Should I apply to more programs?

[tempest9876]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I'm a USMD currently applying for psychiatry. I've only gotten interviews at 6 programs (4 programs, 1 after sending a letter showing my interest, and my home program where I doubt I'll match) out of the 30 I applied to. From what I've heard Psychiatry has been exploding recently and most programs are getting a ton more applications than usual so it sounds like interviews are down across the board but I'm starting to get really worried that I might not match with so few interviews. I checked the old NRMP data and if you have 5-6 ranks it looks like there was an 80-90% chance of matching but I'm worried about how applicable that data will be with the amount of applicants this year (also the mean Unmatched had 5.6 contiguous ranks so I'm right in that range). Also all of the programs I have interviews were places I considered more "safety" schools and there are even a bunch of safety schools that haven't offered me interviews. I heard that some programs still will offer interviews but I think it will be much less this year than previous years so I don't want to bank on getting any more interviews from programs I've applied to. I'm wondering if I should apply to more programs now or if its too late for most programs to begin looking at me for possible interviews. Any advice would be appreciated.

My stats below if you guys want them:
Step 1: 208
Step 2CK: 223, CS: Pass
OK letters but my Psych letter is not very strong
1 research project in Psych that I started with a resident this year
All High Pass in clinical rotations, all Pass preclinical
No pre-clinical/clinical/step failures
Gap year before med school but otherwise no leave of absence

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[SmallBird]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I'm a USMD currently applying for psychiatry. I've only gotten interviews at 6 programs (4 programs, 1 after sending a letter showing my interest, and my home program where I doubt I'll match) out of the 30 I applied to. From what I've heard Psychiatry has been exploding recently and most programs are getting a ton more applications than usual so it sounds like interviews are down across the board but I'm starting to get really worried that I might not match with so few interviews. I checked the old NRMP data and if you have 5-6 ranks it looks like there was an 80-90% chance of matching but I'm worried about how applicable that data will be with the amount of applicants this year (also the mean Unmatched had 5.6 contiguous ranks so I'm right in that range). Also all of the programs I have interviews were places I considered more "safety" schools and there are even a bunch of safety schools that haven't offered me interviews. I heard that some programs still will offer interviews but I think it will be much less this year than previous years so I don't want to bank on getting any more interviews from programs I've applied to. I'm wondering if I should apply to more programs now or if its too late for most programs to begin looking at me for possible interviews. Any advice would be appreciated.

My stats below if you guys want them:
Step 1: 208
Step 2CK: 223, CS: Pass
OK letters but my Psych letter is not very strong
1 research project in Psych that I started with a resident this year
All High Pass in clinical rotations, all Pass preclinical
No pre-clinical/clinical/step failures
Gap year before med school but otherwise no leave of absence

Generally people apply at too many programs but with your stats I think 50 programs would have been a better number - why not go ahead and apply to another 10 or so, couldn't hurt?

 

[tempest9876]

Generally people apply at too many programs but with your stats I think 50 programs would have been a better number - why not go ahead and apply to another 10 or so, couldn't hurt?

Thanks. Yeah I think maybe I applied to too many top heavy programs. I've added another 12 but I might end up adding more haha