Ranking Programs

[esmith12]

Just curious how many programs people are ranking for pediatric residency? I am thinking of ranking 7 and wanted to see what the average is about.

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[Spock]

Not sure if this is what you're asking or if you're trying to gauge how many interviews others have gone on, but I'm planning on ranking every place I interviewed at. Sure I have my top ~5 places or so that I am really hoping to go to, but any of the other places I interviewed at would train me very well too and would certainly be preferable to doing the SOAP. You're probably safe with 7 in a relatively noncompetitive field like peds, but you lose nothing by ranking the rest, so why not?

 

[esmith12]

I guess what I'm asking is - how many programs are people interviewing (and ranking)? Right now, I have 9 scheduled, but there are two that I do not want to go to. I am happy with the remaining 7, so I was thinking of cancelling those 2 (save some money as well).

 

[MonkeyChow]

I believe the most recent data from the NRMP shows that Peds applicants ranked an average of 10 programs. My advisors recommended anywhere from 7-8 to 10-12 depending on the person.

 

[Vita]

I scheduled interviews at 11 programs and plan to rank them all.

I applied to 20 programs and got 18 interview invites, so I feel that actually ranking 11 sounds pretty safe to me. I hope I am correct.

 

[twilightdoc]

Just curious how many programs people are ranking for pediatric residency? I am thinking of ranking 7 and wanted to see what the average is about.

My advice is to rank any program at which you interviewed that you consider to be acceptable (taking both the program and location into consideration). It is uncommon for a US grad to go "unmatched" in Peds, and most applicants will get one of their top choices. But if you went to the trouble to interview at a program, I would rank that program unless you feel that you would rather go unmatched than end up there. Fortunately this is usually a non-issue.

 

[RySerr21]

if you look at the nrmp data, there really isnt much of a difference in probability of matching if you rank between 7 and 10 programs. its like 95/96% to 96-97% (for U.S. Seniors)

 

[justdoit31]

I applied to 30 programs (WAY to many for peds but while my advisor said I didn't need that many the Dean suggested people in Peds did 30 and I listed to him- oops!), received 22 or 23 interview offers and interviewed at 12 places. I plan to rank 10 of them.

 

[chemta2006]

Like everyone else has said, the answer depends on your school, application, and the reputation of the program.

According to NRMP data, I believe 10 was the "magic number" for Peds. The match rate for people who ranked at least 10 programs was >95%.

I applied to 20 programs, interviewed at 11, and will rank them all. I also have a fairly strong app, go to a top 30 school which has matched very well in peds every year, and applied mostly to top-tier and fringe top-tier programs.

Like others have said, think carefully about whether you'd rather not match than end up at one of your low-ranking programs, which fortunately doesn't happen often with Peds.

 

[Jessipeds]

Before you rank, ask yourself if you would be happy at that program. Most people do match at their top 3 (86% last year), but you may end up at one of the programs further down your list, so think about your ranking wisely and do not rank a program unless you are sure you want to go there.

I am ranking 6 programs. I interviewed at 12 (ended up cancelling some of my January ones towards the end). After interviewing at some of the programs, I realized they were not for me and so I am not ranking them.

 

[Jessipeds]

Btw, my advisor said for a non-competitive field like Peds, you will be fine ranking anywhere from 5-10 (10 if you are a less competitve applicant)

 

[Jessipeds]

I found this helpful for ranking:

https://www.abp.org/ABPWebStatic/?a...ams/aboutgeneralpediatrics/passrateschart.htm

(American Board of Pediatrics boards pass rates)

 

[Slade]

Before you rank, ask yourself if you would be happy at that program. Most people do match at their top 3 (86% last year), but you may end up at one of the programs further down your list, so think about your ranking wisely and do not rank a program unless you are sure you want to go there.

I am ranking 6 programs. I interviewed at 12 (ended up cancelling some of my January ones towards the end). After interviewing at some of the programs, I realized they were not for me and so I am not ranking them.

I'm not sure this is good advice. Granted you'll likely match in your top 3 but on the offchance that you don't match with your top 6, would you really rather SOAP or be unmatched than go to any of your other 6 choices??