How many interveiws? How many to rank?

[tanin]

Hi,
I am applying to IM residency and I really appreciate if I could get some advice as to how many interviews to go to? Is it true that in reality, only the frist three on your ROL are important? Do you think it would be risky to rank only one DO program (with a strong interview) and total of three MD ones? I am applying in southern california by the way.

Thank you so much,

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[scpod]

I met a number of residents on the interview trail who successfully "suicide matched" but in all cases they did almost all of their rotations at that particular hospital. Dunno how many people failed at it, but I can only guess and would imagine it could be pretty high. I know a number of people in the class ahead of me who tried it and failed. I know a couple of people who went to 8 or more on their list before matching. Of course, I also know plenty who got their first or second choices. Who knows? I plan to rank at least ten places because, although I like to gamble in real life, this is waaaaaay toooooooo biiiiiiiiiig of a thing to leave up to chance.

 

[peppy]

I am applying in southern california by the way.

While IM in general is not particularly competitive, California is a highly desirable location for all residencies, so I would tell you to apply to and interview at every residency you could see yourself being happy at and can reasonably afford the time off/travel costs for.
In addition to improving your chances of matching, it is good to get a chance to see different programs and compare them. Sometimes you might be surprised and like a program more than you thought you would once you get to interview there.
The match is going to get harder and harder for applicants over the next few years and there is a good chance that it will become more difficult for DOs to match in allopathic residencies as the number of allopathic med students increases. The last thing you want is to overestimate how easy it will be for you to match and wind up with nothing.