polling residents...# of programs...# of interviews....# ranked....

[gsinccom]

Hey all,

So how many programs did you apply to and what did that cost you? And how many did you interview at and what did that run you? And how many did you rank?

I'm just trying to get a feel for what I should do. I've talked to three guys that recently finished or are still doing their residency but I'd like as many thoughts on this as possible. It seems like this all could get pretty complicated and pretty expensive in my near future Also, do any programs let you coordinate interviews. In other words if I apply to 4 programs in a particular state but am not from that state would there be a way to try and do the interviews during the same week?

Thanks all.

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[KARM12]

Hey all,

So how many programs did you apply to and what did that cost you? And how many did you interview at and what did that run you? And how many did you rank?

I'm just trying to get a feel for what I should do. I've talked to three guys that recently finished or are still doing their residency but I'd like as many thoughts on this as possible. It seems like this all could get pretty complicated and pretty expensive in my near future Also, do any programs let you coordinate interviews. In other words if I apply to 4 programs in a particular state but am not from that state would there be a way to try and do the interviews during the same week?

Thanks all.

For PGY1:
Applied for 7 programs
Interviewed at 6 programs
Ranked 6 programs - got my 3rd choice

 

[Priapism321]

Hey all,

So how many programs did you apply to and what did that cost you? And how many did you interview at and what did that run you? And how many did you rank?

I'm just trying to get a feel for what I should do. I've talked to three guys that recently finished or are still doing their residency but I'd like as many thoughts on this as possible. It seems like this all could get pretty complicated and pretty expensive in my near future Also, do any programs let you coordinate interviews. In other words if I apply to 4 programs in a particular state but am not from that state would there be a way to try and do the interviews during the same week?

Thanks all.

PGY-1:

Interviewed at 2 (one institution in Florida and one in Virginia). I lived in Florida so my expenses were limited to the Virginia trip. Around $700 I would say.

I ranked both programs.


PGY-2:

Interviewed at 3 (one in Washington state, one in Ohio, and one in Texas). Each trip cost between $500 and $900.

I ranked two of the three.

If you set things up correctly, coordinating multiple interviews in the same region of the country is certainly possible.

 

[wes011]

This is a very intriguing thread. Thank you to all that respond.

 

[gsinccom]

If you set things up correctly, coordinating multiple interviews in the same region of the country is certainly possible.

Could you explain what you mean by this, please?

 

[p-rog]

Could you explain what you mean by this, please?

Yeah, please do. For example, is it improper etiquette/rude/whatever to request an interview date to be in a certain week so that you can try to arrange all your interviews that are geographically proximal to one another to be in the same week?

That seems like the only way I could see someone planning it conveniently.

 

[njac]

it's hard because you get your offers very sporadically as well. Some programs have their interview dates posted ahead of time, so I made a spreadsheet of those to figure out what was best.

I applied to 9 residencies and 1 fellowship. I had 8 interviews.

I ranked all 7 residencies (I found out later in the week after I interviewed at the fellowship that I did not get it) and scrambled.

I never added up my expenses. I still don't care to do so except to use them as a tax writeoff this year.

I flew to FL for an interview and back.
Home 1 day - flew to CA had interviews Friday and Saturday, flew home Sunday.
Had an interview in AZ flew in the night before and out later that evening.
Flew to NC, had an interview, hung out with friends for a couple days, drove to VA, interview, flew to AZ had interview in 1 city, drove down to the other, and flew out later that evening.

I racked up lots of Rapid Rewards with Southwest. While tempting to use Orbitz or or whatever, I found it very advantageous to stick with one airline and gain frequent flier miles.

 

[gsinccom]

Thanks everyone for your experiences and thoughts.

What if you look at it as the # of spots instead of the # of programs? In other words, many of the programs I've looked at only have one residency position. So If I apply to 5 programs with 1 position each and 5 programs with 4 positions each it is a total of 10 programs and 25 positions. While another applicant may apply to 7 programs but all of them have 3-4 spots each so they are also applying to approx. 25 positions too. Your thoughts? I guess it all just depends on your situation. In my case I don't have any special connection with a residency director or a preceptor who works at a program where I'll be applying so I'll just make the best attempt I can at obtaining a residency.

I'm also wondering about diminishing returns when it comes to how many programs I should apply to. I mean, how possible is it for me really to wind up with a program that I ranked 10th? Do programs actually rank 10 applicants? At what point does a program just say, "that is enough, if we don't get a resident from ranking this many, then we'll just go to the scramble"? This leads me to think that I should just focus on a select group of programs that I have a decent shot at getting accepted to. How many that is, well I still need to figure that out

 

[KARM12]

Thanks everyone for your experiences and thoughts.

