ncstudentdoc said:
Also, the chances are stronly in favor of you matching at your #1.... at the top institutions maybe 40%, at 2nd tier institutions more like 70-80%...just by the rank/match ratio that every program has.
How are you defining top-tier vs. 2nd? I mean a top-20 vs second-20 or more elite than that, like a clear top 5 program vs. one of several that would be in the big pool from 5-25ish.
The reason I ask is, well, it would be nice to relax a little and think I have a chance of going to my #1, which will not be a clear top 5 nationally. I am also curious how you got the numbers above.
Thanks![/QUOTE]
first, i forgot to clarify this: everything I say is for IM....this might very well be completely different in more competitive specialties.....
Ok here is what I know.....Brigham Women/MGH/Duke 4:1....BU/Tufts/ Monte 7-8:1 ratio..
about every program, except for the very competitive ones, has a 10:1 ratio for invitations to spots.
of course these ratios depend greatly on the applicant pool.
For example BU certainly does draw some very competitive candidates, but they most likely are ranking BWH or MGH higher then BU....thus a pretty high rank/match ratio.
This could be very different for a less competitive program like Jefferson or UMDNJ RWJ, where the pool of applicants may not be as competitive, thus less options and more people are going to rank the program higher.....
but in general 4:1 is considered to be very tight and very few programs get away with this kind of ratio