How Many OMFS Programs Should I Apply To?

[ahagar94]

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Hello,
I recently graduated dental school and am preparing to send out my OMFS applications. I am hoping to get some insight into how many programs I should apply to, given the costly application process and limited finances on my part. I am applying to only 4-year programs and am completing a non-categorical year in 2020-2021, as I didn't decide until my D3 spring to pursue OMFS. To help give some insight into my application, I've included some info below:
Home Region: Southeast
Undergrad: Vanderbilt University
Dental School: A Southeast Dental School
Graduating GPA: 3.89
Graduating Class Rank: 6th
CBSE Score: 213
Extracurriculars: 150+ hrs in various community clinic scenarios, as well as being our Remote Area Medical Clinic Coordinator.
Research: Completed 1 research project and presented at IADR (2x).

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated! My list of programs is currently at 19, and I'm hoping to narrow it down to 10-12.

 

[deleted913442]

Hello,
I recently graduated dental school and am preparing to send out my OMFS applications. I am hoping to get some insight into how many programs I should apply to, given the costly application process and limited finances on my part. I am applying to only 4-year programs and am completing a non-categorical year in 2020-2021, as I didn't decide until my D3 spring to pursue OMFS. To help give some insight into my application, I've included some info below:
Home Region: Southeast
Undergrad: Vanderbilt University
Dental School: A Southeast Dental School
Graduating GPA: 3.89
Graduating Class Rank: 6th
CBSE Score: 213
Extracurriculars: 150+ hrs in various community clinic scenarios, as well as being our Remote Area Medical Clinic Coordinator.
Research: Completed 1 research project and presented at IADR (2x).

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated! My list of programs is currently at 19, and I'm hoping to narrow it down to 10-12.

So from talking to PDs, the goal is 10+ interviews. I have heard that if you score an 80+, you should apply to around 20 schools or so just because there is a lot of overlap with interviews. You have around a 75, so I would honestly say 25 programs is a good number to apply to. You could even get away with 20 programs just because you're doing 4yr only.

EDIT: I just read your last line. I would keep it at 19 and def not dip below 15. It is an investment now, so view it as that. You don't have to attend all 19 interviews if you get them, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

 

[BYU4you]

I was almost going to suggest adding more. You are competitive dont get me wrong. And there are plenty who match with applying to less. But in my opinion its well worth the extra cost. This isnt dental school, some places wont offer you an invite for who knows what reason. There were places I was shocked I got interviews for and shocked I didnt. It ended up being really random.

But for the sake of discussion what are you expecting to get in terms of help to narrow it down? Apply to where you would want to go if its only 10-12 places.

 

[PhansterZ]

Drop in the bucket. Apply to as many programs as possible. A year of income lost as an oral surgeon and another non-cat year is very painful. You can always turn down interviews if you have to many.

 

[ahagar94]

I was almost going to suggest adding more. You are competitive dont get me wrong. And there are plenty who match with applying to less. But in my opinion its well worth the extra cost. This isnt dental school, some places wont offer you an invite for who knows what reason. There were places I was shocked I got interviews for and shocked I didnt. It ended up being really random.

But for the sake of discussion what are you expecting to get in terms of help to narrow it down? Apply to where you would want to go if its only 10-12 places.

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping to narrow down based on geography. Based on the responses I've gotten here though, I think I'll just keep my current list of places and move forward!

 

[deleted913442]

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping to narrow down based on geography. Based on the responses I've gotten here though, I think I'll just keep my current list of places and move forward!

good move. rather be safe than sorry! do your best to go on 8-10 interviews if you get those. I know someone who matched to their 7th ranked program and scored a 75+. MATCH is a crapshoot

 

[Captain Underplants]

I applied to all 53 4 year OMS programs, I had a slightly different path since i was foreign trained first, and then did my BDS in the US, so I was at a disadvantage, but as others have said it's not worth it to risk it if you have any doubt you might not match. Or who knows maybe you'll interview somewhere and be surprised how well you fit in.

I would apply to as many as you feel comfortable, and given the whole COVID fiasco you might get to do some interviews online, which means no expensive flights and hotels, so you might be able to interview more places than previous years would allow.

My application to all 53 probably cost me 5-6K, probably 7 with hotel and flight costs, and I ended up matching in my home town, a block away from my house; but was it worth it. Absolutely.

 

[Beckwith Wiedemann]

I applied to all 53 4 year OMS programs, I had a slightly different path since i was foreign trained first, and then did my BDS in the US, so I was at a disadvantage, but as others have said it's not worth it to risk it if you have any doubt you might not match. Or who knows maybe you'll interview somewhere and be surprised how well you fit in.

I would apply to as many as you feel comfortable, and given the whole COVID fiasco you might get to do some interviews online, which means no expensive flights and hotels, so you might be able to interview more places than previous years would allow.

My application to all 53 probably cost me 5-6K, probably 7 with hotel and flight costs, and I ended up matching in my home town, a block away from my house; but was it worth it. Absolutely.

just wondering, how many interviews did you receive and attend out of 53? surprised it costed not that much as I expected - friend of mine applied to almost 30 and that costed like 10-12k everything included

 

[Captain Underplants]

just wondering, how many interviews did you receive and attend out of 53? surprised it costed not that much as I expected - friend of mine applied to almost 30 and that costed like 10-12k everything included

Got 11 or 12 I think. Turned down two.
It really wasn’t that bad. I drove to several of them and got good flights but it wasn’t crazy expensive.

 

[CubsFan44]

Decent chance interviews could be virtual this year too. That would be a huge cost savings.