What if you look at it as the # of spots instead of the # of programs? In other words, many of the programs I've looked at only have one residency position. So If I apply to 5 programs with 1 position each and 5 programs with 4 positions each it is a total of 10 programs and 25 positions. While another applicant may apply to 7 programs but all of them have 3-4 spots each so they are also applying to approx. 25 positions too. Your thoughts? I guess it all just depends on your situation. In my case I don't have any special connection with a residency director or a preceptor who works at a program where I'll be applying so I'll just make the best attempt I can at obtaining a residency.

Apply to programs that fit your interests. I find that most programs interview with the same ratio of candidates per spot...somewhere between 1:4 and 1:6 (the highest I saw was 1:8!!). Larger programs tend to attract more candidates and will interview more people to fill their spots. I ended up at a program where I did not have any connections.

I'm also wondering about diminishing returns when it comes to how many programs I should apply to. I mean, how possible is it for me really to wind up with a program that I ranked 10th? Do programs actually rank 10 applicants? At what point does a program just say, "that is enough, if we don't get a resident from ranking this many, then we'll just go to the scramble"? This leads me to think that I should just focus on a select group of programs that I have a decent shot at getting accepted to. How many that is, well I still need to figure that out

Yes you can end up at any program you rank. So they recommend only ranking programs you are actually willing to go to for a year. If you don't want to go to the program, don't rank it. Programs will rank all acceptable candidates that they interview. Last year my program interviewed ~25 for 5 spots and we ended up ranking ~20 candidates (the 5 we didn't rank were super weird!). We went down to #8 or 9 on our rank list. The year before the lowest ranking resident was #12 on the list. It is much more desirable to fill the spot with an "acceptable" candidate rather than trying to get a candidate through the scramble. While there are many good candidates that have to scramble...there is a lot more variablity in what the program may get.

Other advice: Don't try ot out smart the match...it cannot be done. Apply to programs you like and rank them in order of preference.

 

[simon11]

PGY1 applied to 4, one program folded before interviews ... interviewed at three, ranked all three and got my first choice....

Midyear really helped me to make my decisions. Seeing what type of programs in person and then going on site for the interview really revealed which program would be a best fit.

It is a nerve racking process and I ended up ranking based upon the program that would prepare me for my ultimate job pursuit the best.

 

[Glycerin]

Applied to a total of 9 programs in Oregon and Washington and received interview offers at all 9, but declined one of them (the place offered the interview at the very end of January, and I'd already arranged my trip out there). Interviewed at all of them between February 13 and 25, which involved 2 flights from the East coast. I have friends in Portland, so out of the 9 days total that I was out there, 4 of them I stayed with these friends and 1 night's hotel was paid for by one of the residency programs.

As far as cost... 2 flights (~$250-300 per flight), 4 nights of hotels (~$110/night average), $200 for the rental car for 9 days (not including gas from many trips back and forth between Seattle and Portland), breakfast and dinner for all days/nights, and some lunches. So, as you can see, easily over $1000.

I was able by chance to arrange all my interviews so that they lined up one right after another. I don't really recommend this, but it's doable.

 

[ufpsu26]

Thanks for all the replies! These are great...making me little nervous though.

 

[Trancelucent1]

For PGY-1:
Applied to 5, accepted interviews at 4 programs.
2 were out to state but I set up a Friday interview at one program and a Monday interview at the other (most places are willing to work with you). These two interviews cost me around $700.
The other 2 were in Florida where I'm from so those only cost me gas money.

For PGY-2, I participated in PPS so this cost me some money. I ended up early committing at my current program so I didn't have to participate in any other on-site interviews.

 

[spacecowgirl]

I arranged all of my interviews to be over Christmas break when I would be in that part of the country. Everyone was very obliging; they understand you will be applying to multiple sites. So my costs were basically $0 since I was coming home anyway.

PGY1 - applied and interviewed at 4, ranked 3. Got my first choice.

 

[spacecowgirl]

Yes you can end up at any program you rank. So they recommend only ranking programs you are actually willing to go to for a year.

Other advice: Don't try ot out smart the match...it cannot be done. Apply to programs you like and rank them in order of preference.

This bears repeating.

 

[MustLoveDrugs]

I applied to 16 PGY-1 programs and was offered 15 interviews. I interviewed at 11 sites between January and March. I ranked all 11 sites and matched with my 2nd choice. I loved my 2nd choice so much that I early committed to a PGY-2 here. We interview at about an 8:1 ratio of PGY-1 candidatesGY-1 spots, and I had no idea how competitive we were until I came on board.

