How many is too few?

[SoImpossible]

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I have been hearing from other applicants that because of this year's increase in applications, that they were going to rank more places than their friends who matched last year or the year before.
Just wondering how many programs people here plan on ranking.

I interviewed at 10, was planning to rank 6.

 

[Idiopathic]

Interviewed at 9, will rank 9. I quit because I think I'll probably get 1 or 2.

 

[iron]

in general that should be fine, but there are obviously multiple factors at work. your record... GPA/class rank, USMLE and if you are ranking realistic schools for your record.
If you are US medical grad with USMLE above 80 (no failures/remediation), you should be able to find a reasonable program.

 

[toughlife]

in general that should be fine, but there are obviously multiple factors at work. your record... GPA/class rank, USMLE and if you are ranking realistic schools for your record.
If you are US medical grad with USMLE above 80 (no failures/remediation), you should be able to find a reasonable program.

Doesn't getting an interview at a program, regardless of its ranking, give you a shot at matching provided you don't blow the interview? Or are you implying that programs interview people they have no intention of ranking?
If the latter is the case that is unfair to the applicant.

 

[DrDre']

i'LL brag for my homey, Idio. He's sittin' around 99 so hopefully he will match in his top 10! 🙂

in general that should be fine, but there are obviously multiple factors at work. your record... GPA/class rank, USMLE and if you are ranking realistic schools for your record.
If you are US medical grad with USMLE above 80 (no failures/remediation), you should be able to find a reasonable program.

 

[Idiopathic]

Doesn't getting an interview at a program, regardless of its ranking, give you a shot at matching provided you don't blow the interview? Or are you implying that programs interview people they have no intention of ranking?
If the latter is the case that is unfair to the applicant.

No, but sometimes they decide during the interview that they will not rank an applicant. I believe the PD of Hopkins said that in a recent thread.

 

[Idiopathic]

i'LL brag for my homey, Idio. He's sittin' around 99 so hopefully he will match in his top 10! 🙂

Wow, top ten huh, lets hope top 1, top 2 at the worst.

 

[smittma1]

No, but sometimes they decide during the interview that they will not rank an applicant. I believe the PD of Hopkins said that in a recent thread.

Indeed, we'll rank about 85% of interviewed applicants. If an unranked applicant calls for a second visit, we'll disclose his status so as to not to unfairly waste time and money.

Scott Mittman
Program Director
Johns Hopkins Program

 

[Sugar72]

Interviewed at 9, will rank 9. I quit because I think I'll probably get 1 or 2.

I will rank all of the programs I interviewed at because to me - matching at my last choice is better than scrambling!

 

[toughlife]

No, but sometimes they decide during the interview that they will not rank an applicant. I believe the PD of Hopkins said that in a recent thread.

so if you get an email from your interviewers asking you to rank them high would you assume they are at least ranking you, or would you assume they can be blowing smoke up your tail and not ranking you at all?

 

[Idiopathic]

so if you get an email from your interviewers asking you to rank them high would you assume they are at least ranking you, or would you assume they can be blowing smoke up your tail and not ranking you at all?

I would always assume that everyone gets that email.

 

[Trisomy13]

interviewed (or will interview) at 14. would be happy i'm sure at 13 of them.





ranking 12 because i am moderately triskaidekaphobic.

 

[jennyboo]

By the time I'm done I'll have interviewed at 12 and probably will rank 9 or 10. Up to #8 would all be okay for me, 9 and 10 would be a little bit sad.

Since my top few programs require good numbers, I don't think I'd be too surprised to drop down to #5 or #6 on my rank list.... But here's to hoping that I'm still among the 86% of all US medical students who get one of their top three choices. 🙄

 

[DrDre']

Idio,
Sorry! The limitations of written communication: I was being Faketious (sic!).

I expect you in your top 2. 🙂 Why else would I sing your praises?

Wow, top ten huh, lets hope top 1, top 2 at the worst.

 

[DrDre']

Ranked 8/8. IMHO, there will be no scrambling this yr for all intents and purposes (intensive purposes to the writing Nazis).



GL!

 

[Daredevil]

Indeed, we'll rank about 85% of interviewed applicants. If an unranked applicant calls for a second visit, we'll disclose his status so as to not to unfairly waste time and money.

Scott Mittman
Program Director
Johns Hopkins Program

What was the reason for not ranking 15% of the applicants?

Just curioius..

 

[Idiopathic]

Ranked 8/8. IMHO, there will be no scrambling this yr for all intents and purposes (intensive purposes to the writing Nazis).



GL!

Cant wait to see your ROL.

 

[rugtrousers]

interviewed (or will interview) at 14. would be happy i'm sure at 13 of them.

ranking 12 because i am moderately triskaidekaphobic.

Dude, what about your handle??

 

[DrRobert]

What was the reason for not ranking 15% of the applicants?

Just curioius..

I have the same question. A few PDs have issued similar comments about how they interview a certain number and only rank a certain number. The difference has been anywhere from 10% - 60%. I think wasting 10% - 60% of candidates' time and money is unreasonable.

Note: These numbers did not involve applicants that blew it on interview day for one reason or another. These were hard numbers, regardless of interview performance.

 

[Trisomy13]

Dude, what about your handle??

oh. my. god.



what can i say? i'm a simply complex individual.

not to be confused with a herpes simplex individual.


but that's a discussion for another thread.





3-4 more interviews before i can make my zany ROL. there have already been some major upsets.

 

[militarymd]

What was the reason for not ranking 15% of the applicants?

Just curioius..

I get the impression that he is saying that about 15% of the applicants are "not desirable"...ie...they do not want them at all.

 

[Trisomy13]

Note: These numbers did not involve applicants that blew it on interview day for one reason or another. These were hard numbers, regardless of interview performance.

Not ranking 60% sounds very high to me. I can see 15% not being ranked just on the grounds of the interview, be it from "blowing the interview" (which sounds dangerously close to a situation that would more likely guarantee a ranking) or just realizing the the candidate in the flesh is not as impressive or appealing as the candidate was on paper.

I guess the question is this:

If a program traditionally only ranks 100 applicants, and gets the applicants it desires, should they only offer 150-200 interviews, or is it still reasonable to see who is out there and interview 400, considering that the number of qualified applicants is rising?

(made up numbers for illustrative purposes, don't hit me if they are absurd)

 

[smittma1]

What was the reason for not ranking 15% of the applicants?

Just curious..

Interviews are time-consuming and expensive for programs, too. We try to interview only as many candidates as will be required to fill the program (accounting for applicants interviewed but not ranked and "yield" in the Match).

However, only so much can be learned from the printed application. Eight-five percent of the time, the interview confirms what we've seen on paper. Fifteen percent of the time, one or more (usually all) of the interviewers feels uncomfortable in some way about the applicant.

Scott Mittman
Program Director
Johns Hopkins Program