number of programs

[eyeball01]

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To all the people applying this year for a path residency, about how many places are you going to apply to?

 

[pathalot]

I was wondering the same thing. Right now I have 18 programs selected. I'll probably end up taking some of these off before I submit. About half of them are "competitive" programs. I don't really see myself interviewing at more than 10, but I have no idea what number of programs would be a safe number.

Anyone know how many programs AMGs usually apply to? Interview at?

 

[Ishie1013]

I'm an IMG trying to figure that out myself currently. I have decent stats across the board, but a Carib stigma. I was thinking 40-50.

 

[GoodNewsEvery1]

I was wondering the same thing. Right now I have 18 programs selected. I'll probably end up taking some of these off before I submit. About half of them are "competitive" programs. I don't really see myself interviewing at more than 10, but I have no idea what number of programs would be a safe number.

Anyone know how many programs AMGs usually apply to? Interview at?

I am in a similar position. 18 programs selected as of now, and about half are competitive. I think 8 or 10 interviews should be good for me.

 

[Freak]

For AMG, the mean number of contiguous ranks in Path were 8.1 in 2009. Past about 12, you are gravy 🙂
http://www.aamc.org/programs/cim/chartingoutcomes.pdf

How that translates to number of programs to apply/interview though, I am not sure.

 

[Ricemeat]

I was pretty clueless last year when I was submitting apps, so hopefully this will help someone. I'm an AMG graduate who matched this past March.

I sent out an app to 30 programs, got about 4 or 5 straight up rejections, about 18 invites, and went on 12 interviews. The other programs I didn't even hear from. 12 seemed like a bit much, but it was nice filling out my rank list and sampling different programs.

I got my first choice. Don't sweat it!

If you're interested, make sure they know! And don't feel bad if you don't hear anything back. All the programs handle the match differently.

 

[Euchromatin]

I also am an AMG who applied last year and matched. I can't remember exactly how many programs I applied to, it was either 14 or 16, with with maybe 4 or 5 that were "really competitive" programs. I was invited to interview everywhere save one and I ended up interviewing at 11 places...and I was getting really sick of interviewing by then. I probably should have stopped at number 8 or 9.

 

[BU Pathology]

To all the people applying this year for a path residency, about how many places are you going to apply to?

SDN is a good place to ask this question, but you really need advice from someone who can review your credentials in detail and provide more specific advice. Your medical school should have a field specific advisor who can go over your grades, board scores, pathology-related activities, geographic restrictions etc and give recommendations that are appropriate for your situation. You do not want to go unmatched, but you also do not want to interview at 25 programs if that is excessive.

Good luck with your choices.

 

[pathstudent]

While talking to someone from your medical school about the minimum or appropriate number of programs you should apply to is a good idea, I think getting opinions from people who recently went through the process is a good idea. In my case, the person who was our advisor was basically an emeritus faculty who did residency in the 60s. He was a nice guy but certainly was not in touch.

For those that aren't geographically restricted my advice would be to apply to the best programs and some of the middle ones in basically every city you wouldn't mind living in. Book every interview offered, and go on as many as you can afford. Cancel as necessary and don't worry about it. It is best to see as many programs as possible. I was hell bent on going to one of two or three programs but ended up ranking #1 and matching at a program that I hadn't thought about at all before the interview process.

Pathology is not uber-competitive, and most students match at one of their top 1-3 ranks. If you go on five interviews and rank all 5, I think you would be 99% assured off matching assuming you don't have a tattoo on your forehead.

 

[Euchromatin]

SDN is a good place to ask this question, but you really need advice from someone who can review your credentials in detail and provide more specific advice. Your medical school should have a field specific advisor who can go over your grades, board scores, pathology-related activities, geographic restrictions etc and give recommendations that are appropriate for your situation.

I'm going to have to disagree a little bit with BU Pathology here. If you can find a pathologist somewhere who is knowledgeable about the current ERAS/interviewing process, trends, and is familiar with many different programs, they would be a fantastic resource.

Unfortunately, the "pathology advisor" from my medical school was basically useless in terms of helping me decide how competitive of an applicant I was, how many programs I should apply to, and which places would be best to interview at for my situation/preferences. I found that the most useful resource were current residents (especially first and second years) who had just gone through the process. In addition to spending quite a bit of time with residents during my elective rotations in pathology, I also looked up the students who had just matched into pathology from my medical school and emailed them lots of questions. Current fourth year students and junior residents are also the best people to tell you how interviews will work, what questions will be asked, and other details about interviewing, rank lists, etc.

I did find that quite a bit of the advice posted here on SDN was helpful to me, and I often found it reassuring just being able to compare what I was doing with other students who were in a similar situation.

 

[KCShaw]

Pathology is just niche enough that it seems like you really do have to go out hunting for good/relevant up-to-date information. I certainly agree that current path residents and recent students from your own institution are pretty good sources -- though I wouldn't hold them as your only sources. In part because it -is- sometimes difficult to get good information, they may have been floundering for a while and still not know something. Getting -additional- advice from some practicing pathologists I think is a good idea, particularly local ones who may have a better idea of your circumstances and background.

 

[zao275]

If you're interested, make sure they know!

This is key, guys. If you like a place, tell them you are very interested. If it is close/local, ask to come back for a second look (spend a day just seeing how the residents work on a typical day, rather than having to interview all day long). Show your interest, because programs like to pick people that they think are interested. That said, don't BS a program and say "oh, you are my 1st choice" if they really aren't. Yes, many people play that game but I personally find it pretty unprofessional and annoying for everyone involved. Plus, if a program finds out you are lying (like if they rank you number 1 but then you match elsewhere), they may get a little upset. Pathology is a small world and word gets around. You don't want people to be angry with you.

I interviewed about 5 years ago (wow, has it been that long already?!). Applied 11 places, interviewed at all 11, got my 1st choice. I did a lot of away rotations at the places I liked and had pretty competitive Step scores. I applied to almost exclusively Texas programs since my wife and I wanted to live close to family, so I didn't apply to any of the big name North East or West Coast programs (in retrospect, I wish I would have just to see what they were like).

Hope this helps. Good luck to all of you guys.

 

[zao275]

...I ended up interviewing at 11 places...and I was getting really sick of interviewing by then. I probably should have stopped at number 8 or 9.

Agree with this. I was getting pretty tired toward the end, and I am a very energetic person. Also, my 3rd interview was the program I really loved, so it was hard to feign interest after that.