Size of interview pool

[oceansize]

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Hi, long time lurker here. I really appreciate all the great info shared on this board.

We all know too well the very steep applied/accepted ratios for clinical PhD programs. I'm wondering, however, if anyone knows a ballpark number for interviewed/accepted ratio. I'm sure it varies by program, but is it on the order of 50 interviews for 10 spots? 20 interviews for 10 spots? Thanks!

Joel

 

[irish80122]

I could be completely wrong here but I was under the impression that schools usually interviewed about twice as many as they accept...that may be incorrect though.

 

[clearcolor]

I saw huge variations last year. One school interviewed a grand total of 10 and they have 5 students this year. Two other schools interviewd about 50 people for 8 or 9 spots. I can't remember the rest or didn't know how many they interviewed. However, the school that interviewed 10 was an abnormally small group based on my experiences.

 

[joetro]

I agree that it varies quite a bit. Keep in mind that the real thing to consider is how many people are brought in to interview for your person. There may be 10 people total for 5 spots, but if your person brought in 4 people for 1 spot than your chances are 25% while others could be almost sure bets. There can definitely be some changing/shifting though ... your person could work out with other faculty members to take more or less than originally thought.

 

[rsd1188]

at one of my interviews last year, 10 people were brought in for 1 spot in a lab.

 

[joetro]

Wow. I'm sure those things happen, but that seems a little bit poor form for the faculty member to do.

 

[JatPenn]

I agree that it varies quite a bit. Keep in mind that the real thing to consider is how many people are brought in to interview for your person. There may be 10 people total for 5 spots, but if your person brought in 4 people for 1 spot than your chances are 25% while others could be almost sure bets. There can definitely be some changing/shifting though ... your person could work out with other faculty members to take more or less than originally thought.

Agreed. And the BEST situations are those where a faculty member has all but accepted you based on merit, and is inviting you down simply to verify that you aren't insane.