How many EM programs to apply to?

[CANY13]

I am just trying to gauge how many EM programs I should apply to as the field is getting more competitive.
Here are my stats:
Step1: 263 Step2: 270
Mostly Honors
Lost of extra curricular activities with a little research.
Good MD Medical school on the east coast

I am couples matching (IM) and looking at programs in competitive areas: NYC, Cali, Chicago, Boston, Denver.
How many programs should I apply to and how many should be "back-ups"?
Any good suggestions for "back-ups" in LA, Chicago and NYC?

Thanks!

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[deleted547339]

I am just trying to gauge how many EM programs I should apply to as the field is getting more competitive.
Here are my stats:
Step1: 263 Step2: 270
Mostly Honors
Lost of extra curricular activities with a little research.
Good MD Medical school on the east coast

I am couples matching (IM) and looking at programs in competitive areas: NYC, Cali, Chicago, Boston, Denver.
How many programs should I apply to and how many should be "back-ups"?
Any good suggestions for "back-ups" in LA, Chicago and NYC?

Thanks!

ALL OF THEM!!!!!

Common man, you'll be fine. A lot of it is going to depend on how competitive your husband/wife is. My step 1 was a little lower, step 2 was similar. I applied to 31, got 27 interviews. Also had no externships. Two of my rejections were from mediocre programs in NYC - my advisor attributed it to me having done undergrad and med school in the same state with no aways.

Don't limit yourself. I ended up at a program that I knew almost nothing about prior to my interview and it's amazing.

 

[link2swim06]

How competitive is your wife/significant other?

 

[DrYoda]

You are a strong candidate, which I'm sure you already know. The couple match thing, however, throws a wrench in the whole situation. Frankly, if you have cities you want to live in picked out I would apply to every program you would consider going to in all of them. It's really not that much money and it'll be worth it in the long run. It does depend a bit how competitive your significant other is, but better safe than sorry is a good policy for these things.

 

[Apollyon]

On your own - you should apply to as many programs as you are interested in. Minimum 15 I would say. If you're significant other is possibly going to "hold you back," then consider more like 25. We'll see if anyone disagrees with that, but at least that's a concrete number. Don't apply to like 40 programs. I did 35 and was way too many.

Obviously it helps to apply to the large cities, since there are multiple programs for each of you there.

There's at least one guy here that couples matched but didn't match, and had to burn a year waiting to reapply (which he did, and successfully matched, while his SO was already a year ahead). I didn't do a couples match, because I was a shiftless loser and didn't have anyone at that time.

However, your affirmative statement to not apply to 40 programs is only your suggestion. My (equally worthless) suggestion is to apply to as many as one can, and I agree completely with @DrYoda when he says "better safe than sorry".

(Not a dig on you - it's discussion.)

 

[gman33]

Couples matching makes the equation more complicated.
Talk to your SO about geography.
Pick citities that have programs where you will both be happy.
Apply to all the programs in those areas.

 

[CANY13]

How competitive is your wife/significant other?

Thanks for the advice everyone. To answer your question my SO is applying in Internal Medicine with a step1 of 268, step 2 278 and mostly honors.

 

[Apollyon]

Thanks for the advice everyone. To answer your question my SO is applying in Internal Medicine with a step1 of 268, step 2 278 and mostly honors.

Do the steps even go to 278 (I mean, I believe you, but that's way high)? That might make your SO the single highest scorer among every taker.

 

[Angry Birds]

You and your S.O.'s step scores are too low by ten points.

Am I the only one who dislikes the OP for his post? I find it obnoxious because he/she clearly knows that he is a strong applicant. It's quite snobby to go around asking about chances with those kind of stats and background. Or he/she is one of those weird trolls who posts imaginary scores for some bizarre reason. 270!?

 

[CANY13]

You and your S.O.'s step scores are too low by ten points.

Am I the only one who dislikes the OP for his post? I find it obnoxious because he/she clearly knows that he is a strong applicant. It's quite snobby to go around asking about chances with those kind of stats and background. Or he/she is one of those weird trolls who posts imaginary scores for some bizarre reason. 270!?

Sorry to offend anyone, certainly not my intention. I know I'm a strong candidate, just trying to get some advice from people who have been through or are going through the process. Thank you to those of you who gave me some advice!

 

[NeuroSturgeon]

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You and your S.O.'s step scores are too low by ten points.

Am I the only one who dislikes the OP for his post? I find it obnoxious because he/she clearly knows that he is a strong applicant. It's quite snobby to go around asking about chances with those kind of stats and background. Or he/she is one of those weird trolls who posts imaginary scores for some bizarre reason. 270!?

Hey man. Don't get insecure because there are some people out there who can pull freakishly high scores (although we're all jealous). I'm in the same boat as OP, I'm a competitive EM applicant couples matching (although unfortunately my SO isn't applying to a non-competitive specialty). OP isn't asking about their chances, they are asking how many places to apply, as EM is increasingly competitive. I'm applying to about 30 places, hope this helps. Better to apply broadly and pay for the extra interviews than not match.

 

[link2swim06]

Thanks for the advice everyone. To answer your question my SO is applying in Internal Medicine with a step1 of 268, step 2 278 and mostly honors.

You both are very competitive. I think applying to 20-35 programs would be appropriate.

That being said....applying is relatively cheap...going to the interviews is the expensive part. It's definitely better to over apply and have too many interviews than not enough.

Regardless you are both going to get interviews at the vast majority of the places you apply...assuming the rest of your app matches your scores.

 

[Angry Birds]

\


Hey man. Don't get insecure because there are some people out there who can pull freakishly high scores (although we're all jealous). I'm in the same boat as OP, I'm a competitive EM applicant couples matching (although unfortunately my SO isn't applying to a non-competitive specialty). OP isn't asking about their chances, they are asking how many places to apply, as EM is increasingly competitive. I'm applying to about 30 places, hope this helps. Better to apply broadly and pay for the extra interviews than not match.

I'm done with residency and could care less to be insecure about step scores. I've seen too many posts on SDN with people asking questions like "My step 1 score is 274 but my step two went done to 271. Do you think programs will note a downward trend and penalize me for that?" Give me a break.

Again, too old to be insecure about this. Just find such people annoyingly obnoxious.