applied for residencies in the last couple years? For what percent did this calculator accurately predict them being invited to interviews or not?

Good question. I didn't go back and re-validate the numbers in peer reviewed literature. The study was published in 2019 and reflected their most recent 3 years of data (n=279). This calculator is only meant to make this research more accessible.

 

[KidPharmD]

The Hu et al article is severely flawed and I am surprised anyone published it.
They developed an application scoring tool, used it to score applications, then published about higher scores meant more likely to have an interview. Well, duh! They developed a score and used it to determine who they would interview. All they proved was that for three years, they didn't ignore the scores they took the time to generate when selecting applicants for an interview. I imagine our scoring tool would prove the same even though it is different than theirs.

 

[GradVantageRx]

The Hu et al article is severely flawed and I am surprised anyone published it.
They developed an application scoring tool, used it to score applications, then published about higher scores meant more likely to have an interview. Well, duh! They developed a score and used it to determine who they would interview. All they proved was that for three years, they didn't ignore the scores they took the time to generate when selecting applicants for an interview. I imagine our scoring tool would prove the same even though it is different than theirs.

Yeah the study isn't perfect by any means. However, when viewed as a quick informational tool (particularly for students earlier in their pharmacy education), we feel that our calculator provides a great bunch of salient domains within which students should be thinking about gaining experience in order to help their chances of getting invited to residency interviews.

I've recently had the opportunity to interact with quite a few P4 at a residency round table day, and was fairly surprised how few of them were aware of some of these domains.

 

[Hels2007]

I've recently had the opportunity to interact with quite a few P4 at a residency round table day, and was fairly surprised how few of them were aware of some of these domains.

Really? I thought these were all (maybe except for research) pretty obvious even 15 years ago, when residencies were far less popular than they are today... or is it a manifestation of the decline in the quality of pharmacy students? I suppose the number of "good" ones going down, if anything, since pharmacy is no longer the golden ticket it once was, yet the overall number of students more than doubling - so an average pharmacy student today is probably not as good as back then.

 

[KidPharmD]

Really? I thought these were all (maybe except for research) pretty obvious even 15 years ago, when residencies were far less popular than they are today... or is it a manifestation of the decline in the quality of pharmacy students? I suppose the number of "good" ones going down, if anything, since pharmacy is no longer the golden ticket it once was, yet the overall number of students more than doubling - so an average pharmacy student today is probably not as good as back then.

I am going to go with poorer preparation of students for residency application. These kinds of things were pretty well highlighted for us starting in P1 year. I would also be careful of "quite a few" given how many P4s there are, even a group of 30-40 isn't well representative unless they come from a variety of schools.

 

[lord999]

Hilariously, using this scoring system, I wouldn't get a residency interview in this day and age and yet managed to get the NIH NRSA and Tier 1 graduate admission anywhere which was not a joke now and even more difficult then. If I applied today as a noname, I still don't think that would be difficult as long as I did something that the questionnaire does not ask which is to campaign for one.

I actually know just how dismal my supposedly competitive sites get as interview applicants, and basically, this questionnaire helps sell consulting, this is not usefully predictive in context.

All of those factors are usually necessary but not sufficient. What is sufficient is that you have an in with someone, either through connection or impression. Work on that if you want a residency.

Then again, with the unqualified getting admitted nowadays, there's a certain patience that has to be taken with students who don't work although contempt is hard to avoid. I have special contempt for us faculty who don't teach those survival skills in the classroom, in the office, or in practice.