Has there really been a shortage if interviews for the below avg and middle of the road applicant this year?

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bigfootisreal

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I have heard rumors about potential huge soap rates this year due to horrible interview distribution for the less than top tier applicants. What has your experience been?
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Didn't happen in Uro and Optho like people were saying... I think it is overblown hype.
 
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I'm a pretty average applicant applying to psych (step 1 mid 230s, step 2 mid 240s, only honored psych rotation, low tier MD school) and got 20 interview invites out of the 33 I applied to. Probably depends on where you submitted applications to and what your goals are though. I applied based on location and not prestige. I also haven't matched yet, so we shall see.
 
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medstudent9839 said:
I'm a pretty average applicant applying to psych (step 1 mid 230s, step 2 mid 240s, only honored psych rotation, low tier MD school) and got 20 interview invites out of the 33 I applied to. Probably depends on where you submitted applications to and what your goals are though. I applied based on location and not prestige. I also haven't matched yet, so we shall see.
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I feel like those are definitely above average stats for psych. median step 1 was like 226 for matched last year i believe.
 
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7331poas said:
I feel like those are definitely above average stats for psych.
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I guess I'm going with "average" more by the Reddit spreadsheet which I'm sure does have reporting bias... I know psych is increasing in competitiveness, but you're right, above average for psych based on last year's average test scores.
 
I don't think soap rates will go that much higher because programs are just ranking more people. The middle of the road programs will just fall lower on the rank list than normal.
 
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Surgeontodd94 said:
I don't think soap rates will go that much higher because programs are just ranking more people. The middle of the road programs will just fall lower on the rank list than normal.
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maybe its fear mongoring but I have seen several stories of "i only have 3 interviews" from seemingly average/below average applicants.
 
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7331poas said:
maybe its fear mongoring but I have seen several stories of "i only have 3 interviews" from seemingly average/below average applicants.
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I think it's fear mongering lol I do think there's hoarding though in the sense that you didn't get as many reach programs as you may have in another hypothetical year. but you probably wouldn't match at those reaches anyways since you were probably waitlisted there for a reason regardless. there was little waitlist movement (if any) this year per multiple programs i interviewed at. i think as long as you applied realistically for your stats and to enough programs you were probably fine. people went on more interviews since there weren't travel restrictions.
 
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iamarosepetal said:
I think it's fear mongering lol I do think there's hoarding though in the sense that you didn't get as many reach programs as you may have in another hypothetical year. but you probably wouldn't match at those reaches anyways since you were probably waitlisted there for a reason regardless. there was little waitlist movement (if any) this year per multiple programs i interviewed at. i think as long as you applied realistically for your stats and to enough programs you were probably fine. people went on more interviews since there weren't travel restrictions.
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Fear mongering or not? The opthal match rate is lower this year hence more soap for opthal applicants for sure...the rest we shall see in March.
 
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frenchyn said:

Fear mongering or not? The opthal match rate is lower this year hence more soap for opthal applicants for sure...the rest we shall see in March.
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if more people applly and the spots don't change the rate will go lower. that doesn't really support/substantiate fears of hoarding, the number of DO applicants increased this year significantly.
 
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iamarosepetal said:
I think it's fear mongering lol I do think there's hoarding though in the sense that you didn't get as many reach programs as you may have in another hypothetical year. but you probably wouldn't match at those reaches anyways since you were probably waitlisted there for a reason regardless. there was little waitlist movement (if any) this year per multiple programs i interviewed at. i think as long as you applied realistically for your stats and to enough programs you were probably fine. people went on more interviews since there weren't travel restrictions.
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Yeah this. I got a few waitlists but the PCs were straight up and said they weren’t seeing nearly the same level of movement as usual so probably wouldn’t get an interview. I did not get off a single waitlist.
frenchyn said:

Fear mongering or not? The opthal match rate is lower this year hence more soap for opthal applicants for sure...the rest we shall see in March.
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More people applied.....
 
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bigfootisreal said:
I have heard rumors about potential huge soap rates this year due to horrible interview distribution for the less than top tier applicants. What has your experience been?
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There has been a flurry of GSA calls about maldistribution, and while it may not be happening everywhere (Harvard, Stanford), it's something that has been noticed independently by a lot of people. The prototypical situation is someone applying to IM who in years past would have easily snagged 20+ interview offers, and this year has gotten 8-10, with some coming in extremely late. We've also seen people do 25+ (virtual) interviews, which in years past would have been physically impossible.

They added a fourth round to the SOAP this year, which may amount to nothing but isn't exactly reassuring.
 
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AnatomyGrey12 said:
Yeah this. I got a few waitlists but the PCs were straight up and said they weren’t seeing nearly the same level of movement as usual so probably wouldn’t get an interview. I did not get off a single waitlist.

