How many interviews are enough?

[ColinHay]

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First - do invites for interview go to anyone that applies?
How many interviews do you suggest going to? How many interviews and how many programs will you rank in the end?
I could not find a good resource to compare programs other than word of mouth and anonymous opinions so I feel I need to see each program for myself to make a decision.

 

[Ludicolo]

First - do invites for interview go to anyone that applies?

Of course not.

How many interviews do you suggest going to? How many interviews and how many programs will you rank in the end?

Depends on you competitive you think you are, and how much personal financial or geographical restrictions apply. Remember that you will also have to budget for prelim interviews as well.

Based on prior match data, the magic number of programs ranked to best ensure matching seems to be about 8. But there is always the perennial “things seem to be more competitive this year”.

I could not find a good resource to compare programs other than word of mouth and anonymous opinions so I feel I need to see each program for myself to make a decision.

People have used scutwork, the SDN residency interview forum, the above stickied interview trail threads. But you are correct that they are all WOM and anonymous. You do need to see each program for yourself. What’s important to you doesn’t carry the same amount of weight for the next applicant. This is a personal decision.

 

[SportsMed09]

THe number of interviews you take is solely dependent on geographic restrictions (necessity vs. luxury) and your confidence in how competitive you are. The magic number does seem to be 8. I took 6 interviews and went where I wanted to, so it's all up to you. Just remember to only rank places you want to go. And always remember: your gut feeling about the program and how you fit in is ALWAYS RIGHT. Don't try to change it with logic.

 

[latinman]

I will probably get flamed for telling this, but people here tend to be very vague when defining competitive.

Competitive in my opinion is having a GPA greater than 3.3 and USMLE greater than 220.

If ur #'s are a little lower than this you will probably not get a spot in your ideal geographical location.

I am talking from my own experience, since I am coming from a no-namer school which probably made things even harder.