Did I apply to enough programs?

[PathGirl1]

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Hey guys,
First I wanted to say thanks to everyone for all the great advice here! I tried searching for answers to my questions, but a lot of the posts are older and I’m not sure how relevant they are now. I’m a DO student who didn’t take USMLE. Passed COMLEX 1, 2, PE on the first try but with low-average scores, 1 publication, A’s on all rotations, 1 LOR from a pathologist, and born in the US so English is my first language. I’m applying to 50 programs- some high tier just for laughs, but mostly mid and low tier with DO/IMG residents. I applied to 30 on Sept 15, then got scared and applied to the rest last week. BTW I called all of these programs to make sure they accept COMLEX only, and I meet any cutoff scores.
My questions are:
Is 50 programs a good number?
So far I’ve only received 3 interview offers and 1 rejection, should I be worried?
Should I contact my top few programs and tell them how much I would like to go there?
Thank you so much for any advice!!

 

[mlw03]

Contacting the programs at this point probably isn't going to help, but likely won't hurt either, so if it makes you feel better go for it. Initial screens are often done just on numbers and stats, so calling and telling a secretary you love University of X isn't going to make much of a difference.

If you have the resources and want to be safe, yeah, apply to some more where you are eligible. But you won't be able to do more than 15 interviews most likely, so eventually it becomes overkill.

 

[Johnny Sunshine]

It is still early in the interview season. Having 3 interviews so far is a comforting sign, I think.

I would wait before getting anxious. Keep in mind that many of those 50 programs may not have started looking at anyone's application yet.

 

[KCShaw]

Most people will be anxious until it's over, and many people will wonder if they should have applied to more places, wished they had better scores, wished they had applied earlier, etc. etc. I doubt many people know what the COMLEX scores mean, and suspect programs mainly want to see what your score translates to in percentile form -- heck, that's all some want with USMLE scores, so one person's 99 is no better or worse than someone else's 99 and That Guy's 283 works as well as someone else's substantially lower (but still obviously good) score. At any rate -- a low average score is just not all that likely to make the first round of interview offers. But when programs get few interview acceptances by only offering the 99's, they start offering interviews to candidates who perhaps are a more realistic fit to their program.

I know programs that failed to match anyone because they just convinced themselves to only court to a certain level, when the market really never favored their relatively small and little known program. But few programs make that mistake, certainly not more than once, and that works in the favor of applicants who only approach mid-range on paper. I would just suggest applying to programs that are a realistic fit, and have a little patience.

 

[tigress]

Include me in the anxious category. I'm just hoping there are still invitations to be had. I'm surprised that I haven't heard anything from some of the places I applied. Will I get outright rejections or just not hear at all?

 

[Johnny Sunshine]

Include me in the anxious category. I'm just hoping there are still invitations to be had. I'm surprised that I haven't heard anything from some of the places I applied. Will I get outright rejections or just not hear at all?

There are lots of invitations still to be had. Unfortunately, many places will not go through the trouble of informing those who they decline to interview. But, I think it is still far too early to worry if you fall into that category.

I would recommend giving your top dozen choices or so a call (or at least email) if you don't hear from them within the next two or three weeks. Formulate it as a general "I was just following up on the status of your program; are you still working through applications and scheduling interviews?" Also have a few phrases prepared about how you'd enjoy to pay them a visit. Don't draw it out and make it awkward; they're unlikely to offer you an interview right then on the phone. End it sweet and casual with something like "ah, okay then, that's good to know. I hope to hear from you sometime soon. Have a good day." In my experience, if you have any chance of being interviewed there at all this little reminder call/email will be enough to convince them to extend an interview to you.

If you do that, yet get near the end of November and still have only a handful of interviews, then maybe I'd start to worry.

But even then, it's not the end of the world. Offers for interview will extend all the way into January, even sometimes a bit beyond. And, worst-case scenario, scrambling isn't too bad. You'd be surprised at all the high quality programs that don't fill (generally because they were overconfident and didn't rank enough people).

 

[BlondeDocteur]

This is my second time in the Match, and it's been interesting to compare the process from before-- when MSPEs were released in November-- and now, when they're out October 1. When they came out in November there was a mad rush of interview offers in early-mid November, so I was expecting to hear from nearly everyone (bad or good) by mid-October. But the programs pressured ERAS for the change, saying they wanted more time to thoroughly review applications, and that seems to be true. I think interview offers will come trickling in for another month at least, as PDs actually get the chance this time to read through apps with more than a cursory glance at some of the documents.

 

[tigress]

I actually just got another interview offer tonight, my first in a while, so that is reassuring 🙂

 

[PathGirl1]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I posted the original message and just for an update, I'm up to 11 interviews. I guess I got worried too soon. Good luck to everyone applying this year!

 

[oldfatman]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I posted the original message and just for an update, I'm up to 11 interviews. I guess I got worried too soon. Good luck to everyone applying this year!

The advice I could give on this process is, apply early and interview late. When I was a senior and eventually chief resident, we all could barely remember the first interview candidates when February/March rolled around and it was time for the PD to submit the rank order list. Same goes for actual job interviews, unless you hear something soon, and are the "hot" candidate, forget it and move on.

 

[Euchromatin]

The advice I could give on this process is, apply early and interview late. When I was a senior and eventually chief resident, we all could barely remember the first interview candidates when February/March rolled around and it was time for the PD to submit the rank order list. Same goes for actual job interviews, unless you hear something soon, and are the "hot" candidate, forget it and move on.

While I definitely agree that it can be difficult to remember candidates that interviewed early (especially if the candidate had NOT done a rotation with us), I do think there is a bit of a stigma associated with candidates that interview near the end of the season. I tend to think that they were less desirable candidates (i.e. were only offered an interview if someone more desirable canceled and a slot became available) and/or they were not particularly interested in our program initially (i.e. their earlier interviews did not go as well as they had hoped and/or they are kinda desperate). I probably shouldn't feel that way because there are lots of other variables that come into play, like applicants trying to cluster interviews in particular geographic areas so they don't have to travel as much and having to work with limits on their interview time depending on what rotations they are on and so on, but...