how many interviews is a good number?

[curiouslygeorge]

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say you apply to 25-30 schools of varying ranges. what is a good number of interviews to expect to consider yourself a

1. highly competitive candidate
2. good candidate
3. average candidate
4. below average candidate

 

[Jeffy]

4. 0 Interviews

 

[DoctorMalki]

4. 0 Interviews

 

[drsungoddess]

1. 25-30 interviews

JK, somebody once said that if you go based on probibilities, 5-7 would be a good number of interviews for you to get at least one acceptance. Hope that helps.

 

[Mumpu]

All you need is one interview.

I had two, first at my second-choice school with acceptance 3 days later, and 2nd a month later at my first-choice school with acceptance a few weeks later.

Saved a ton of money on travel expenses. 🙂

 

[DoctorMalki]

All you need is one interview.

I had two, first at my second-choice school with acceptance 3 days later, and 2nd a month later at my first-choice school with acceptance a few weeks later.

Saved a ton of money on travel expenses. 🙂

congrats ! you must be a great interviewer ! 🙂

 

[curiouslygeorge]

so would you say applying to 29 schools and having 9 interviews at this point is a good sign? i am not bragging or complaining. just insecure like all of us. i also have 3 rejections.

 

[bigdan]

9 interviews is very good. Someone in the "Official Interviews Thread" has like 14.

If you've got the interest, money, and desire to interview that much, go for it.

And good luck!

dc

 

[Mumpu]

Not really a good interviewer -- I just picked the right schools. 😛

 

[rgporter]

A good number with 25-30 applications would be 20 or so. Atleast that is what a strong applicant would get. A good number to have a realistic chance of an acceptance is much lower than that. I think anyone with 5+ interviews has a better than even chance of making it in somewhere (even if it is off the wait list). Ultimately all you need is one good interview.
Personally I applied to 10 schools, I withdrew my name at one of those, and 7 of the other 9 interviewed me. I recieved two acceptances (sans waitlist), one more off of a waitlist, and I pulled my name off of the other four waitlists.

For the record I chose the first school to offer me an acceptance, without a stint on their waitlist, I felt a lot better about a school that wanted me enough to not leave me dangling. I hated feeling like plan B.

 

[RaistlinMajere]

so would you say applying to 29 schools and having 9 interviews at this point is a good sign?

What do you think? You have 9 interviews and it's September. Reeelaaax.

 

[jlee9531]

i say 15-20% of the number of schools you applied to would be OK for just your average joe applicant.
so in your case 3-6 interviews. (25-30 schools)
and if you interview very well, chances are one of those should pan out.

i had 5 invites out of 43 schools last year. not great. but still made the most of them. declined 1. accepted to 3 schools and 1 WL.

i hope to similar success this time around tho i'm not too very sure about that.
applied to 32 schools. so i'm hoping for 3 interviews. i'm confident if i can get some, i can get in again.

 

[Mr. Seeds]

i say 15-20% of the number of schools you applied to would be OK for just your average joe applicant.
so in your case 3-6 interviews. (25-30 schools)
and if you interview very well, chances are one of those should pan out.

i had 5 invites out of 43 schools last year. not great. but still made the most of them. declined 1. accepted to 3 schools and 1 WL.

i hope to similar success this time around tho i'm not too very sure about that.
applied to 32 schools. so i'm hoping for 3 interviews. i'm confident if i can get some, i can get in again.

you had 3 acceptances, and you're reapplying? 😕

 

[striped sweater]

i had 5 invites out of 43 schools last year. not great. but still made the most of them. declined 1. accepted to 3 schools and 1 WL.

i hope to similar success this time around tho i'm not too very sure about that. applied to 32 schools. so i'm hoping for 3 interviews. i'm confident if i can get some, i can get in again.

wait... i am confused, too. why would you apply again if you got in to three schools?

 

[FlushingNemo]

I know someone who applied to about 50 schools, got 2 interviews in December, 1 acceptance on the spot, and 1 acceptance two weeks later. I also know someone with better numbers and some might say a better application overall who applied to about 50 schools, got no interviews, hence no acceptances. The moral of the story? There's no sure-fire way to tell. But the guy who got accepted sure did have passion. Maybe the ADCOMs saw that.

 

[Mumpu]

Actually, the moral of the story is to pick schools appropriately so you are not spending $10,000 on application fees and interview travel. :\

 

[lattimer13]

All you need is one interview.

I had two, first at my second-choice school with acceptance 3 days later, and 2nd a month later at my first-choice school with acceptance a few weeks later.

Saved a ton of money on travel expenses. 🙂

agreed. 1 will do it.