How Many Programs to Apply to?

[hothause]

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So I know the sticky has a post on how many programs to apply to, but it's a little old. My school mentor says 15 but that seems like an awfully low number to get 10 interviews or whatever the current golden amount is.

So, I was wondering with these stats how many I should shoot for:
Step 1 216
Step 2 254
Top 20 school with a good EM reputation
Clinical grades: High passes with a few honors
Lots of research, although none in EM

Not hoping to go to California or NYC, but the idea of scrambling or not getting into EM is terrifying to me. I know this is sort of a variation of "What are my chances" which so often goes South quickly on this thread but I'm hoping someone can steer me in the ballpark of say 20 versus 30 versus 40, et cetera. Thanks in advance!

 

[bravotwozero]

You should at least consider applying to 30 programs...i think eras has a flat rate for applying upto 30 programs. After that, you're charged additional fees on a per program basis.

So, with applying to 30 programs you have nothing to lose.

 

[UnderwaterDoc]

My strategy with the number of applications was to have too many rather than too few. It's a lot easier to simply call and turn down interview invites than panic when mid-November comes and you only have 5 invites.

My stats were not as good as yours, I ended up sending 60 applications and got over 10 invites (I wanted very sought after geographical areas). I would send ~40 if I was you.

Hope that helps.

 

[DrVanNostran]

I'm still debating between a few specialties, but if I decide EM, I plan on 35-45. 1/3 reach, 1/3 within my stats, 1/3 safety/location.

 

[gutonc]

You should at least consider applying to 30 programs...i think eras has a flat rate for applying upto 30 programs. After that, you're charged additional fees on a per program basis.

So, with applying to 30 programs you have nothing to lose.

30 is a good number. It's better to have too many interview offers than not enough.

The pricing isn't quite like this though. It's flat rate for the first 10, ($75 this year) then $8/program for the next 10, then $15/program for the next 10 (this gets you to 30). After that, it's $25/program. But this part of the process borders on free (those first $30 cost you $305) so go nuts.

 

[ccfccp]

This may be a silly question, but isn't it about 5 months too early to be worrying about this yet?

 

[heroin5]

216 step I and a 254 step II? bravo on the improvement. 👍
i would be surprised if you are not turning them down by the handful if you apply to 30 unless you try to interview at 20 like some industrious people do.

 

[alwaysaangel]

Applying for residency programs is pretty cheap. So might as well apply to too many and then pick and choose your interviews.

I was comparable to you: 228, 241, good EM rep, lots of activities in EM

Applied to 30 (including CA), received 18 interviews and I just scheduled the ones I was less interested in January and then cancelled as I got more interviews. Ultimately only went to 10 interviews.

Overapplying won't hurt you - underapplying might. I think 30 programs plus NMPR registration ran me $350 so it won't break the bank.

 

[opb]

I think I applied to about 30-35 (with similar stats except I didn't go to a top 20 school). Got a good number of interview invites.

 

[Emergency!]

I concur with the above. Far easier (and less stressful) to apply to more programs and turn down or cancel interviews than to not get enough interviews and risk not matching. I applied to 31 programs and was very fortunate to get more than enough invites. However, I also had classmates who applied to 30 programs and had less than 10 interviews.