How many interviews is it realistically possible to do?

[Blue Haze]

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I've heard advice that you shouldn't do more than 15-18 or so, because you get burned out after that. Well, I've applied to a ton of programs and I want to do as many as possible to maximize my chances. I've got Dec and Jan off and Nov from around the 20th on. I have an easy elective in Nov so I might be able to interview a bit, locally, during that time. I'm already finding it tough to schedule interviews in a logistically convenient pattern. What's the most interviews you've heard of anyone doing?

 

[Pilot Doc]

I did 14, but I had to contend with a couples match. It was too many. You will burn out way before 15-18. (That's the point where brain death and bankruptcy occur simultaneously). 10 is a good number.

 

[Blue Haze]

I did 14, but I had to contend with a couples match. It was too many. You will burn out way before 15-18. (That's the point where brain death and bankruptcy occur simultaneously). 10 is a good number.

Why did you "burn out" after 14? Sure it'll be tough. But considering the crap we've all been through the four years wouldn't a little travelin' and chattin' be a fairly doable thing?

 

[toxic-megacolon]

Why did you "burn out" after 14? Sure it'll be tough. But considering the crap we've all been through the four years wouldn't a little travelin' and chattin' be a fairly doable thing?

Oh god. Its hell. You'll see. Its extra fun when flights get cancelled or baggage gets lost.

 

[blue2000]

Why did you "burn out" after 14? Sure it'll be tough. But considering the crap we've all been through the four years wouldn't a little travelin' and chattin' be a fairly doable thing?

Describing it as "a little travelin' and chattin'" doesn't really give an adequate idea of the intensity of the experience. I'm sure there are other people who did more and would disagree with me, but the idea of being "on" for 24-48 hours, including the social events, coupled with the extra energy it takes to travel in unfamiliar surroundings and cities. It's hard to define exactly; the programs also start to run together, and you start to get apathetic about what you like and what you don't, which is bad for picking a place for the next 5-7 years.

 

[Vincristine]

I triple the sentiment the whole thing not being so much fun. It's hard to be "on" so much. You want to kill the person who asks you "but do you have any questions for me"? You will want to eat a meal and drink a few without worrying about spilling or saying something dumb. You'll want to stop smiling and looking interested. The weather will suck. You'll be in cities you don't know, spending too many nights in random hotels without your loves ones.

The actual couple of hours for each interview that you are actually "interviewing" isn't bad, but it's ALL the rest of the bull****. Your apathy will be magnified when at the programs you're iffy about anyway.

I'm very impressed with anyone who can do 14, I did 10 and SOOOO didn't care after about 7 which was bad given my top programs were at the end (not on purpose, just the way it worked out).

 

[Blade28]

It's damn tiring.

 

[Pilot Doc]

Why did you "burn out" after 14? Sure it'll be tough. But considering the crap we've all been through the four years wouldn't a little travelin' and chattin' be a fairly doable thing?

The above posts have answered that question well. The other thing to consider is _why_ you would interview at 15-18 places. If you interview at 14 places and can't match at a single one you're either very very unlucky (in which case you should spend the money on life insurance rather than extra interviews) or you have major personal flaws that additional interviews will not fix.

I don't have hard data, but the stories I hear of people not matching are much more typically errors in judgement rather than lack of interviews. For example, someone if your class, and you can probably predict who already, will interview at 9 schools and rank 3: MGH, Brigham and Duke as a safety. That dumba$$ will not match. The person who got 5 interviews at N, S, E, W and Central Toledo Community Hospitals and ranked them all will match.

 

[Blue Haze]

Ok I'm at 14 or so now. It's really not so bad. I definately wouldn't say I'm "burned out". I've done a few runs of three interviews in three days and those were tiring, but a few days at home to rest up and all is right again. I'm definately glad I'm doing so many interviews. What's more I'm finding it's not unusual either. People are definately doing more interviews these days than the had been a few years ago. Programs seem to be interviewing around ten people for each slot. It makes sense to do at least 50$ more than that to skew the odds a bit. The only real drawback is the cost. Apart from that it's no big deal. 😎

 

[robotsonic]

Blue Haze, how many are you going to do total? I'm only doing 11 total (7 down as of today). Even with people doing more interviews, I'm pretty sure we all have a good chance of matching if we rank 10 programs. The best reason for doing a lot of interviews (I guess) would be because you couldn't narrow the list down and wanted to see a variety of programs. Other than that, I'm not sure why you would do so many.

 

[Blue Haze]

I'm doing 18. I've cancelled quite a few. There are a few reasons why I'm doing it this way. First, I have no idea what this year's match will be like. The talk is that the applications are up bigtime this year. So I'd rather err on the side of doing too many than having to do it again next year. Also, some of the programs I've been to seemed promising on paper and even by word of mouth but when I got there they fall way short of my expectations. It's very hard to judge a place without going there and meeting the people. This way I can throw some out after learning about them and still have a lot to rank.

