How many interviews to go on?

[stat!!]

So I'm the guy who applied to waaay too many programs, since I like wasting money and I'm not sure where my wife and I want to end up. I've heard that you start going crazy after 10 interviews, so that seems like a sane number. Should I just interview at the top programs that I receive interviews from, assuming that I will match at one of them, or should I still interview at the safetys, since receiving an interview does not mean I'll match there... Anyone? Thanks...

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[maddog75]

Good question. I'd be interested in knowing what people think about this one. I always get the impression that the top schools interview me as a "safety" applicant.

 

[inositide]

Good question. I'd be interested in knowing what people think about this one. I always get the impression that the top schools interview me as a "safety" applicant.

That is a hard question to answer. The programs don't know if you are interviewing just for the sake of interviewing and have no plans to rank them on your list. Similarly, it is hard to guage the top tier programs in terms of whether they will rank you or not even if they offered an interview.

The safe solution is to interview at some top programs if invited, and do not neglect to interview at your "safety programs" because it is far better to match at your safety choice then be forced to scramble.

With that said, only rank programs that you could see yourself at. Do not under any circumstances include any program in your rank list for March that you would never ever want to be at for any reason (geography, community vs hospital based, malignant environment, etc).

 

[mattman49]

The advice I've heard, which was given to a friend applying for Gen Surg but is likely still relevant, is to interview @ every tier you applied in. For example, lets say you get offered 6 top tier interviews, 6 second tier, and 6 third tier (tier's reference only your preference - forget about rankings) - and you will do 10, then do some from each level (say 4-5 top, 3-4 second, 3-4 third tier). You don't want to cut out the middle with all top and bottom, because it may be that you'll fit in the middle, and by not giving those programs a chance and just thinking "dream program" and "safety program" you'll end up either not matching (if you rank all dreams), or matching below where you could have. Hope that makes sense...it's the approach I'm trying...we'll see how it goes!