Is 3 interviews considered a comfortable or "safe" amount?

[Septimusseverus]

Basically I'm a 25/Female reapplicant (last time I only had 1 interview and that turned into an eternal waitlist). I've greatly improved my credentials/experiences and have gotten three interviews so far.

One of them is with USUHS - which I've heard accepts a large amount of its interviewees.

The second is with the same school that interviewed me last year - this school ends up offering acceptances to about 1/3 of its interviewees.

The third school is just a random one that offers acceptances to about half of its interviewees.

It's been an incredibly pressured year for me and I'm curious to know if I can breathe a sigh of relief or anything since I have three interviews. I am aware that acceptance obviously isn't guaranteed until I get an official letter from someone, but can I at least feel reasonably comfortable? How many interviews is considered "safe"?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[LizzyM]

We must presume that the outcome is not random; what happens at the interview matters. If a school makes offers to 1/3 or 1/2 of those who interview you need to be in the top 1/3 or the top 1/2 or whatever. If you can be among the top candidates, even one interview is enough. If you are not a good interviewee, three is not enough, ten is not enough.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

Basically I'm a 25/Female reapplicant (last time I only had 1 interview and that turned into an eternal waitlist). I've greatly improved my credentials/experiences and have gotten three interviews so far.

One of them is with USUHS - which I've heard accepts a large amount of its interviewees.

The second is with the same school that interviewed me last year - this school ends up offering acceptances to about 1/3 of its interviewees.

The third school is just a random one that offers acceptances to about half of its interviewees.

It's been an incredibly pressured year for me and I'm curious to know if I can breathe a sigh of relief or anything since I have three interviews. I am aware that acceptance obviously isn't guaranteed until I get an official letter from someone, but can I at least feel reasonably comfortable? How many interviews is considered "safe"?

None of these interviews have happened yet?

Since most schools seem to accept roughly 30-50% of the people they interview, 3 gives you a good shot. But if you're always in the bottom third of the interview pool, then it doesn't really matter how many you have. I think it's safe to assume that rolling admission schools are less picky in Sept/Oct than in Jan-March, so interviewing later probably puts you in a tougher spot. Just prepare well, nail them all and don't over think the numbers.

 

[mehc012]

"Safe" = 1 acceptance.
Anything else = "Not Certain"

 

[A7X]

3 interviews are decent, but for a reapplicant, I would not consider it safe.

 

[1badmamajama]

All you need is one good interview.

Stop worrying. Just focus on the fact that you got your foot in the door. Now it's up to you to show that you're the person you claim to be on paper.. if not better.

 

[compstomper]

Basically I'm a 25/Female reapplicant (last time I only had 1 interview and that turned into an eternal waitlist). I've greatly improved my credentials/experiences and have gotten three interviews so far.

One of them is with USUHS - which I've heard accepts a large amount of its interviewees.

The second is with the same school that interviewed me last year - this school ends up offering acceptances to about 1/3 of its interviewees.

The third school is just a random one that offers acceptances to about half of its interviewees.

It's been an incredibly pressured year for me and I'm curious to know if I can breathe a sigh of relief or anything since I have three interviews. I am aware that acceptance obviously isn't guaranteed until I get an official letter from someone, but can I at least feel reasonably comfortable? How many interviews is considered "safe"?

You're already at a much better position than last year. But the fact of the matter is that if you didn't get an acceptance last time, one can only assume that there's some type of red flag that didn't garner you more interviews/acceptances last cycle. If you had fixed your red flags, then your chances are better. Yet because you are a reapplicant, your burden of proof is quite a bit higher than first time applicants like myself. Don't become complacent, continue with your EC, research, etc. Send update letters to show your continued interest and let schools know you're still active. Stay scrappy my friend, and best of luck!

 

[drslaughter]

You aren't safe until you get an acceptance. I ran into someone on the interview trail who got 10 interviews to date, all wait lists. Go to each interview like it's your only one.

 

[nabilesmail]

I had 4 late interviews last year, thought that was safe, slacked off in school and got a 3.0 GPA and didn't get in. Reapplied this year, only 1 II and I will probably have to do a SMP despite a GPA of 3.63 and 34 MCAT because of the bad grade trend.

Do not Slack, you are not safe until you have an acceptance.

 

[MedPhys2MD]

Do you guys think the OP's chances of getting in to the school she's going to re-interview at is good? To me it intuitively makes sense that they think she's fixed the "red flags" but offer another interview, but that's a complete guess

 

[Microglia]

Do you guys think the OP's chances of getting in to the school she's going to re-interview at is good? To me it intuitively makes sense that they think she's fixed the "red flags" but offer another interview, but that's a complete guess

Depends on what the hang up last time was and if it's no longer a hang up. Sounds like the fact that they reinterviewed her means they don't think it is anymore or don't know, but it's never a certainty either way.

 

[gumdrops]

Having done some empirical research (aka, asking people in med school now ), it's highly dependent on how you interview. I knew one applicant with 13 interviews who was accepted at three schools. Why? He admitted he was a terrible interviewee, for the most part. I knew someone with ten interviews who was accepted at seven schools in the top twenty. He comes off as someone you'd want to be classmates with whereas the first guy is such a typical cookie-cutter pre-med in personality that he was likely overlooked or seen as standard waitlist material.