Is it an inappropriate question to ask a program (the program coordinator/secretary) how many people they interviewed last year or are interviewing this year? I have seen the regular match's stats on that but I don't see the numbers for the neuro match.
Number interviewed
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penguins said:
I don't think it's inappropriate, but they're going to ask why you want to know?
My guess is that you want to see how stiff competition is (ie a place might be interviewing 30, another might interview 150). But I don't think it'll give you a good grasp of the competition since the place that interview 30 might have much stricter guidelines on whom they interview vs. those that interview 150.
What would be cool to know is how many applicants did they offer interviews for, how many accepted and interviewed, and in the end how many interviewees got offered positions....
But that's too much to ask!! 😀
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penguins said:
This is an easy question to inconspicuously ask one of the PGY-3 residents - although I do not believe that it is vital information for a candidate to know. In my opinion, if you are interviewing at the program, it is a safe bet that they are very interested in you. Normally, programs interview about 5-10 candidates per available spot. Of the two programs that I know well, they have match within their top 10-20 in each of the past years. Although having an MD PhD and off-the-chart board scores are helpful, it is not simply a numbers game. From the small sample that I have seen, I believe that a high level of passion for neurology and the neurosciences, good rapport, and strong interviews can take a candidate a very long way.
Moreover, if you have been rejected/not accepted by a program, it may be helpful to write the program director/secretary of your particular interest in that program and the reason why (ie. if this program is at the top of your 'wish list'). Although I do not know of this being done, I can imagine that it is possible that a program director may take a sincere letter to heart and interview you. (ie. I do know of a case where a premed student had not received one interview for med-school, in November - they wrote one of the top med-schools in the country of their particular interest in that school, and that candidate ended up interviewing at and being accepted at that program.)
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