More people applied.....
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Yes but people also matched lower on their lists...the original thought too is for these competitive specialties, more people will take research year due to subI cancellation and the craziness, but obviously it is not the case...anyway, that is why I said fear mongering or not...it is too early to say
 
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God the stress ulcer I am already getting for 4th year as a current third year is insane. I really hope they go back to in person or play an application cap, but I doubt it will happen
 
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frenchyn said:
Yes but people also matched lower on their lists...the original thought too is for these competitive specialties, more people will take research year due to subI cancellation and the craziness, but obviously it is not the case...anyway, that is why I said fear mongering or not...it is too early to say
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barely like 3% the number has been downtredniing for several years. stop causing mass hysteria. people get more competitive every year
 
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iamarosepetal said:
barely like 3% the number has been downtredniing for several years. stop causing mass hysteria. people get more competitive every year
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I gave the info and I pointed it out...take it however you want...fear or not is your choice, my choice and others’ choices...you need to chill down. People have their preferred locations and 3% may make a big deal.
 
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iamarosepetal said:
barely like 3% the number has been downtredniing for several years. stop causing mass hysteria. people get more competitive every year
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3 % year in and year out is a big deal. It's adding up over time
 
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it’s definitely been the case based on my experience. Applying to PM&R with mid 240s step 1, mid 250s step 2, good clinical grades but mediocre shelf exams before COVID hit. Applied to 50 programs but only got 8 interviews, some big name. I think part of the reason was I took step 2 ck in December after applications were sent. Also imagine a decent amount of people are dual applying to orthopedic surgery and pm&r this year.
 
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mball9007 said:
it’s definitely been the case based on my experience. Applying to PM&R with mid 240s step 1, mid 250s step 2, good clinical grades but mediocre shelf exams before COVID hit. Applied to 50 programs but only got 8 interviews, some big name. I think part of the reason was I took step 2 ck in December after applications were sent. Also imagine a decent amount of people are dual applying to orthopedic surgery and pm&r this year.
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That’s crazy! From what I know about pmr it seems you should be a very competitive applicant.
 
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mball9007 said:
it’s definitely been the case based on my experience. Applying to PM&R with mid 240s step 1, mid 250s step 2, good clinical grades but mediocre shelf exams before COVID hit. Applied to 50 programs but only got 8 interviews, some big name. I think part of the reason was I took step 2 ck in December after applications were sent. Also imagine a decent amount of people are dual applying to orthopedic surgery and pm&r this year.
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Similar scores and only got 10 interviews and applied to 55 pmr programs. My assistant dean was telling me to apply to just to 20-25 programs since she expected me to get 75% interview invite rate but I over-applied. Thank god I over-applied. Only applied PMR. I'm not sure about the dual applying ortho/pmr.
 
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It seems the trend is that step 2 is becoming more important to have in by interview time?
 
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liquidcrawler said:
It seems the trend is that step 2 is becoming more important to have in by interview time?
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It’s possible but I had less than expected interviews and I had my step 2 in long before eras due date. It’s been a weird cycle to say the least.
 
Med Ed said:
There has been a flurry of GSA calls about maldistribution, and while it may not be happening everywhere (Harvard, Stanford), it's something that has been noticed independently by a lot of people. The prototypical situation is someone applying to IM who in years past would have easily snagged 20+ interview offers, and this year has gotten 8-10, with some coming in extremely late. We've also seen people do 25+ (virtual) interviews, which in years past would have been physically impossible.

They added a fourth round to the SOAP this year, which may amount to nothing but isn't exactly reassuring.
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Wait a fourth round of SOAP?? i thought there's only 2...
 
liquidcrawler said:
It seems the trend is that step 2 is becoming more important to have in by interview time?
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Have step 2 done by then for sure. It’s program dependent but one California program straight up told me they were waiting on my step 2 score before deciding on interview, their interview slots filled up and I never came off waitlist so make sure to get it done early. Only delay if you don’t think you can hit your target score.
 
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Surgeontodd94 said:
Similar scores and only got 10 interviews and applied to 55 pmr programs. My assistant dean was telling me to apply to just to 20-25 programs since she expected me to get 75% interview invite rate but I over-applied. Thank god I over-applied. Only applied PMR. I'm not sure about the dual applying ortho/pmr.
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I applied PM&R as well and from speaking with several other applicants it seems like it is getting substantially more competitive.
 
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I’m planning to apply to anesthesiology, I’d love to hear if anyone has any thoughts on this from an anesthesia perspective.
 
Steve_Zissou said:
Eh, not really. AI is way overblown and rads extenders aren’t really much of a thing.
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Wait what about your thread?

forums.studentdoctor.net

Rad Extenders Outperform Rad Residents

https://www.diagnosticimaging.com/view/radiology-extenders-outperform-radiology-residents-with-chest-x-ray-interpretations Put out by Penn....by and MBA..... Guess that takes Penn off my list of places to apply.
forums.studentdoctor.net forums.studentdoctor.net

AI threat is still real!
 
Lawpy said:
Wait what about your thread?

forums.studentdoctor.net

Rad Extenders Outperform Rad Residents

https://www.diagnosticimaging.com/view/radiology-extenders-outperform-radiology-residents-with-chest-x-ray-interpretations Put out by Penn....by and MBA..... Guess that takes Penn off my list of places to apply.
forums.studentdoctor.net forums.studentdoctor.net

AI threat is still real!
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That thread was more about putting the spotlight in Penn, and they got **** on real quick for that stunt.

John Connor over here 😏

 
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