I took njbmj (or whatever her screenname is - the resident from UVA who posts here). She recommends doing twice as many as the number of applicants the programs in your specialty interview for each slot. I'm doing a little less than that. Better safe than sorry.

 

[AlexRusso]

I'm doing 23 total. As of today I've done 18 and will have my 19th one tomorrow. I have 2 more next weekend and 2 more the following weekend. I am FAR FROM "burned out." I actually just came back from vacation and am pretty relaxed and ready to interview. All my interviews are in or around the city I grew up in so the stresses (financial, social, physical, etc.) associated with traveling and finding yourself in unfamiliar surroundings do not apply to me. I imagine this must be very different for people whose interviews are more geographically spread out.

The only thing I was sure about when I started the process is what city I wanted to be in. Now, as I've interviewed at a lot of places, I am starting to realize what it is that I really want in a program and this, in turn, will enable me to make a much more informed decision about my ROL.

I actually really enjoyed the whole interview process. Meeting different surgeons, some in academic setting some in community, and hearing about their careers and the differences in training their programs offer has really opened my eyes to the different types of practice settings that are out there. Hearing from the residents about the training they receive at their programs has also allowed me to see many differences between programs I was previously oblivious to.

I also enjoyed meeting all the applicants on the trail and discussing with them the different programs we have visited. It is interesting to hear what variables other people will be considering when making their ROL and sharing your own set of priorities with them. The applicants you meet on your interviews are going through the same exact process you are and they are interviewing for the same residency at the same places (my friends from school are either applying for different specialties or are interviewing at different programs than I am) so who better to discuss all your concerns with than the people who share those same exact concerns. The more interviews you go on the more of the same people you see and the more you can interact with them and discuss all these issues that are so important to us right now.

I originally scheduled 27 interviews. I recently cancelled 4 of them because I now realize what it is that I am looking for in a residency and understand that these 4 places do not offer those things. I was only able to make this decision because I interviewed at enough places to understand the differences between programs and to figure out what I want.

I would recommend doing as many interviews as you can. I don't think you will ever again get such an opportunity to learn so much about the different types of surgical training that is available to you. Just my $.02

 

[ExtraCrispy]

I just completed 14 today and I'm dead tired. I think I mentally signed off after interview 11, not only b/c the process is tedious b/c by 11 I'd visited all the programs in which I was most interested.

I originally scheduled 18, but I"m going to cancel my last two b/c as of now I have enough for a rank order list, and the last two aren't as strong as others which I've visited.

I'm with the others on here who view the process as laborious. I've spoken to other applicants who've thoroughly enjoyed interviews, but I'm tired of wracking my brain to ask more questions, suppressing my instinct to make a goofy crackpot Muppet joke at the wrong moment, and pretending to feel natural in a tailored getup that I'd never, ever wear under other circumstances. I think I'll puke if I see one more call room.

 

[NebelDO]

Ive done 12 with 2 to go thankfully. The fatigue has begun to set in. Esp. since im doing a cardiac surgery month at the same time right now.
Im amazed at some of the previous posters stamina for all those interviews.

 

[happy puppet]

If I could re-do this process (insh'allah I will never have to), I think I would have been more practical about WHERE I applied: i.e. there's no way my partner would want/could move to UNC or Utah, so I shouldn't have wasted the money applying; I just canceled their interviews anyway. I ended up canceling 7...applied to 23, interviewed at 14. I should have taken my PD's advice and just applied to 10-15. The process has been okay (except my wallet was removed from me from some nice person in a NYC bar), but it takes time I could be home relaxing with friends/family. I knew I'd never go to Boston so why did I apply? Just my thoughts....10 IS a good number; I think only those with deficiencies in their application should apply to more than 15 or 18.

 

[redsurgeon]

...suppressing my instinct to make a goofy crackpot Muppet joke at the wrong moment...

Lord knows this'll be a deficiency in my application.

 

[Espion]

Lord knows this'll be a deficiency in my application.

It's probably not as much of a deficiency as you might think:

"It seems like any wacko with a couple of ping-pong balls and some shag carpet can call themselves a muppet." ~Kermit the Frog on MSNBC (Seriously)

Anyway, I had scheduled 19, went to 15. 15 is a nice, solid number. I axed the others because I was comfortable with my ROL and it would have been unnecessary travel.

I say: schedule the programs you would most like to look at in the middle (while you still have the energy for them) and try not to apply to a program if you have to struggle to answer the question: "Why here?"