Invite Number

[Suki77]

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How many residency interviews occur at any one location? What is the ratio of applications to invites?

 

[Psychotic]

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[Firewood]

From what I heard last year while interviewing, and going off my current and former programs, there are about 10 interviewees per residency slot.

 

[Nasrudin]

From what I heard last year while interviewing, and going off my current and former programs, there are about 10 interviewees per residency slot.

I'm just now starting to get an inkling of what these numbers mean and why people like OPD have been indicating it's them recruiting us to a certain extent. I think I still have the impressions of applying to medical school. And how you needed to get through to them amongst thousands of other applicants to get an interview.

But I'm still kind of puzzled over what it means. I've got some interviews at places that must have hundreds of applicants. I don't consider myself that impressive--solid, reliable maybe, but not impressive. So I'm kind of wondering if it's all the same people. Like, do the applicants to NYU, MGH and the like just travel around on a bus together like the Patridge family? So they see each other at all the same places?

Will I see the same people at my programs. It's difficult to develop a new and accurate sense of scale. I think that's the reason why we go 12-15 interviews instead of the half dozen or so we really would like to build our careers from.

I just need a job at the end of this. So, it's hard for me not to approach it conservatively. Costly as that is to do.

 

[Firewood]

I'm just now starting to get an inkling of what these numbers mean and why people like OPD have been indicating it's them recruiting us to a certain extent. I think I still have the impressions of applying to medical school. And how you needed to get through to them amongst thousands of other applicants to get an interview.

But I'm still kind of puzzled over what it means. I've got some interviews at places that must have hundreds of applicants. I don't consider myself that impressive--solid, reliable maybe, but not impressive.

Don't underestimate the importance of stability and reliability, especially in this field. I've heard multiple PDs in this specialty and others say they'd rather have a reliable, middle of the road resident than a superstar with questionable reliability. Now if you're a reliable superstar, you're golden!

As for who's wooing whom, I think residency interviews are pretty mutual. The odds are much more in your favor than when we interviewed for med school. Fellowship interviews are even more in the applicant's favor from what I understand (but I'm not there yet, so that's just hearsay.)

And as I've said before, I think more than 8-10 interviews is too many. From the 2011 "Charting Outcomes", only 3 of the approximately 300 US seniors that ranked more than 8 programs failed to match. If you're a DO or other "independent applicant", few even rank more than 10 programs (which I assume is really because few interview at more than 10). Bottom line, if you've got 10+ invites you're very likely to match.

Good luck to all. And remember what's printed on the front of you're application in large, friendly letters: "DON'T PANIC".