That said, I have friends who ranked 1 program and matched. I have friends who ranked 2 or 3 programs and did not match. And I have friends who ranked 4 programs, matched with their last choice and cried on match day. KARM is right on - you can't outsmart the match. Rank the programs you are willing to go to in the order that is best for you, and try to keep in mind that everything happens for a reason.

 

[amy786]

Does gpa play a huge part? I will have 3.2ish gpa hopefully by the time I graduate and really am interested in doing a residency -somewhere in nyc area. Or should I not even consider it?

 

[MustLoveDrugs]

Does gpa play a huge part? I will have 3.2ish gpa hopefully by the time I graduate and really am interested in doing a residency -somewhere in nyc area. Or should I not even consider it?

Definitely consider it! I had a 3.3 and thought I was screwed, but that wasn't the case at all. In an interview situation, highlight the best parts of your application and try not to dwell on what you suspect are your weaknesses (GPA). As long as you can land an interview, you'll be on a much more even playing field with other applicants, including those with higher GPAs. G'luck!

 

[gsinccom]

Definitely consider it! I had a 3.3 and thought I was screwed, but that wasn't the case at all. In an interview situation, highlight the best parts of your application and try not to dwell on what you suspect are your weaknesses (GPA). As long as you can land an interview, you'll be on a much more even playing field with other applicants, including those with higher GPAs. G'luck!

what timing I've been wondering about the interview. Would you describe a typical residency interview (day) for me, please? And how would you recommend preparing for thoses big days?

I'm also curious about inpatient staffing. I'm interested mainly in Am Care focused PGY-1s but notice even many of those require inpatient staffing. What types of duties would an Am Care focused resident perform on a weekend of inpatient staffing? PM me if you prefer

Thank you.

 

[pharm_girl]

what timing I've been wondering about the interview. Would you describe a typical residency interview (day) for me, please? And how would you recommend preparing for thoses big days?

I'm also curious about inpatient staffing. I'm interested mainly in Am Care focused PGY-1s but notice even many of those require inpatient staffing. What types of duties would an Am Care focused resident perform on a weekend of inpatient staffing? PM me if you prefer

Thank you.

I'm also curious about how this works too PM me too?

 

[spacecowgirl]

Most of the amb care residencies I know of did not require inpatient staffing. Usually just outpatient retail staffing, but I'm not sure how much. My residency (managed/amb care) didn't require any staffing although I did have to help with prior auths during my normal working hours.

I would imagine if you were staffing inpatient, you'd just have the same duties as any staff pharmacist - order entry/verification, IVs, warfarin/vanc/heparin dosing, unit dose checking, getting yelled at by nursing, etc.

 

[MyTalon4U2NV]

yeah, i was gonna ask that too (about the gpa)! what if you have a 3.0 but a good quality resume with a minor in business and real leadership positions...

granted one would have to apply to a lot more schools to increase their chance but thats whats really getting me nervous.

i wanna apply to the 2yr administrative residencies any advice or encouragement to continue with the process? anything would help at this point

 

[Dalteparin]

yeah, i was gonna ask that too (about the gpa)! what if you have a 3.0 but a good quality resume with a minor in business and real leadership positions...

granted one would have to apply to a lot more schools to increase their chance but thats whats really getting me nervous.

i wanna apply to the 2yr administrative residencies any advice or encouragement to continue with the process? anything would help at this point

I think you have a decent shot. I know people with grades similar to yours who got residencies. It's not just grades, it's people skills and leadership abilities too.

As for my numbers: applied to 8 programs, got 5 interviews, ranked all 5, got my 2nd choice.

 

[spacecowgirl]

i wanna apply to the 2yr administrative residencies any advice or encouragement to continue with the process? anything would help at this point

U of MN?

 

[MyTalon4U2NV]

U of MN?

yes ma'am, thats one of the schools im applying to. why?

 

[spacecowgirl]

yes ma'am, thats one of the schools im applying to. why?

No reason, I just know they have a 2 year leadership residency that's got a great track record for employment afterwards Good luck!

 

[MyTalon4U2NV]

No reason, I just know they have a 2 year leadership residency that's got a great track record for employment afterwards Good luck!

haha! you got me all excited anticipating a contact or something! nontheless, thank you though... I wasnt too sure about its creditablity, so I guess you just solidified it. thank you, I need the luck

 

[spacecowgirl]

haha! you got me all excited anticipating a contact or something! nontheless, thank you though... I wasnt too sure about its creditablity, so I guess you just solidified it. thank you, I need the luck

well, I do know some people there...but I don't know you at all! I think many of their resident grads have gone onto academia if that's what you want.