How many programs should I apply to?

[tdod]

I have to cast a broad net b/c my wife is a year below me and I want to end up in a place where she has a high likelihood of matching into a nearby institution (therefore I'm looking at big cities, esp. Houston, Detroit, Chicago, New York.).

Given that we can only attend 17 interviews this year for EM, I am worried that I will easily exceed that number. This could be an issue if my interview offers are staggered - I would have to either reject the current interviews or become ineligible for possible future interviews.

Consequently, I'm considering lowering the number of institutions I apply to. The question is how many.

So my questions are:
1) are interview offers staggered? (i.e. might I have an interview done at one institution in November and then in December receive an interview offer from a different institution.)
2) How many programs should I apply to? My stats are below.


Stats:
- Step 1: 255 (88th percentile)
- Step 2: 271 (95th percentile)
- Grades: mostly high passes, 1 honors, 1 pass. No fails.
- Dean's letter: No bad comments. Some extremely strong comments.
- LoR/SLOEs: I believe my letters from non-EM SLOE writers are very strong. Idk what my SLOE looks like (they don't tell us).
- Behavioral: No red flags.
- Extra curricular: 1 hour clinic volunteering per week for ~ 3 years. Currently a paid medical school tutor. Nothing else.

Thanks!

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[Tenk]

1. Yes
2. You want a range of institutions (ie don’t only apply to Ivy League academics). Also, when interviewing you want to assess for any other learners other than EM residents that have turf wars in the ED. Historically the biggest ones are ortho residents stealing reductions for fx/dislocations, anesthesia with intubations, and trauma with procedures in the trauma bay. I’ve met attendings who have done almost no reductions which is ridiculous.

That said, I will say with your stats and situation with SO, I would apply to a minimum of 15 programs and no more than 30. You can always decline interviews (very common) if you don’t want to go there anymore.

 

[12jas]

Given that we can only attend 17 interviews this year for EM.

You know the 17 interview thing is not a hard cap right? It is a strong recommendation but we as applicants can still do as we please and can technically attend every interview invite we receive if we want. With that said someone with your stats has no business attending 17 interviews there is no reason you won't match high on your list and any interview past 12 you are essentially taking an interview slot away from a fellow applicant who may need it.

 

[pandahunter]

All I'll say is that this is your life, and this match (ideally) only happens once. Where you attend residency may forever alter the course of your career and you have to decide which programs you are likely not happy to go to versus which programs you desperately want to be at. When you come to that conclusion, you'll better understand how many is enough.

If I were you, I wouldn't restrict myself right off the bat to a particular number unless it's enforced or I have a definite list of programs I realistically would want to be at that is less than 17.

 

[gamerEMdoc]

There is virtually no need to interview at even 17 programs. If you get that many interviews, ESPECIALLY this year, you will match easily. I have once in my career known someone with 14 interviews that didn't match. It was a very unique situation where their SLOEs came in after Sept 15, were not good, but their board scores were excellent. Got a ton of interviews, but then 2 or 3 SLOEs just sank them. They could have gone on 20 interviews, they still wouldn't have matched.

Since letters will almost certainly be in by the time ERAS opens in October, you will know your competitiveness. If you are getting a ton of interviews, then you are competitive. Going on any more than 12 interviews, in my opinion, is pretty much a waste of your time. You can, its your right and you can do whatever you want, but realize that it's statistically adding pretty much nothing. And if you are someone that is getting 15-20 interviews in the first month that ERAS opens, you are almost certainly someone who is going to match at one of their top 3 programs.