 

[Silver_arrow]

Hello,
I recently graduated dental school and am preparing to send out my OMFS applications. I am hoping to get some insight into how many programs I should apply to, given the costly application process and limited finances on my part. I am applying to only 4-year programs and am completing a non-categorical year in 2020-2021, as I didn't decide until my D3 spring to pursue OMFS. To help give some insight into my application, I've included some info below:
Home Region: Southeast
Undergrad: Vanderbilt University
Dental School: A Southeast Dental School
Graduating GPA: 3.89
Graduating Class Rank: 6th
CBSE Score: 213
Extracurriculars: 150+ hrs in various community clinic scenarios, as well as being our Remote Area Medical Clinic Coordinator.
Research: Completed 1 research project and presented at IADR (2x).

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated! My list of programs is currently at 19, and I'm hoping to narrow it down to 10-12.

I wanted to share this link with you.
It’s about a medical student going through the interview process and how she cut costs.

Residency Interviews: Spend Less and Interview More | White Coat Investor

Think you need to spend $5-20K during resident interview season? After 17 interviews, 20 planes, & 35 nights, this 4th year spent $1,560. Here's how she got it done.

www.whitecoatinvestor.com

The only advice I have is to not purchase plane tickets too soon. Wait until the last minute if possible. There was more than one occasion where I had purchased plane tickets (round trip) and then was offered more interviews in other programs after I already purchased those original tickets. A lot of these interviews will happen at roughly the same time and you can group all these interviews into the same trips. This involves you to be flexible and fly from city to city.

I remember a long time ago when I went through this it was a pretty stressful time.
I ended matching to my number one choice and it was all worth it In the end.
I couldn’t have done this had it not been for my mentor (I was his extern when he was a resident himself) who helped me with this process tremendously. It definitely helps to have a current resident read your personal statement and do mock interviews with you. Up to today he still mentors me and is one of my closest friends. Of course I need to also give props to my wife (who was my girlfriend at the time) driving me back and forth from the airport, checking my email and already making all the travel arrangements for me.

As far as web interviews that may happen but I highly doubt it.
I remember my first year of residency it was 120-130 hours a week. That’s a lot of time to spend with other people. They need to observe you in person before they commit to you. There was one busy period that I didn’t leave the hospital for two weeks. Why bother I thought? Just go home for a few hours and change and shower is not worth it. I could save the time traveling by sleeping in one of the call rooms. Many of us fell asleep while driving home. It can dangerous. Your residency will push you to the limit and beyond.

I agree that you should apply to as many programs as possible. There are countless good programs out there.
UCSF Fresno
Carle clinic
Christiana care
Jackson memorial hospital
WHC
BMC
VCU
UOP

Again there any many good ones but these definitely need to be on your list.

In the end I went to 13-14 interviews and ranked all the programs.

Good luck young man.

 

[PatsMan1]

Hello,
I recently graduated dental school and am preparing to send out my OMFS applications. I am hoping to get some insight into how many programs I should apply to, given the costly application process and limited finances on my part. I am applying to only 4-year programs and am completing a non-categorical year in 2020-2021, as I didn't decide until my D3 spring to pursue OMFS. To help give some insight into my application, I've included some info below:
Home Region: Southeast
Undergrad: Vanderbilt University
Dental School: A Southeast Dental School
Graduating GPA: 3.89
Graduating Class Rank: 6th
CBSE Score: 213
Extracurriculars: 150+ hrs in various community clinic scenarios, as well as being our Remote Area Medical Clinic Coordinator.
Research: Completed 1 research project and presented at IADR (2x).

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated! My list of programs is currently at 19, and I'm hoping to narrow it down to 10-12.

Apply to around 20 programs. It’s starting to look very likely that most of not all interviews will be virtual. So that will save you a lot of money if in fact the interviews are in deed virtual.

 

[ahagar94]

I wanted to sincerely thank you all for your for your time an input. I just submitted my applications with a final number of 22. Hoping for good news in the months to come.

 

[Demilaax]

I applied to all 53 4 year OMS programs, I had a slightly different path since i was foreign trained first, and then did my BDS in the US, so I was at a disadvantage, but as others have said it's not worth it to risk it if you have any doubt you might not match. Or who knows maybe you'll interview somewhere and be surprised how well you fit in.

I would apply to as many as you feel comfortable, and given the whole COVID fiasco you might get to do some interviews online, which means no expensive flights and hotels, so you might be able to interview more places than previous years would allow.

My application to all 53 probably cost me 5-6K, probably 7 with hotel and flight costs, and I ended up matching in my home town, a block away from my house; but was it worth it. Absolutely.

So programs don't care how many programs you apply to?

 

[NaCl is Salt]

Do programs see how many you apply to? and like @Demilaax asked, if they do, do they care?

 

[klownzo]

So programs don't care how many programs you apply to?

I've been told that they simply get your application and have no idea how many you apply to.

 

[Captain Underplants]

Do programs see how many you apply to? and like @Demilaax asked, if they do, do they care?

They have no way of knowing, but some will ask how many applied, and where else you've interviewed, if they're really bold some will ask how many interviews you've gotten total.

I only had one interview which wasn't going too well because the PD is known to try to get under your skin, he asked how many I've applied and how many interviews I had; then asked me "why should I take you if so many other programs don't even want to send you an interview".

SO short version, nobody *really* cares too much how many you apply to, you can always say "this is what I want and I want to make sure I leave no stone unturned/door unknocked to achieve my dreams", and that should shut them up