How many interviews...

[dancer75088]

I know that there is no guarantee for matching, but how many interviews do you recommend going on in order to insure the best possible chance of matching, bearing in mind budget and time?

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[alwaysaangel]

I know that there is no guarantee for matching, but how many interviews do you recommend going on in order to insure the best possible chance of matching, bearing in mind budget and time?

Completely depends on your specialty.

Go here: http://www.nrmp.org/data/chartingoutcomes2009v3.pdf

find your specialty and look at how many places students in 2009 needed to rank to have a 99-100% chance of matching. You need to rank at least that many, you need to go to that many interviews + a couple in case there are a few programs you really dislike.

For example, for EM 99% of applicants who rank 10 programs successfully match. So I am planning on going on 10-12 interviews.

 

[sella turcica]

I am going into psychiatry and was told that (I personally) could probably rank a few places and match. However, I plan to interview at no less than 12 places. Maybe 14 or 15 if I don't burn out and somehow manage to schedule it. Maybe I'm crazy, but it takes one to know one, so I guess I picked the right field.

 

[DrZuza]

Maybe I'm crazy, but it takes one to know one, so I guess I picked the right field.

This gave me a good laugh! Thanks for your great humor!!!

 

[shopsteward]

You can only go to as many interviews as you are invited to. How competitive are you on paper for the residency you want?

One invitation to interview is enough if you match there. But how good are you at interviews, and how much are you willing to risk your future on the possibility of an unexpected bad interview?

You can only rank places you have interviewed at. You will only want to rank places where you think you can successfully complete several years of stressful work and training. You can't know which those places are until you've been on interview at them.

If time and budget are an issue, you might think about keeping your applications regional and/or applying only to places where you have a higher chance of succeeding. But one cause of failing to match seems to be a failure to apply widely enough. You budget issues will be a bigger problem if you fail to match than if you spend the money and get a successful outcome.

 

[twilightdoc]

You can only rank places you have interviewed at. You will only want to rank places where you think you can successfully complete several years of stressful work and training. You can't know which those places are until you've been on interview at them. If time and budget are an issue, you might think about keeping your applications regional and/or applying only to places where you have a higher chance of succeeding. But one cause of failing to match seems to be a failure to apply widely enough. You budget issues will be a bigger problem if you fail to match than if you spend the money and get a successful outcome.

The answer to the "how many interviews" question is complex, as noted by others in this thread. Part of the "how many" relates to the likelihood of you being successful in matching at one of them, but the other consideration relates to finding a program (or several programs) that you think are a good fit for you in terms of stress, learning style, support, location, etc. Even if you "knew" prior to the actual interview that there was one (and only one) program that you wanted, it is prudent to look at some others, in part to reaffirm that you had chosen the best one for you. And as others have said, the most common reason people don't match is that they don't rank enough programs, sometimes related to not applying to enough in the beginning, choosing not to interview at enough, or not ranking programs where they actually interviewed. If you go to the trouble and expense of interviewing at a program, I would put serious thought into the decision to leave that program off of your rank list. Would you rather be there, or take a chance on the "scramble"? While there are some success stories related to the scramble, there are many more stories of disappointment.

 

[atsai3]

And as others have said, the most common reason people don't match is that they don't rank enough programs, sometimes related to not applying to enough in the beginning, choosing not to interview at enough, or not ranking programs where they actually interviewed.

This is partially true.
Results of a study describing reasons for not matching were posted in a previous thread:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=765395

"Rank order list mismanagement" was No. 3 on the list, but unfortunately for many, factors related to applicant quality were even higher on the list, at No. 1 & No. 2.

-AT.

 

[twilightdoc]

..."Rank order list mismanagement" was No. 3 on the list, but unfortunately for many, factors related to applicant quality were even higher on the list, at No. 1 & No. 2.

Of the things that an applicant can "fix" at the beginning of and during the ERAS process, I believe that "rank order list mismanagement" is number one. You can't undo your grades and board scores (assuming you passed). You may be choosing a specialty for which you are not competitive, and I suppose that can be changed as well. But assuming that the applicant is a viable candidate in their specialty of choice and has received good advice at their home institution, the rank order issues (how many programs are contacted, how many actual interviews, and how many are ranked) are clearly important. In my experience in advising med students, the number one reason for not matching was not ranking enough programs; most of those students had interviewed at places where they probably would have matched but decided to eliminate them from the rank list. Again, if you go to the trouble and expense of interviewing at a program, make sure that your reasons for not ranking that program are solid.

 

[GuzzyRon]

Of the things that an applicant can "fix" at the beginning of and during the ERAS process, I believe that "rank order list mismanagement" is number one. You can't undo your grades and board scores (assuming you passed). You may be choosing a specialty for which you are not competitive, and I suppose that can be changed as well. But assuming that the applicant is a viable candidate in their specialty of choice and has received good advice at their home institution, the rank order issues (how many programs are contacted, how many actual interviews, and how many are ranked) are clearly important. In my experience in advising med students, the number one reason for not matching was not ranking enough programs; most of those students had interviewed at places where they probably would have matched but decided to eliminate them from the rank list. Again, if you go to the trouble and expense of interviewing at a program, make sure that your reasons for not ranking that program are solid.

My school told us the same thing. They advised every senior to apply to at least 30 schools and rank EVERY program where we interview (except we'd rather not match than go to a program that we chose not to rank).