Strategy to Schedule Prelim Interviews?

[rocketbooster]

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First, is there one?

I heard one interesting strategy of requesting prelim programs to schedule your interviews after Jan 15 match day. That way you know where you're going and don't have to waste time in other areas if you just want to do it near your ophtho program. Apparently thats the whole point to making it an early match to begin with. Is this good advice?

Also, how many prelim interviews do most ppl do and how many do most apply to? Is there a list of programs that will keep a prelim spot automatically for you at their program so you don't have to interview?

 

[90 diopter]

I jumbled all my interviews together and made sure nothing conflicted with anything else. I applied to about 15 internships and interviewed at 7. I think only 3 or 4 occurred after the early match.

When I matched ophtho, the program where I matched said I would have a guaranteed transitional year spot if I wanted it, but I passed on the offer and went to a much easier program elsewhere. Not sure if all programs automatically offer this. You might want to call and ask after you match.

 

[ophthope]

I applied to all TYs and laid-back prelim IM years and scheduled them all in January after Ophtho interviews were over. I tried to schedule all of the interviews after the match day, but ended up going on a few earlier in January - specifically the more cush programs where I knew a resident. After match day I cancelled all of them and took the 'guaranteed' spot in an IM program where I matched so I didn't have to move twice. I'll let you know how much I regret that decision in a year or so 🙂 .

 

[DrZeke]

I passed up my guaranteed prelim at the program where I matched for an easier one somewhere else. I think it can be challenging to coordinate ophtho interviews with prelim interviews and I ended up having to cancel a few when I tried to do this. Ultimately, the schedule gets pretty jam packed and you end up with a 4 week span of 3-4 interviews per week. It can get pretty tiring even without prelims.

The bonus of doing prelims after January 15th, is it's kind of easier to decide where you might wanna do a prelim after you match to Ophtho. You're less stressed and it's easier to prioritize once you know where you are gonna be for 3 years.

 

[TheHero]

I have a related question. For those who are talking about "guaranteed" prelim, let's say you applied for transitional year, can they still offer you that guaranteed IM prelim if you didn't even apply to IM prelim? Because IM and TY are two different applications, right?

Because I'd like to apply for a TY but if I match in a city that has no TY, I'd rather just do prelim in that city, but i don't want to do 2 intern applications and one ophtho!

 

[hurdlepup]

You use ERAs for both TY or prelim spots so its just one application.

 

[TheHero]

Oh really?? That's great!!!!

 

[kwel]

How man prelims do applicants generally apply to (assuming ~40 ophtho program apps)? I'd like to be in the same city for prelim/ophtho, but obviously if I'm applying broadly I can't apply to a bunch of prelims in every single city of every single ophtho program I'm applying to, as that would be >100 apps. What happens if you end up matching ophtho in a city where you haven't done any prelim interviews? is it too late to add prelim programs to your app in january?

 

[ophthope]

How man prelims do applicants generally apply to (assuming ~40 ophtho program apps)? I'd like to be in the same city for prelim/ophtho, but obviously if I'm applying broadly I can't apply to a bunch of prelims in every single city of every single ophtho program I'm applying to, as that would be >100 apps. What happens if you end up matching ophtho in a city where you haven't done any prelim interviews? is it too late to add prelim programs to your app in january?

Yeah, it's too late to add prelims in January unless you're just adding the program where you matched for Ophtho.

First apply to the prelims you'd be willing to go to anyway, then add prelims where you get interviews for Ophthalmology as you get them. You'll get interview offers for Ophtho early enough that you can add nearby prelims.

 

[DrZeke]

Yeah, it's too late to add prelims in January unless you're just adding the program where you matched for Ophtho.

First apply to the prelims you'd be willing to go to anyway, then add prelims where you get interviews for Ophthalmology as you get them. You'll get interview offers for Ophtho early enough that you can add nearby prelims.

Occasionally programs make exceptions if you call them up...but don't make a habit out of it...